This literary device works when you have different lines or stanzas. Each of the stanzas starts with words according to and in the order of the alphabet.
Example: A Poem for S. by Jessica Greenbaum (which can be found here). An excerpt is given below.
A POEM FOR S.Abstract
Because you used to leaf through the dictionary,
Casually, as someone might in a barber shop, and
Devotedly, as someone might in a sanctuary,
Each letter would still have your attention if not
For the responsibilities life has tightly fit, like
Gears around the cog of you, like so many petals
Hinged on a daisy. That's why I'll just use your
Initial. Do you know that in one treasured story, a
Jewish ancestor, horseback in the woods at Yom
Kippur, and stranded without a prayer book,
Looked into the darkness and realized he had
Merely to name the alphabet to ask forgiveness--
[...]
The simplest way to explain what abstract is is that it's not physical. They're more of ideas or concepts or qualities.
Example:
- Love. ----- Is it physical? No. Is it either an idea, a concept, or a quality? Yes.
- Bravery.
To explain this literary device, it's best to imagine that you're currently doing a debate. When you propose an argument, the person made a rebuttal that is intended for you, not the argument you mentioned. That's what ad hominem is--attacking the person instead of the idea they have, you're basically undermining the person. Ad hominem is latin and it means--appropriately--'against the man'.
Example:
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Usually when the word aesthetic pops up, most people would associate it with what is seen, like the outer appearance so to say. As a literary device, aesthetic mostly means relating to the value of art or the perception of beauty or the theory of art.
Example: This article provides further explanation about this literary device.
Allegory
With allegory, try to imagine that you have a story. You then realize that the whole story has a meaning behind it and that the whole thing was a metaphor. You don't realize it because you were too bask in the story instead of trying to dig deeper into it.
Example: The Chronicles of Narnia is an allegory for the Bible stories. Aslan is a metaphor for God/Jesus. The Magician's Nephew (a novel from the series) could be described as the book of genesis as it highlights the creation of Narnia and the ultimate downfall because of Jadis.
Alliteration
In a phrase, when you have words starting with the same letter or the same sound, it is called alliterations.
Example: Most tongue twisters are examples of this. Interestingly enough, most characters from the Marvel Universe have alliterative names.
Sometimes, in works of literature, allusions will be made. Allusions is to reference to something, be it an event, person, place, or more. This could be done in order to refer to the timeline in which the events of the story were taking place. This could also be done in order to sneak in pop culture references.
Example: The following is a clip from the show Arrested Development, where they made an allusion to Peanuts. Complete with a dog on top of a red doghouse.
Ambiguity
When people say you are being ambiguous, that means you're not being clear at all. The same could be said at all. However, let's clear up a few things... being ambiguous means that what you're saying can have two or more possible meanings.
Example: Here is an example of an ambiguous syntax.
Anachronism
Things are better off staying in their own time period, however, authors couldn't help but put in anachronisms in their stories. Basically, anachronism is to have someone or something in a time period that doesn't belong to their own.
Example: A robot in prehistoric times (like the SpongeBob episode pictured below).
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This involves repeating the word before in the next. So if you have a sentence, the last word of the sentence would become the first word of the sentence. Anadiplosis doesn't have to be in separate sentences, it could also be for words separated by commas (or in different clauses).
Example: A quote from Yoda from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace employed this literary device.
"Fear leads to anger; anger leads to hatred; hatred leads to conflict; conflict leads to suffering."Anagram
Take a word or a sentence, then mix the letters up to create a new different word or sentence.
Example: Tom Marvolo Riddle to I am Lord Voldemort. And other variations.
Analogy is basically making comparisons between two things or ideas. However, there are two versions of analogy
- Metaphor: where you make the comparison directly.
- Simile: where you use words (as, like, than) when making the comparison.
- (Metaphor) Life is a roller coaster.
- (Simile) Cute as a kitten.
Similarly to anadiplosis, this involves repetition of words, but, with Anaphora, you repeat the first word.
Example: In the movie, The Big Lebowski, there is a usage of anaphora. The policeman repeats 'I don't like you(r)', in this clip.
Anastrophe
Several sentences could sound weird, this might be caused by a literary device called anastrophe. Anastrophe involves you switching the order of the noun and the adjective in a sentence. The word is taken from a Greek word that means 'a turning back or about'.
Example: Yoda (Star Wars) often uses this literary device. There's even a site called yodaspeak!
"Joined the Dark Side, Dooku has. Lies, deceit, creating mistrust are his ways now."Anecdote
This is a literary device where a character tells a story within the literature.
Example:
Antagonist
In a story, you usually have a protagonist and an antagonist. The protagonist is the character that we follow throughout the story while the antagonist is the character who is against the protagonist. They are the opposing force of the protagonist.
Example: They usually take the form of villains, however, it doesn't mean that every single villain is the antagonist. In the 1959 version of the Sleeping Beauty, the antagonist is the evil Maleficent. In contrast, the 2014 movie, Maleficent, has the character as the protagonist.
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This literary device is often confused with personification. Anthropomorphism involves giving human qualities to gods, animals, or objects.
Example: Cars is a movie filled with anthropomorphic cars.
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Antiheroes are very popular nowadays; they are characters who possesses qualities which are not expected from the usual main characters. They could be dark, brooding, vengeful, and angry or just plain insane.
Example: In the 2014 version of Godzilla, the titular monster could be described as this. While he defeated the MUTOs, he ended destroying many cities.
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When you have two opposing statements that were put there to make a comparison. This is the opposite of a juxtaposition.
Example: Fire and ice are basic antithesis. Fire being hot and red while ice being cold and blue.
Aphorism
A sentence or phrase that contains an opinion or wisdom is called an aphorism. They are written in such way that makes them memorable when they were being read or listened to.
Example: "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." or "Actions speak louder than words." You can find more here.
Aporia
When the piece of literature reveals doubt or complex situation in a figure of speech, then that is called aporia. In short, this literary device would show any kinds of conflict that the character is experiencing. They be expressed rhetorically.
Example: The road not taken by Robert Frost says:
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,Aposiopesis
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
To make this literary device simple, we can say that this involves the characters/speakers being speechless. They are overwhelmed by feelings such as passion, excitement, or fear.
Example: Exodus 32:31
"And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, 'Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of the Book of Life"Apostrophe
Do not confuse this literary device with the punctuation mark! This apostrophe is referring to something dead, absent or imaginary as something real and present. You can be calling out to a dead person or an object.
Example: "Twinkle, twinkle, little star."
Appeal to...
- Authority: when the speaker or the writer uses information they obtained from experts or when they claim to be experts themselves.
- Emotion: when the speaker or the writer tries to tug on your heartstrings, but affecting your emotions.
- Logic: when the speaker or the writer tries to use numbers or hard-hitting facts for deductive reasoning to appeal to you.
Note that sometimes, one piece of literature can use more than one "Appeal to..."
- Arundhati Roy often employs these literary devices.
- Appeal to authority: She refers to Gandhi and Bush and by using information about them or their ideologies ("Oh, and on March 2 Bush will be taken to visit Gandhi's memorial in Rajghat." -- Baby Bush Go Home).
- Appeal to emotion: By bringing up children to her passage, Roy is trying to revoke our emotions. ("47 per cent of India's children below three suffer from malnutrition, 46 per cent are stunted." -- How Deep Shall We Dig?).
- Appeal to logic: With the same quote above, Arundhati uses percentage or numbers to prove her point.
When describing archetype, you can say that there is an archetype for protagonists or antagonists, sometimes for stories as well. Archetype can be said to be stereotypes in some ways, but do not confuse them for the same thing. A lot of writers rely on archetypes to write create their stories--it can be done to incorporate those archetypes or to deconstruct them.
Example: This link provides 12 common archetypes.
Argument
In stories or literature, you need an argument in order to start writing. It is basically the main idea of what the story you are trying to tell. After having the argument you can continue to expand your story from the argument.
Example: In a debate, you often propose an argument. After stating your argument, you would later expand this idea further by providing several proof or facts to support your argument.
Assonance
Assonance can be said to be the opposite of consonance. Assonance involves the repetition of vowels (a, i, u, e, o) or similar sounding sounds in a sentence.
Example: "Fleet feet sweep by sleeping geese." --Pink Floyd.
Asyndeton
This is the opposite of Polysyndeton; this literary device omits the use of conjunctions (such as 'and'). It gives a sense of incompleteness.
Example: "I ate french fries, burgers, chocolate nuggets, drumsticks."
Audience
Audience are the people the writer is trying to reach from the piece of literature they wrote. It is not limited by age only, but it can also be from their social class, gender, interests etc.
Example: Twilight is obviously intended for female tween audience, while Transformers has a target audience of mostly male teens.
Author
The person responsible for writing the work.
Example: The author of Lord of the Rings is J.R.R. Tolkien.
Authorial Intrusion
Whenever the author of the story takes the time to speak directly to the audience.
Example: Breaking the fourth wall is mostly employed in comedy.
When reading books or watching movies, we tend to witness this overly complex metaphors, sayings, or descriptions that was suppose to be beautiful, amazing, or emotional, but they become very, very cheesy or funny. While this could be unintentional, this could also be used intentionally by very experienced comedic writers.
Example:
FRANK: A good cop – pointlessly cut down by some spineless hoodlums.Bibliomancy
ED: That’s no way for a man to die.
FRANK: No… you’re right, Ed. A parachute not opening… that’s a way to die, getting caught in the gears of a combine… having your nuts bit off by a Laplander, that’s the way I want to go!
WILMA NORDBERG: Oh… Frank. This is terrible!
ED: Don’t you worry, Wilma. Your husband is going to be alright. Don’t you worry about anything! Just think positive. Never let a doubt enter your mind.
FRANK: He’s right, Wilma. But I wouldn’t wait until the last minute to fill out those organ donor cards. (The Naked Gun, 1988)
Bibliomancy is basically the literary device that you use when you find a reference from the Bible. The basic idea that comes from the Bible, a direct reference from the book, or a concept. It can be in the form of other Holy writing and is not limited to the Bible.
Example: In the story Beowulf, there is a character named Grendel who is described as being the descendant of Cain from the story of Cain and Abel.
Bildungsroman
A story that mainly features the moral or psychological character development of the main character. Bildungsroman could mostly be seen used in a coming-of-age stories.
Example: Eliza's story in Pygmalion could be categorized as her bildungsroman.
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When a word or a sentence has very harsh sounding sounds and also means bad, it is called cacophony which is the opposite of euphony that sounds beautiful. This, however, could be relative to different people--it could sound harsh to one person and not to the other.
Example:
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!Above is an excerpt from Lewis Carroll's poem called Jabberwocky.
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
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Dramatic pause (which is easier to find when you listen to the conversation). In writings, it is most likely separated by the dash (–).
Example: If you omit the 'wait for it' from Barney. It becomes a caesura.
Canon
Any works or piece of literature that is accepted as authentic is said to be canon.
Example: As Christians, we accept the fact that our Bible is canon. Some people from another religion might have a different opinion.
Carpe diem
Carpe diem means 'seize the day' in Latin. It is often used to express how people should just live by embracing life and its pleasures.
Example: Eminem has a song called Sing for the Moment that contains the line
"That's why we seize the moment try to freeze it and own it, squeeze it and hold it, cuz we consider these minutes golden."
Catharsis
Catharsis is a Greek word that means cleansing. It is usually used as a liberation from stress. Most catharsis is used in tragedy--where catharsis is shown at the end to see the impact of the ending on the audiences.
Example: In Romeo and Juliet, the catharsis comes when the titular characters both die. This is believed to trigger an emotional response of sadness when our loved ones die--that is the catharsis.
Characterization
Characterization is basically where you find any information about the character, like their appearance, personalities, qualities history, relationships. Sometimes it can be straight-forward, but other times they are implied within the story.
Example: In Pygmalion, George Bernard Shaw did a great job of showing Eliza's characterization throughout the whole play, like how she is hardworking, persevere, and intelligent. We also get an idea about her background/history through the characterization of her father.
Chiasmus
Chiasmus takes a phrase and makes an inverse phrase out of it. Both of the phrase should be grammatically and logically correct.
Example: “Never let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You.”
Circumlocution
Whenever you use circumlocution, everything seems to be a mouthful. You try to say something simple, but you use the most bloated way of trying to explain that one simple thing.
Example: The author probably wants to say that the person arrived at 8 pm in a car for a dinner party, but he said:
“Around 3 hours after sunset, it was winter at the time, the man arrived in a combustion engine driven piece of technology with for wheels to join other bipedal creatures in the ingestion of somewhat large quantities of food and drink while having discourse around a large wooden mesa designed for such a purpose."Cliché
Cliché is a very common term we often hear. To describe cliche, cliche is something that is often overused. It can be in terms of expression, phrase, or motif.
Example: The Expendables is a very cliché action movie that is made that way intentionally.
GUNNER JENSEN: It's cliché.Cliffhanger
When a story ends abruptly with no resolve. It is intended so the audience would be left 'hanging'.
Example: The ending for [SPOILER!] The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is this.
Climax
In storytelling, you have stages. Climax is the stage where the rising action becomes falling action. It is usually where the story gets resolved. It is the part of the story where everything becomes exciting.
Example: In the Harry Potter series, the climax is when Harry Potter starts his final battle with Lord Voldemort.
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When you say collage, most people would think of a collage of pictures. For this, collage means that you take words, phrases, or sections from outside material and put them in yours in juxtaposition.
Example: The Waste Land, a poem by T.S. Eliot.
Complaint
In literary terms, complaint is often a poem to comment on an ill-fated love. However, these complaints could also come from satiric attack on social injustice and immorality.
Example: That means, a lot of Arundhati Roy's essays are complaints as they are satiric attacks towards injustice in India.
Conceit
Conceit is a metaphor that is complex and is intellectual instead of sensual, so it is thought provoking. It is a comparison that is unlikely, but makes sense. In contrast to the usual metaphors and simile where you can relate directly what it means, conceit requires you to think further about the relations.
Example: “Two lovers with the two legs of a draftsman’s compass.”
Conflict
Conflict is also part of the stages of storytelling. Conflict is something that prevents our protagonist to achieve their goals. They are often caused by the antagonists.
Example: I want to go to the party, but my dog got sick.
Connotation
The opposite of denotation; words would have dictionary meanings, however, some words are used without the intent of meaning that way. In short, it is not the literal meaning of the word.
Example: "You look like a dog!" doesn't literally mean that the person look like a dog--it means that the person looks ugly.
Consonance
The opposite of assonance. With assonance, you have the repetition of vowels, but with consonance it it is the consonants.
Example: Bed and breakfast.
Contradiction
Let's compare two things, when those things you compare are opposition of each other then it is contradiction. Contradiction can also mean inconsistency. This could be quite similar to antithesis and oxymoron.
Example: The towering midget.
Couplet
William Shakespeare is one of the authors who uses this literary device often. Couplet has two rhyming lines in a verse.
Example: From Shakespeare's Hamlet.
"The time is out of joint, O cursed spiteDeductive reasoning
That ever I was born to set it right!"
Drawing conclusions from information that is obtained from the set of premises--no more than that.
Example: Sherlock Holmes and his ability of deduction.
Delayed sentence
In a delayed sentence, the sentence doesn't reveal its main idea until the end of the sentence. This can create somewhat of a dramatic effect and tension.
Example: "I haven't slept since Monday, I had to do my homework until 1 A.M. in the morning, and I did some extra studying before the final exam--I'm so exhausted!"
Denotation
The opposite of connotation, this literary device means taking the literal meaning of the word. To remember this easier... denotation starts with a "d" (unlike connotation), so it's asking for the dictionary meaning of the word.
Example: The connotation for 'dove' is that it means peace and tranquility. However, "Look! It's a dove!" could literally mean the bird when the person points at it.
Denouement
A very easy way to explain denouement is the resolution of a complicated plot. The word 'denoue' comes from French that means 'to untie', so that could mean that this untie any necessary plot points.
Example: The epilogue or final chapter is often a denouement.
Deus ex machina
Imagine several characters in an unsolvable situation, then suddenly they have something to save/help them--that is what we call deus ex machina.
Example: This page have several wonderful examples.
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Is the author's choice of words.
- Colloquial: the words used are the words we use in our daily conversations (example includes dialects, jargon).
- Formal: the words used are very official and demands high respect (used in government documents, business reports).
- Informal: the words are most often used in casual settings (e-mail are example of this, personal letter, hesitation words are also included).
- Semi-formal: the words are used in professional settings, although there might be some informal language. Sometimes they are also used for familiarity (e.g. lecture, commercial, interview).
- Slang: the words used are modern terms (used most commonly in SMS, family slang, internet chats).
Anything didactic has the intent of giving us moral lessons or to make us better people.
Example: The Bible is didactic as it has teachings and advice for the God's followers.
Dissonance
Dissonance, in terms of music, happens when two harmony doesn't connect well or rather sounds off. There's a clash or tension between the tone. In literary terms, this could mean harsh collection of sounds (not to be confused with cacophony).
Example: To A Locomotive Winter by Walt Whitman, there's a usage of dissonance as evident in this quote.
"Fierce-throated beauty!Double Entendre
Roll through my chant with all thy lawless music, thy swinging lamps at night."
Double entendre can happen intentionally or unintentionally; the sentence has multiple interpretations. This can also be called innuendo.
Example: There's a game called innuendo bingo from BBC Radio 1, this one features Hugh Jackman and Kylie Minogue.
Doppelgänger
Doppelgänger has several meanings. The term will be used as those people with alter egos, or ghostly counterpart of a living person. Usually, these doppelgängers have contrasting or completely different personalities from the original person.
Example: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or for a more contemporary example... Norman Osborn and the Green Goblin.
Dystopia
The opposite of Utopia, where the world is very much an ideal paradise. Dystopia presents a very unidealized paradise, the people live in fear and are dehumanized under a very cruel leader.
Example: A lot of young adult novels have been employing this theme. The Hunger Games trilogy and the Divergent series are notable examples.
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When the writer writes a very vivid description of a scene or a work of art. The writer does a very good job at it that it amplifies and expands the meaning of the scene.
Example: Most people would associate this literary device with poetry. There's a poetry called Ode to 'The Scream'.
Elegy
When people die, there is some way people would honor their deaths--one of them is by making an elegy. An elegy can be in the form of a poem or a song and are presented in couplets.
Example: In honor of Nelson Mandela and the movie based on his life, U2 wrote a song called Ordinary Love.
Elision
Elision is the removal of syllables or to shorten the word, sometimes the word is replaced by the punctuation, apostrophe. This is done to fit a metrical scheme. This is not the same with contractions (can't, don't, haven't).
Example: 'Never' to 'ne'er', 'going to' to 'gonna'.
Ellipsis
Ellipsis, has quite the similar idea to elision, it involves the omission of letters from the word (this can be word from sentence), however, the people could still understand what the word is suppose to mean.
Example:
PERSON 1: How are you?Enjambment
PERSON 2: Fine, you?
Enjambment comes from French that means to 'step over'. This literary device is mostly used in poetry and means that instead of continuing the sentence, the continuation follows below (they are not always followed by punctuations).
Example:
The holy time is quiet as a Nun--By William Wordsworth, It is a Beauteous Evening.
Breathless with adoration; the broad sun
Is sinking down in its tranquility;
Epic simile
Remember what's a simile? If yes, then imagine it in a much grander scale. Epic simile is an extended simile that often runs into several lines creating a boasting effect.
Example: An example can be taken from The Iliad by Homer
As when the shudder of the west wind suddenly rising scatters across the water, and the water darkens beneath it, so darkening were settled the ranks of Achaians and Trojans in the plain.Epigraph
This literary device allows the usage of a sentence or phrase or poem to be used in front of a literary work. This is often done to associate famous literary work to create some form of comparison. This could serve as a motif or summary of the story.
Example: In The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky used John 12:24.
Epilogue
An epilogue, often featured in novels, is an afterword after the final chapter is finished. This allows us to know what happens after the major plot is over.
Example: 19 years later, for Harry Potter and his friends.
or a much comedic one...
Epiphany
Epiphany can be explained as when a character in a literary work experiences a realization.
Example: Below has quite a few examples of epiphany, although the title of the video is Top 10 Movie Plot Twists. Do beware spoilers.
Epiphora
Like anaphora, epiphora involves repetition of words; however, unlike anaphora, the repetition happens at the end of the sentence or phrase or clause.
Example: A commercial for Dr. Pepper soft drink uses this as it repeats 'a Pepper'.
Epistolary
The word means to be 'in the form of letter or letters'. An epistolary novel is written like a series of letters (although newspaper articles, documents, diary entries, e-mails and the likes are used too). An epistolary poem is written in the form of letter.
Example: Carrie by Stephen King, Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, and The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot are examples of epistolary novels.
Epitaph
Epitaph is often written for any deceased person, they are usually in the form of a statement or phrase. They are mostly written to praise the deceased person and is engraved on their tombstone.
Example: Mel Blanc, famous for his work with The Looney Tunes, has "That's all folks" as his epitaph on his tombstone.
Epithet
Imagine that you have a tombstone, what would it say? Epithet is basically added to a person's name to emphasize on their qualities.
Example: Alexander the Great. Mother Teresa is often referred to as “The Saint of the Gutters”.
Labels: literary devices, part 1, written by Theresa
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