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General Education

Need to analyze The Scarlet Letter or To Kill a Mockingbird for English class, but fumbling for the right vocabulary and concepts for literary devices? You've come to the right place. To successfully interpret and analyze literary texts, you'll first need to have a solid foundation in literary terms and their definitions.

In this article, we'll help you get familiar with most commonly used literary devices in prose and poetry. We'll give you a clear definition of each of the terms we discuss along with examples of literary elements and the context in which they most often appear (comedic writing, drama, or other).

Before we get to the list of literary devices, however, we have a quick refresher on what literary devices are and how understanding them will help you analyze works of literature.

What Are Literary Devices and Why Should You Know Them?

Literary devices are techniques that writers use to create a special and pointed effect in their writing, to convey information, or to help readers understand their writing on a deeper level.

Often, literary devices are used in writing for emphasis or clarity. Authors will also use literary devices to get readers to connect more strongly with either a story as a whole or specific characters or themes.

So why is it important to know different literary devices and terms? Aside from helping you get good grades on your literary analysis homework, there are several benefits to knowing the techniques authors commonly use.

Being able to identify when different literary techniques are being used helps you understand the motivation behind the author's choices. For example, being able to identify symbols in a story can help you figure out why the author might have chosen to insert these focal points and what these might suggest in regard to her attitude toward certain characters, plot points, and events.

In addition, being able to identify literary devices can make a written work's overall meaning or purpose clearer to you. For instance, let's say you're planning to read (or re-read) The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. By knowing that this particular book is a religious allegory with references to Christ (represented by the character Aslan) and Judas (represented by Edmund), it will be clearer to you why Lewis uses certain language to describe certain characters and why certain events happen the way they do.

Finally, literary techniques are important to know because they make texts more interesting and more fun to read. If you were to read a novel without knowing any literary devices, chances are you wouldn't be able to detect many of the layers of meaning interwoven into the story via different techniques.

Now that we've gone over why you should spend some time learning literary devices, let's take a look at some of the most important literary elements to know.

List of Literary Devices: 31 Literary Terms You Should Know

Below is a list of literary devices, most of which you'll often come across in both prose and poetry. We explain what each literary term is and give you an example of how it's used. This literary elements list is arranged in alphabetical order.

An allegory is a story that is used to represent a more general message about real-life (historical) issues and/or events. It is typically an entire book, novel, play, etc.

Example: George Orwell's dystopian book Animal Farm is an allegory for the events preceding the Russian Revolution and the Stalinist era in early 20th century Russia. In the story, animals on a farm practice animalism, which is essentially communism. Many characters correspond to actual historical figures: Old Major represents both the founder of communism Karl Marx and the Russian communist leader Vladimir Lenin; the farmer, Mr. Jones, is the Russian Czar; the boar Napoleon stands for Joseph Stalin; and the pig Snowball represents Leon Trotsky.

Alliteration

Alliteration is a series of words or phrases that all (or almost all) start with the same sound. These sounds are typically consonants to give more stress to that syllable. You'll often come across alliteration in poetry, titles of books and poems ( Jane Austen is a fan of this device, for example—just look at Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility ), and tongue twisters.

Example: "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers." In this tongue twister, the "p" sound is repeated at the beginning of all major words.

Allusion is when an author makes an indirect reference to a figure, place, event, or idea originating from outside the text. Many allusions make reference to previous works of literature or art.

Example: "Stop acting so smart—it's not like you're Einstein or something." This is an allusion to the famous real-life theoretical physicist Albert Einstein.

Anachronism

An anachronism occurs when there is an (intentional) error in the chronology or timeline of a text. This could be a character who appears in a different time period than when he actually lived, or a technology that appears before it was invented. Anachronisms are often used for comedic effect.

Example: A Renaissance king who says, "That's dope, dude!" would be an anachronism, since this type of language is very modern and not actually from the Renaissance period.

Anaphora is when a word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of multiple sentences throughout a piece of writing. It's used to emphasize the repeated phrase and evoke strong feelings in the audience.

Example: A famous example of anaphora is Winston Churchill's "We Shall Fight on the Beaches" speech. Throughout this speech, he repeats the phrase "we shall fight" while listing numerous places where the British army will continue battling during WWII. He did this to rally both troops and the British people and to give them confidence that they would still win the war.

Anthropomorphism

An anthropomorphism occurs when something nonhuman, such as an animal, place, or inanimate object, behaves in a human-like way.

Example: Children's cartoons have many examples of anthropomorphism. For example, Mickey and Minnie Mouse can speak, wear clothes, sing, dance, drive cars, etc. Real mice can't do any of these things, but the two mouse characters behave much more like humans than mice.

Asyndeton is when the writer leaves out conjunctions (such as "and," "or," "but," and "for") in a group of words or phrases so that the meaning of the phrase or sentence is emphasized. It is often used for speeches since sentences containing asyndeton can have a powerful, memorable rhythm.

Example: Abraham Lincoln ends the Gettysburg Address with the phrase "...and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the Earth." By leaving out certain conjunctions, he ends the speech on a more powerful, melodic note.

Colloquialism

Colloquialism is the use of informal language and slang. It's often used by authors to lend a sense of realism to their characters and dialogue. Forms of colloquialism include words, phrases, and contractions that aren't real words (such as "gonna" and "ain't").

Example: "Hey, what's up, man?" This piece of dialogue is an example of a colloquialism, since it uses common everyday words and phrases, namely "what's up" and "man."

An epigraph is when an author inserts a famous quotation, poem, song, or other short passage or text at the beginning of a larger text (e.g., a book, chapter, etc.). An epigraph is typically written by a different writer (with credit given) and used as a way to introduce overarching themes or messages in the work. Some pieces of literature, such as Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick , incorporate multiple epigraphs throughout.

Example: At the beginning of Ernest Hemingway's book The Sun Also Rises is an epigraph that consists of a quotation from poet Gertrude Stein, which reads, "You are all a lost generation," and a passage from the Bible.

Epistrophe is similar to anaphora, but in this case, the repeated word or phrase appears at the end of successive statements. Like anaphora, it is used to evoke an emotional response from the audience.

Example: In Lyndon B. Johnson's speech, "The American Promise," he repeats the word "problem" in a use of epistrophe: "There is no Negro problem. There is no Southern problem. There is no Northern problem. There is only an American problem."

A euphemism is when a more mild or indirect word or expression is used in place of another word or phrase that is considered harsh, blunt, vulgar, or unpleasant.

Example: "I'm so sorry, but he didn't make it." The phrase "didn't make it" is a more polite and less blunt way of saying that someone has died.

A flashback is an interruption in a narrative that depicts events that have already occurred, either before the present time or before the time at which the narration takes place. This device is often used to give the reader more background information and details about specific characters, events, plot points, and so on.

Example: Most of the novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë is a flashback from the point of view of the housekeeper, Nelly Dean, as she engages in a conversation with a visitor named Lockwood. In this story, Nelly narrates Catherine Earnshaw's and Heathcliff's childhoods, the pair's budding romance, and their tragic demise.

Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is when an author indirectly hints at—through things such as dialogue, description, or characters' actions—what's to come later on in the story. This device is often used to introduce tension to a narrative.

Example: Say you're reading a fictionalized account of Amelia Earhart. Before she embarks on her (what we know to be unfortunate) plane ride, a friend says to her, "Be safe. Wouldn't want you getting lost—or worse." This line would be an example of foreshadowing because it implies that something bad ("or worse") will happen to Earhart.

Hyperbole is an exaggerated statement that's not meant to be taken literally by the reader. It is often used for comedic effect and/or emphasis.

Example: "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse." The speaker will not literally eat an entire horse (and most likely couldn't ), but this hyperbole emphasizes how starved the speaker feels.

Imagery is when an author describes a scene, thing, or idea so that it appeals to our senses (taste, smell, sight, touch, or hearing). This device is often used to help the reader clearly visualize parts of the story by creating a strong mental picture.

Example: Here's an example of imagery taken from William Wordsworth's famous poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud":

When all at once I saw a crowd, A host of golden Daffodils; Beside the Lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Irony is when a statement is used to express an opposite meaning than the one literally expressed by it. There are three types of irony in literature:

• Verbal irony: When someone says something but means the opposite (similar to sarcasm).
• Situational irony: When something happens that's the opposite of what was expected or intended to happen.
• Dramatic irony: When the audience is aware of the true intentions or outcomes, while the characters are not . As a result, certain actions and/or events take on different meanings for the audience than they do for the characters involved.
• Verbal irony: One example of this type of irony can be found in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado." In this short story, a man named Montresor plans to get revenge on another man named Fortunato. As they toast, Montresor says, "And I, Fortunato—I drink to your long life." This statement is ironic because we the readers already know by this point that Montresor plans to kill Fortunato.
• Situational irony: A girl wakes up late for school and quickly rushes to get there. As soon as she arrives, though, she realizes that it's Saturday and there is no school.
• Dramatic irony: In William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet , Romeo commits suicide in order to be with Juliet; however, the audience (unlike poor Romeo) knows that Juliet is not actually dead—just asleep.

Juxtaposition

Juxtaposition is the comparing and contrasting of two or more different (usually opposite) ideas, characters, objects, etc. This literary device is often used to help create a clearer picture of the characteristics of one object or idea by comparing it with those of another.

Example: One of the most famous literary examples of juxtaposition is the opening passage from Charles Dickens' novel A Tale of Two Cities :

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair …"

Malapropism

Malapropism happens when an incorrect word is used in place of a word that has a similar sound. This misuse of the word typically results in a statement that is both nonsensical and humorous; as a result, this device is commonly used in comedic writing.

Example: "I just can't wait to dance the flamingo!" Here, a character has accidentally called the flamenco (a type of dance) the flamingo (an animal).

Metaphor/Simile

Metaphors are when ideas, actions, or objects are described in non-literal terms. In short, it's when an author compares one thing to another. The two things being described usually share something in common but are unalike in all other respects.

A simile is a type of metaphor in which an object, idea, character, action, etc., is compared to another thing using the words "as" or "like."

Both metaphors and similes are often used in writing for clarity or emphasis.

"What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun." In this line from Romeo and Juliet , Romeo compares Juliet to the sun. However, because Romeo doesn't use the words "as" or "like," it is not a simile—just a metaphor.

"She is as vicious as a lion." Since this statement uses the word "as" to make a comparison between "she" and "a lion," it is a simile.

A metonym is when a related word or phrase is substituted for the actual thing to which it's referring. This device is usually used for poetic or rhetorical effect .

Example: "The pen is mightier than the sword." This statement, which was coined by Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839, contains two examples of metonymy: "the pen" refers to "the written word," and "the sword" refers to "military force/violence."

Mood is the general feeling the writer wants the audience to have. The writer can achieve this through description, setting, dialogue, and word choice .

Example: Here's a passage from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit: "It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats -- the hobbit was fond of visitors." In this passage, Tolkien uses detailed description to set create a cozy, comforting mood. From the writing, you can see that the hobbit's home is well-cared for and designed to provide comfort.

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is a word (or group of words) that represents a sound and actually resembles or imitates the sound it stands for. It is often used for dramatic, realistic, or poetic effect.

Examples: Buzz, boom, chirp, creak, sizzle, zoom, etc.

An oxymoron is a combination of two words that, together, express a contradictory meaning. This device is often used for emphasis, for humor, to create tension, or to illustrate a paradox (see next entry for more information on paradoxes).

Examples: Deafening silence, organized chaos, cruelly kind, insanely logical, etc.

A paradox is a statement that appears illogical or self-contradictory but, upon investigation, might actually be true or plausible.

Note that a paradox is different from an oxymoron: a paradox is an entire phrase or sentence, whereas an oxymoron is a combination of just two words.

Example: Here's a famous paradoxical sentence: "This statement is false." If the statement is true, then it isn't actually false (as it suggests). But if it's false, then the statement is true! Thus, this statement is a paradox because it is both true and false at the same time.

Personification

Personification is when a nonhuman figure or other abstract concept or element is described as having human-like qualities or characteristics. (Unlike anthropomorphism where non-human figures become human-like characters, with personification, the object/figure is simply described as being human-like.) Personification is used to help the reader create a clearer mental picture of the scene or object being described.

Example: "The wind moaned, beckoning me to come outside." In this example, the wind—a nonhuman element—is being described as if it is human (it "moans" and "beckons").

Repetition is when a word or phrase is written multiple times, usually for the purpose of emphasis. It is often used in poetry (for purposes of rhythm as well).

Example: When Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the score for the hit musical Hamilton, gave his speech at the 2016 Tony's, he recited a poem he'd written that included the following line:

And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love cannot be killed or swept aside.

Satire is genre of writing that criticizes something , such as a person, behavior, belief, government, or society. Satire often employs irony, humor, and hyperbole to make its point.

Example: The Onion is a satirical newspaper and digital media company. It uses satire to parody common news features such as opinion columns, editorial cartoons, and click bait headlines.

A type of monologue that's often used in dramas, a soliloquy is when a character speaks aloud to himself (and to the audience), thereby revealing his inner thoughts and feelings.

Example: In Romeo and Juliet , Juliet's speech on the balcony that begins with, "O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?" is a soliloquy, as she is speaking aloud to herself (remember that she doesn't realize Romeo's there listening!).

Symbolism refers to the use of an object, figure, event, situation, or other idea in a written work to represent something else— typically a broader message or deeper meaning that differs from its literal meaning.

The things used for symbolism are called "symbols," and they'll often appear multiple times throughout a text, sometimes changing in meaning as the plot progresses.

Example: In F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby , the green light that sits across from Gatsby's mansion symbolizes Gatsby's hopes and dreams .

A synecdoche is a literary device in which part of something is used to represent the whole, or vice versa. It's similar to a metonym (see above); however, a metonym doesn't have to represent the whole—just something associated with the word used.

Example: "Help me out, I need some hands!" In this case, "hands" is being used to refer to people (the whole human, essentially).

While mood is what the audience is supposed to feel, tone is the writer or narrator's attitude towards a subject . A good writer will always want the audience to feel the mood they're trying to evoke, but the audience may not always agree with the narrator's tone, especially if the narrator is an unsympathetic character or has viewpoints that differ from those of the reader.

Example: In an essay disdaining Americans and some of the sites they visit as tourists, Rudyard Kipling begins with the line, "Today I am in the Yellowstone Park, and I wish I were dead." If you enjoy Yellowstone and/or national parks, you may not agree with the author's tone in this piece.

How to Identify and Analyze Literary Devices: 4 Tips

In order to fully interpret pieces of literature, you have to understand a lot about literary devices in the texts you read. Here are our top tips for identifying and analyzing different literary techniques:

Tip 1: Read Closely and Carefully

First off, you'll need to make sure that you're reading very carefully. Resist the temptation to skim or skip any sections of the text. If you do this, you might miss some literary devices being used and, as a result, will be unable to accurately interpret the text.

If there are any passages in the work that make you feel especially emotional, curious, intrigued, or just plain interested, check that area again for any literary devices at play.

It's also a good idea to reread any parts you thought were confusing or that you didn't totally understand on a first read-through. Doing this ensures that you have a solid grasp of the passage (and text as a whole) and will be able to analyze it appropriately.

Tip 2: Memorize Common Literary Terms

You won't be able to identify literary elements in texts if you don't know what they are or how they're used, so spend some time memorizing the literary elements list above. Knowing these (and how they look in writing) will allow you to more easily pinpoint these techniques in various types of written works.

Tip 3: Know the Author's Intended Audience

Knowing what kind of audience an author intended her work to have can help you figure out what types of literary devices might be at play.

For example, if you were trying to analyze a children's book, you'd want to be on the lookout for child-appropriate devices, such as repetition and alliteration.

Tip 4: Take Notes and Bookmark Key Passages and Pages

This is one of the most important tips to know, especially if you're reading and analyzing works for English class. As you read, take notes on the work in a notebook or on a computer. Write down any passages, paragraphs, conversations, descriptions, etc., that jump out at you or that contain a literary device you were able to identify.

You can also take notes directly in the book, if possible (but don't do this if you're borrowing a book from the library!). I recommend circling keywords and important phrases, as well as starring interesting or particularly effective passages and paragraphs.

Lastly, use sticky notes or post-its to bookmark pages that are interesting to you or that have some kind of notable literary device. This will help you go back to them later should you need to revisit some of what you've found for a paper you plan to write.

What's Next?

Looking for more in-depth explorations and examples of literary devices? Join us as we delve into imagery , personification , rhetorical devices , tone words and mood , and different points of view in literature, as well as some more poetry-specific terms like assonance and iambic pentameter .

Reading The Great Gatsby for class or even just for fun? Then you'll definitely want to check out our expert guides on the biggest themes in this classic book, from love and relationships to money and materialism .

Got questions about Arthur Miller's The Crucible ? Read our in-depth articles to learn about the most important themes in this play and get a complete rundown of all the characters .

For more information on your favorite works of literature, take a look at our collection of high-quality book guides and our guide to the 9 literary elements that appear in every story !

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Hannah received her MA in Japanese Studies from the University of Michigan and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California. From 2013 to 2015, she taught English in Japan via the JET Program. She is passionate about education, writing, and travel.

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60 Literary Devices With Examples: The Master List

Literary devices are perhaps the greatest tools that writers have in literature. Just think — Shakespeare could have written: Everyone has a role in life.

Instead, he used a literary device and penned what is likely the most famous metaphor in literature:

All the world’s a stage

And all the men and women merely players

And the rest is history.

What are literary devices?

A literary device is a writing technique that writers use to express ideas, convey meaning, and highlight important themes in a piece of text. A metaphor, like we mentioned earlier, is a famous example of a literary device.

These devices serve a wide range of purposes in literature. Some might work on an intellectual level, while others have a more emotional effect. They may also work subtly to improve the flow and pacing of your writing. No matter what, if you're looking to inject something special into your prose, literary devices are a great place to start.

How to identify literary devices

A writer using a literary device is quite different from a reader identifying it. Often, an author’s use of a literary device is subtle by design —you only feel its effect, and not its presence. 

Therefore, we’ve structured this post for both purposes:    

• If you’re a reader, we’ve included examples for each literary device to make it easier for you to identify them in the wild. 
• If you’re a writer, we’ve included exercises for the literary devices, so that you can practice using them in your works. 

Let’s get to it.

60 common literary devices, with examples

1. alliteration.

Alliteration describes a series of words in quick succession that all start with the same letter or sound. It lends a pleasing cadence to prose and Hamlet and the dollar as currency in Macbeth .

Example: “ One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,

And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.” — “Death, Be Not Proud” by John Donne

Exercise: Pick a letter and write a sentence where every word starts with that letter or one that sounds similar. 

2. Anaphora

Anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of a series of clauses or sentences. It’s often seen in poetry and speeches, intended to provoke an emotional response in its audience.

Example: Martin Luther King’s 1963 “I Have A Dream” speech.

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed.

"… and I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.

"… I have a dream that little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

Exercise: Pick a famous phrase and write a paragraph elaborating on an idea, beginning each sentence with that phrase. 

Similar term: repetition

3. Anastrophe

Anastrophe is a figure of speech wherein the traditional sentence structure is reversed. So a typical verb-subject-adjective sentence such as “Are you ready?” becomes a Yoda-esque adjective-verb-subject question: “Ready, are you?” Or a standard adjective-noun pairing like “tall mountain” becomes “mountain tall.”

Example: “Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing.” — “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe

Exercise: Write a standard verb-subject-adjective sentence or adjective-noun pairing then flip the order to create an anastrophe. How does it change the meaning or feeling of the sentence?

4. Chiasmus

Chiasmus is when two or more parallel clauses are inverted. “Why would I do that?” you may be wondering. Well, a chiasmus might sound confusing and unnecessary in theory, but it's much more convincing in practice — and in fact, you've likely already come across it before.

Example: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” — John F. Kennedy

5. Congeries

Congeries is a fancy literary term for creating a list. The items in your list can be words, ideas, or phrases, and by displaying them this way helps prove or emphasize a point — or even create a sense of irony. Occasionally, it’s also called piling as the words are “piling up.”

Example: "Apart from better sanitation and medicine and education and irrigation and public health and roads and a freshwater system and baths and public order, what have the Romans done for us?" — Monty Python’s Life of Brian

6. Cumulative sentence

A cumulative sentence (or “loose sentence”) is one that starts with an independent clause, but then has additional or modifying clauses. They’re often used for contextual or clarifying details. This may sound complex, but even, “I ran to the store to buy milk, bread, and toilet paper” is a cumulative sentence, because the first clause, “I ran to the store,” is a complete sentence, while the rest tells us extra information about your run to the store.

Example: “It was a large bottle of gin Albert Cousins had brought to the party, yes, but it was in no way large enough to fill all the cups, and in certain cases to fill them many times over, for the more than one hundred guests, some of whom were dancing not four feet in front of him.” – Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

Example: Write three sentences that are related to each other. Can you combine the information into a cumulative sentence? 

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7. Epistrophe

Epistrophe is the opposite of anaphora, with this time a word or phrase being repeated at the end of a sentence. Though its placement in a sentence is different it serves the same purpose—creating emphasis—as an anaphora does. 

Example: “I’ll be ever’where – wherever you look. Wherever they’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever they’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there . If Casy knowed, why, I’ll be in the way guys yell when they’re mad an’ – I’ll be in the way kids laugh when they’re hungry an’ they know supper’s ready. An’ when our folks eat the stuff they raise an’ live in the houses they build, why, I’ll be there .” — The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Similar terms: repetition, anaphora

Exercise: Write a paragraph where a phrase or a word is repeated at the end of every sentence, emphasizing the point you’re trying to make. 

8. Erotesis

Erotesis is a close cousin of the rhetorical question. Rather than a question asked without expectation of an answer, this is when the question (and the asker) confidently expects a response that is either negative or affirmative. 

Example: “ Do you then really think that you have committed your follies in order to spare your son them?” — Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

Similar term: rhetorical question

9. Hyperbaton

Hyperbaton is the inversion of words, phrases, or clauses in a sentence that differs from how they would normally be arranged. It comes from the Greek hyperbatos, which means “transposed” or “inverted.” While it is similar to anastrophe, it doesn’t have the same specific structure and allows you to rearrange your sentences in whatever order you want. 

Example: “Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire.” — “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe

Similar terms: anastrophe, epistrophe

10. Isocolon

If you’re a neat freak who likes things just so , isocolon is the literary device for you. This is when two or more phrases or clauses have similar structure, rhythm, and even length — such that, when stacked up on top of each other, they would line up perfectly. Isocolon often crops up in brand slogans and famous sayings; the quick, balanced rhythm makes the phrase catchier and more memorable.

Example: Veni, vidi, vici (“I came, I saw, I conquered”)

11. Litotes

Litotes (pronounced lie-toe-teez ) is the signature literary device of the double negative. Writers use litotes to express certain sentiments through their opposites, by saying that that opposite is not the case. Don’t worry, it makes more sense with the examples. 😉

Examples: “You won’t be sorry” (meaning you’ll be happy); “you’re not wrong” (meaning you’re right); “I didn’t not like it” (meaning I did)

12. Malapropism

If Shakespeare is the king of metaphors, Michael Scott is the king of malapropisms . A malapropism is when similar-sounding words replace their appropriate counterparts, typically to comic effect — one of the most commonly cited is “dance a flamingo,” rather than a “flamenco.” Malapropisms are often employed in dialogue when a character flubs up their speech.

Example: “I am not to be truffled with.”

Exercise: Choose a famous or common phrase and see if you can replace a word with a similar sounding one that changes the meaning. 

13. Onomatopoeia

Amusingly, onomatopoeia (itself a difficult-to-pronounce word) refers to words that sound like the thing they’re referring to. Well-known instances of onomatopoeia include whiz, buzz, snap, grunt, etc.

Example: The excellent children's book Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type . “Farmer Brown has a problem. His cows like to type. All day long he hears: Click, clack, moo. Click, clack, moo. Clickety, clack, moo. ”

Exercise: Take some time to listen to the sounds around you and write down what you hear. Now try to use those sounds in a short paragraph or story. 

14. Oxymoron 

An oxymoron comes from two contradictory words that describe one thing. While juxtaposition contrasts two story elements, oxymorons are about the actual words you are using.

Example: "Parting is such sweet sorrow.” — Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. (Find 100 more examples of oxymorons here .)

Similar terms: juxtaposition, paradox

Exercise: Choose two words with opposite meanings and see if you can use them in a sentence to create a coherent oxymoron. 

15. Parallelism

Parallelism is all about your sentence structure. It’s when similar ideas, sounds, phrases, or words are arranged in a way that is harmonious or creates a parallel, hence the name. It can add rhythm and meter to any piece of writing and can often be found in poetry. 

Example: “ That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” — Neil Armstrong

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16. Polysyndeton

Instead of using a single conjunction in lengthy statements, polysyndeton uses several in succession for a dramatic effect. This one is definitely for authors looking to add a bit of artistic flair to their writing, or who are hoping to portray a particular (usually naïve) sort of voice.

Example: “Luster came away from the flower tree and we went along the fence and they stopped and we stopped and I looked through the fence while Luster was hunting in the grass.” — The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

Exercise: Write three or four independent sentences. Try combining them using conjunctions. What kind of effect does this have on the overall meaning and tone of the piece?

17. Portmanteau

A portmanteau is when two words are combined to form a new word which refers to a single concept that retains the meanings of both the original words. Modern language is full of portmanteaus. In fact, the portmanteau is itself a portmanteau. It’s a combination of the French porter (to carry) and manteau (cloak). 

Example: Brunch (breakfast and lunch); cosplay (costume and roleplay); listicle (list and article); romcom (romance and comedy)

Exercise: Pick two words that are often used together to describe a single concept. See if there’s a way to combine them and create a single word that encompasses the meaning of both.

18. Repetition

Repetition , repetition, repetition… where would we be without it? Though too much repetition is rarely a good thing, occasional repetition can be used quite effectively to drill home a point, or to create a certain atmosphere. For example, horror writers often use repetition to make the reader feel trapped and scared.

Example: In The Shining , Jack Torrance types over and over again on his pages,  “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” In this case, obsessive repetition demonstrates the character’s unraveling mind.

Similar term: anaphora

Exercise: Repetition can be used to call attention to an idea or phrase. Pick an idea you want to emphasize and write a few sentences about it. Are there any places where you can add repetition to make it more impactful? 

19. Tautology

A tautology is when a sentence or short paragraph repeats a word or phrase, expressing the same idea twice. Often, this is a sign that you should trim your work to remove the redundancy (such as “frozen ice”) but can also be used for poetic emphasis.

Example: "But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping, And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door" – “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe

20. Tmesis 

Tmesis is when a word or phrase is broken up by an interjecting word, such as abso-freaking-lutely. It’s used to draw out and emphasize the idea, often with a humorous or sarcastic slant.

Example: "This is not Romeo, he's some-other-where." – Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

21. Allegory

An allegory is a type of narrative that uses characters and plot to depict abstract ideas and themes . In an allegorical story, things represent more than they appear to on the surface. Many children's fables, such as The Tortoise and the Hare , are simple allegories about morality — but allegories can also be dark, complex, and controversial. 

Example: Animal Farm by George Orwell. This dystopian novella is one of modern literature’s best-known allegories. A commentary on the events leading up to Stalin's rise and the formation of the Soviet Union, the pigs at the heart of the novel represent figures such as Stalin, Trotsky, and Molotov.

Exercise: Pick a major trend or problem in the world and consider what defines it. Try and create a story where that trend plays out on a smaller scale. 

22. Anecdote

An anecdote is like a short story within a story. Sometimes, they are incredibly short—only a line or two—and their purpose is to add a character’s perspective, knowledge, or experience to a situation. They can be inspirational, humorous, or be used to inspire actions in others. Since anecdotes are so short, don’t expect them to be part of a main story. They’re usually told by a character and part of the dialogue. 

Example: Marcel Proust’s Swann’s Way , part of his series of novels, In Search of Lost Time, deals with the themes of remembrance and memory. In one section of this book, to illustrate these ideas, the main character recalls an important memory of eating a madeleine cookie. “Many years had elapsed during which nothing of Combray, save what was comprised in the theatre and the drama of my going to bed there, had any existence for me, when one day in winter, as I came home, my mother, seeing that I was cold, offered me some tea, a thing I did not ordinarily take. I declined at first, and then, for no particular reason, changed my mind. She sent out for one of those short, plump little cakes called ‘petites madeleines,’ which look as though they had been moulded in the fluted scallop of a pilgrim’s shell.”

23. Deus Ex Machina

Literally meaning “god in the machine” in Greek, deus ex machina is a plot device where an impossible situation is solved by the appearance of an unexpected or unheard of character, action, object, or event. This brings about a quick and usually happy resolution for a story and can be used to surprise an audience, provide comic relief, or provide a fix for a complicated plot. However, deus ex machinas aren’t always looked upon favorably and can sometimes be seen as lazy writing, so they should be used sparingly and with great thought. 

Example: William Golding’s famous novel of a group of British boys marooned on a desert island is resolved with a deus ex machina. At the climax of The Lord of the Flies, just as Ralph is about to be killed by Jack, a naval officer arrives to rescue the boys and bring them back to civilization. It’s an altogether unexpected and bloodless ending for a story about the boys’ descent into savagery. 

Exercise: Consider the ending of your favorite book or movie and then write an alternate ending that uses a deus ex machina to resolve the main conflict. How does this affect the overall story in terms of theme and tone?

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24. Dramatic irony

Dramatic irony is when the readers know more about the situation going on than at least one of the characters involved. This creates a difference between the ways the audience and the characters perceive unfolding events. For instance, if we know that one character is having an affair, when that character speaks to their spouse, we will pick up on the lies and double-meanings of their words, while the spouse may take them at face value.

Example: In Titanic , the audience knows from the beginning of the movie that the boat will sink. This creates wry humor when characters remark on the safety of the ship.

25. Exposition

Exposition is when the narrative provides background information in order to help the reader understand what’s going on. When used in conjunction with description and dialogue, this literary device provides a richer understanding of the characters, setting, and events. Be careful, though — too much exposition will quickly become boring, thus undercutting the emotional impact of your work.

Example: “The Dursley’s had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it.” – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

Exercise: Pick your favorite story and write a short paragraph introducing it to someone who knows nothing about it. 

26. Flashback

Flashbacks to previous events split up present-day scenes in a story, usually to build suspense toward a big reveal. Flashbacks are also an interesting way to present exposition for your story, gradually revealing to the reader what happened in the past.

Example: Every other chapter in the first part of Gone Girl is a flashback, with Amy’s old diary entries describing her relationship with her husband before she disappeared.

Similar term: foreshadowing

27. Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is when the author hints at events yet to come in a story. Similar to flashbacks (and often used in conjunction with them), this technique is also used to create tension or suspense — giving readers just enough breadcrumbs to keep them hungry for more.

Example: One popular method of foreshadowing is through partial reveals — the narrator leaves out key facts to prompt readers’ curiosity. Jeffrey Eugenides does this in The Virgin Suicides : “On the morning the last Lisbon daughter took her turn at suicide — it was Mary this time, and sleeping pills, like Therese, the two paramedics arrived at the house knowing exactly where the knife drawer was, and the gas oven, and the beam in the basement from which it was possible to tie a rope.”

Similar term: flashback

Exercise: Go back to your favorite book or movie. Can you identify any instances of foreshadowing in the early portions of the story for events that happen in the future? 

28. Frame story

A frame story is any part of the story that "frames" another part of it, such as one character telling another about their past, or someone uncovering a diary or a series of news articles that then tell the readers what happened. Since the frame story supports the rest of the plot, it is mainly used at the beginning and the end of the narrative, or in small interludes between chapters or short stories.

Example: In The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, Kvothe is telling Chronicler the story of his life over the span of three days. Most of the novel is the story he is telling, while the frame is any part that takes place in the inn.

29. In Medias Res

In medias res is a Latin term that means "in the midst of things" and is a way of starting a narrative without exposition or contextual information. It launches straight into a scene or action that is already unfolding. 

Example: “Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.” — The opening line of One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

Exercise: Pick a story you enjoy and rewrite the opening scene so that it starts in the middle of the story. 

30. Point of view

Point of view is, of course, the mode of narration in a story. There are many POVs an author can choose, and each one will have a different impact on the reading experience.

Example: Second person POV is uncommon because it directly addresses the reader — not an easy narrative style to pull off. One popular novel that manages to employ this perspective successfully is Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney: “You are not the kind of guy who would be at a place like this at this time of the morning. But here you are, and you cannot say that the terrain is entirely unfamiliar, although the details are fuzzy.”

Exercise: Write a short passage in either first, second, or third person. Then rewrite that passage in the other two points of view, only changing the pronouns. How does the change in POV affect the tone and feel of the story? 

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31. Soliloquy 

Soliloquy involves a character speaking their thoughts aloud, usually at length (and often in a Shakespeare play). The character in question may be alone or in the company of others, but they’re not speaking for the benefit of other people; the purpose of a soliloquy is for a character to reflect independently.

Example: Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” speech, in which he ruminates on the nature of life and death, is a classic dramatic soliloquy.

Exercise: Pick a character from your favorite book or movie and write a soliloquy from their point of view where they consider their thoughts and feelings on an important part of their story or character arc. 

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Tone refers to the overall mood and message of your book. It’s established through a variety of means, including voice, characterization, symbolism, and themes. Tone sets the feelings you want your readers to take away from the story.

Example: No matter how serious things get in The Good Place , there is always a chance for a character to redeem themselves by improving their behavior. The tone remains hopeful for the future of humanity in the face of overwhelming odds.

Exercise: Write a short paragraph in an upbeat tone. Now using the same situation you came up with, rewrite that passage in a darker or sadder tone. 

33. Tragicomedy

Tragicomedy is just what it sounds like: a blend of tragedy and comedy. Tragicomedy helps an audience process darker themes by allowing them to laugh at the situation even when circumstances are bleak.

Example: Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events uses wordplay, absurd situations, and over-the-top characters to provide humor in an otherwise tragic story.

34. Allusion

An allusion is a reference to a person, place, thing, concept, or other literary work that a reader is likely to recognize. A lot of meaning can be packed into an allusion and it’s often used to add depth to a story. Many works of classic Western literature will use allusions to the Bible to expand on or criticize the morals of their time. 

Example: “The two knitting women increase his anxiety by gazing at him and all the other sailors with knowing unconcern. Their eerie looks suggest that they know what will happen (the men dying), yet don’t care.” The two women knitting in this passage from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness are a reference to the Fates from Greek mythology, who decide the fate of humanity by spinning and cutting the threads of life.

Exercise: In a relatively simple piece of writing, see how many times you can use allusions. Go completely crazy. Once you’re finished, try to cut it down to a more reasonable amount and watch for how it creates deeper meaning in your piece. 

35. Analogy

An analogy connects two seemingly unrelated concepts to show their similarities and expand on a thought or idea. They are similar to metaphors and similes, but usually take the comparison much further than either of these literary devices as they are used to support a claim rather than provide imagery. 

Example: “ It has been well said that an author who expects results from a first novel is in a position similar to that of a man who drops a rose petal down the Grand Canyon of Arizona and listens for the echo.” — P.G. Wodehouse

Exercise: Pick two seemingly unrelated nouns and try to connect them with a verb to create an analogy. 

36. Anthropomorphism

To anthropomorphize is to apply human traits or qualities to a non-human thing such as objects, animals, or the weather. But unlike personification, in which this is done through figurative description, anthropomorphism is literal: a sun with a smiling face, for example, or talking dogs in a cartoon.

Examples: In Disney’s Beauty and the Beast , Mrs. Potts the teapot, Cogsworth the clock, and Lumière the candlestick are all household objects that act and behave like humans (which, of course, they were when they weren’t under a spell).

Similar term: personification

Exercise: Pick a non-human object and describe it as if it was human, literally ascribing human thoughts, feelings, and senses to it. 

37. Aphorism

An aphorism is a universally accepted truth stated in a concise, to-the-point way. Aphorisms are typically witty and memorable, often becoming adages or proverbs as people repeat them over and over.

Example: “To err is human, to forgive divine.” — Alexander Pope

38. Archetype

An archetype is a “universal symbol” that brings familiarity and context to a story. It can be a character, a setting, a theme, or an action. Archetypes represent feelings and situations that are shared across cultures and time periods, and are therefore instantly recognizable to any audience — for instance, the innocent child character, or the theme of the inevitability of death.

Example: Superman is a heroic archetype: noble, self-sacrificing, and drawn to righting injustice whenever he sees it.

Exercise: Pick an archetype — either a character or a theme — and use it to write a short piece centered around that idea. 

A cliché is a saying or idea that is used so often it becomes seen as unoriginal. These phrases might become so universal that, despite their once intriguing nature, they're now looked down upon as uninteresting and overused. 

Examples: Some common cliches you might have encountered are phrases like “easy as pie” and “light as a feather.” Some lines from famous books and movies have become so popular that they are now in and of themselves cliches such as Darth Vader’s stunning revelation from The Empire Strikes Back, “Luke, I am your father.” Also, many classic lines of Shakespeare are now considered cliches like, “All that glitters is not gold” from The Merchant of Venice. 

Exercise: Write a short passage using as many cliches as possible. Now try to cut them out and replace them with more original phrasing. See how the two passages compare. 

40. Colloquialism

Colloquialism is the use of casual and informal language in writing, which can also include slang. Writers use colloquialisms to provide context to settings and characters, and to make their writing sound more authentic. Imagine reading a YA novel that takes place in modern America, and the characters speak to each other like this:

“Good morning, Sue. I hope that you slept well and are prepared for this morning’s science exam.”

It’s not realistic. Colloquialisms help create believable dialogue :

“Hey Sue, what’d you get up to last night? This science test is gonna suck.”

Example: Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh takes place in Scotland, a fact made undeniably obvious by the dialect: “Thing is, as ye git aulder, this character-deficiency gig becomes mair sapping. Thir wis a time ah used tae say tae aw the teachers, bosses, dole punters, poll-tax guys, magistrates, when they telt me ah was deficient: ’Hi, cool it, gadge, ah’m jist me, jist intae a different sort ay gig fae youse but, ken?’”

Exercise: Write a dialogue between two characters as formally as possible. Now take that conversation and make it more colloquial. Imagine that you’re having this conversation with a friend. Mimic your own speech patterns as you write. 

41. Euphemism

A euphemism is an indirect, “polite” way of describing something too inappropriate or awkward to address directly. However, most people will still understand the truth about what's happening.

Example: When an elderly person is forced to retire, some might say they’re being “put out to pasture.”

Exercise: Write a paragraph where you say things very directly. Now rewrite that paragraph using only euphemisms. 

42. Hyperbole

Hyperbole is an exaggerated statement that emphasizes the significance of the statement’s actual meaning. When a friend says, "Oh my god, I haven't seen you in a million years," that's hyperbole.

Example: “At that time Bogotá was a remote, lugubrious city where an insomniac rain had been falling since the beginning of the 16th century.” — Living to Tell the Tale by Gabriel García Márquez

Exercise: Tall tales often make use of hyperbole to tell an exaggerated story. Use hyperbole to relate a completely mundane event or experience to turn it into a tall tale. 

43. Hypophora

Hypophora is much like a rhetorical question, wherein someone asks a question that doesn't require an answer. However, in hypophora, the person raises a question and answers it immediately themselves (hence the prefix hypo, meaning 'under' or 'before'). It’s often used when characters are reasoning something aloud.

Example: “Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always watch for the longest day in the year and then miss it.” — Daisy in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

An idiom is a saying that uses figurative language whose meaning differs from what it literally says. These phrases originate from common cultural experiences, even if that experience has long ago been forgotten. Without cultural context, idioms don’t often make sense and can be the toughest part for non-native speakers to understand. 

Example: In everyday use, idioms are fairly common. We say things like, “It’s raining cats and dogs” to say that it’s downpouring. 

Exercise: Idioms are often used in dialogue. Write a conversation between two people where idioms are used to express their main points. 

45. Imagery

Imagery appeals to readers’ senses through highly descriptive language. It’s crucial for any writer hoping to follow the rule of "show, don’t tell," as strong imagery truly paints a picture of the scene at hand.

Example: “In the hard-packed dirt of the midway, after the glaring lights are out and the people have gone to bed, you will find a veritable treasure of popcorn fragments, frozen custard dribblings, candied apples abandoned by tired children, sugar fluff crystals, salted almonds, popsicles, partially gnawed ice cream cones and wooden sticks of lollipops.” — Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

Exercise: Choose an object, image, or idea and use the five senses to describe it. 

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Irony creates a contrast between how things seem and how they really are. There are three types of literary irony : dramatic (when readers know what will happen before characters do), situational (when readers expect a certain outcome, only to be surprised by a turn of events), and verbal (when the intended meaning of a statement is the opposite of what was said).

Example: This opening scene from Orson Welles’ A Touch of Evil is a great example of how dramatic irony can create tension.

47. Juxtaposition

Juxtaposition places two or more dissimilar characters, themes, concepts, etc. side by side, and the profound contrast highlights their differences. Why is juxtaposition such an effective literary device? Well, because sometimes the best way for us to understand something is by understanding what it’s not .

Example: In the opening lines of A Tale of Two Cities , Charles Dickens uses juxtaposition to emphasize the societal disparity that led to the French Revolution: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness…”

Similar terms: oxymoron, paradox

Exercise: Pick two ideas, objects, places, or people that seem like complete opposites. Introduce them side by side in the beginning of your piece and highlight their similarities and differences throughout. 

48. Metaphor

A metaphor compares two similar things by saying that one of them is the other. As you'd likely expect, when it comes to literary devices, this one is a heavy hitter. And if a standard metaphor doesn't do the trick, a writer can always try an extended metaphor : a metaphor that expands on the initial comparison through more elaborate parallels.

Example: Metaphors are literature’s bread and butter (metaphor intended) — good luck finding a novel that is free of them. Here’s one from Frances Hardinge’s A Face Like Glass : “Wishes are thorns, he told himself sharply. They do us no good, just stick into our skin and hurt us.”

Similar term: simile

Exercise: Write two lists: one with tangible objects and the other concepts. Mixing and matching, try to create metaphors where you describe the concepts using physical objects.

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49. Metonymy

Metonymy is like symbolism, but even more so. A metonym doesn’t just symbolize something else, it comes to serve as a synonym for that thing or things — typically, a single object embodies an entire institution.

Examples: “The crown” representing the monarchy, “Washington” representing the U.S. government.

Similar term: synecdoche

Exercise: Create a list of ten common metonymies you might encounter in everyday life and speech.

Whatever form a motif takes, it recurs throughout the novel and helps develop the theme of the narrative. This might be a symbol, concept, or image.

Example: In Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, trains are an omnipresent motif that symbolize transition, derailment, and ultimately violent death and destruction.

Similar term: symbol

Exercise: Pick a famous book or movie and see if you can identify any common motifs within it. 

51. Non sequitur

Non sequiturs are statements that don't logically follow what precedes them. They’ll often be quite absurd and can lend humor to a story. But they’re just not good for making jokes. They can highlight missing information or a miscommunication between characters and even be used for dramatic effect. 

Example: “It was a spring day, the sort that gives people hope: all soft winds and delicate smells of warm earth. Suicide weather.” — Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen 

Exercise: Write a conversation that gets entirely derailed by seemingly unrelated non sequiturs. 

52. Paradox

Paradox derives from the Greek word paradoxon , which means “beyond belief.” It’s a statement that asks people to think outside the box by providing seemingly illogical — and yet actually true — premises.

Example: In George Orwell’s 1984 , the slogan of the totalitarian government is built on paradoxes: “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength.” While we might read these statements as obviously contradictory, in the context of Orwell’s novel, these blatantly corrupt sentiments have become an accepted truth.

Similar terms: oxymoron, juxtaposition

Exercise: Try writing your own paradox. First, think of two opposing ideas that can be juxtaposed against each other. Then, create a situation where these contradictions coexist with each other. What can you gather from this unique perspective?

53. Personification

Personification uses human traits to describe non-human things. Again, while the aforementioned anthropomorphism actually applies these traits to non-human things, personification means the behavior of the thing does not actually change. It's personhood in figurative language only.

Example: “Just before it was dark, as they passed a great island of Sargasso weed that heaved and swung in the light sea as though the ocean were making love with something under a yellow blanket, his small line was taken by a dolphin.” — The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

Similar term: anthropomorphism

Exercise: Pick a non-human object and describe it using human traits, this time using similes and metaphors rather than directly ascribing human traits to it. 

54. Rhetorical question

A rhetorical question is asked to create an effect rather than to solicit an answer from the listener or reader. Often it has an obvious answer and the point of asking is to create emphasis. It’s a great way to get an audience to consider the topic at hand and make a statement. 

Example: “If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?” — The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

Writers use satire to make fun of some aspect of human nature or society — usually through exaggeration, ridicule, or irony. There are countless ways to satirize something; most of the time, you know it when you read it.

Example: The famous adventure novel Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift is a classic example of satire, poking fun at “travelers' tales,” the government, and indeed human nature itself.

A simile draws resemblance between two things by saying “Thing A is like Thing B,” or “Thing A is as [adjective] as Thing B.” Unlike a metaphor, a similar does not posit that these things are the same, only that they are alike. As a result, it is probably the most common literary device in writing — you can almost always recognize a simile through the use of “like” or “as.”

Example: There are two similes in this description from Circe by Madeline Miller: “The ships were golden and huge as leviathans, their rails carved from ivory and horn. They were towed by grinning dolphins or else crewed by fifty black-haired nereids, faces silver as moonlight.”

Similar term: metaphor

57. Symbolism

Authors turn to tangible symbols to represent abstract concepts and ideas in their stories  Symbols typically derive from objects or non-humans — for instance, a dove might represent peace, or a raven might represent death.

Example: In The Great Gatsby , Fitzgerald uses the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg (actually a faded optometrist's billboard) to represent God and his judgment of the Jazz Age.

Similar term: motif

Exercise: Choose an object that you want to represent something — like an idea or concept. Now, write a poem or short story centered around that symbol. 

58. Synecdoche

Synecdoche is the usage of a part to represent the whole. That is, rather than an object or title that’s merely associated with the larger concept (as in metonymy), synecdoche must actually be attached in some way: either to the name, or to the larger whole itself.

Examples: “Stanford won the game” ( Stanford referring to the full title of the Stanford football team) or “Nice wheels you got there” ( wheels referring to the entire car)

Similar term: metonymy

Zeugma is when one word is used to ascribe two separate meanings to two other words. This literary device is great for adding humor and figurative flair as it tends to surprise the reader. And it’s just a fun type of wordplay. 

Example: “ Yet time and her aunt moved slowly — and her patience and her ideas were nearly worn out before the tete-a-tete was over.” — Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

60. Zoomorphism 

Zoomorphism is when you take animal traits and assign them to anything that’s not an animal. It’s the opposite of anthropomorphism and personification, and can be either a physical manifestation, such as a god appearing as an animal, or a comparison, like calling someone a busy bee .

Example: When vampires turn into bats, their bat form is an instance of zoomorphism.

Exercise: Describe a human or object by using traits that are usually associated with animals. 

Similar terms: anthropomorphism, personification

Readers and writers alike can get a lot out of understanding literary devices and how they're used. Readers can use them to gain insight into the author’s intended meaning behind their work, while writers can use literary devices to better connect with readers. But whatever your motivation for learning them, you certainly won't be sorry you did! (Not least because you'll recognize the device I just used in that sentence 😉)

6 responses

Ron B. Saunders says:

16/01/2019 – 19:26

Paraprosdokians are also delightful literary devices for creating surprise or intrigue. They cause a reader to rethink a concept or traditional expectation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraprosdokian)

ManhattanMinx says:

17/01/2019 – 02:07

That's pore, not pour. Shame.....

↪️ Coline Harmon replied:

14/06/2019 – 19:06

It was a Malapropism

↪️ JC JC replied:

23/10/2019 – 00:02

Yeah ManhattanMinx. It's a Malepropism!

↪️ jesus replied:

07/11/2019 – 13:24

Susan McGrath says:

10/03/2020 – 10:56

"But whatever your motivation for learning them, you certainly won't be sorry you did! (Not least because you'll recognize the device I just used in that sentence. 😏)" Litote

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Literary Devices: 30 Elements & Techniques for Writers (With Examples)

Every Author wants to write a good book . That’s a given.

But you don’t need to know the names and definitions of 30 or 40 literary devices to accomplish that goal.

Knowing the difference between alliteration, onomatopoeia, and hyperbole won’t make or break your book.

Literary devices are especially common in novels, where writers need to use flashbacks, foreshadowing, or figurative language to keep the reader enthralled.

But most nonfiction doesn’t need literary devices to be effective.

As an Author, your goal is to explain how your knowledge can solve a reader’s problems in a clear, concise manner. If you can toss in some good storytelling, so much the better.

Remember, being a good writer isn’t about checking off every writing trick on the list. It’s about expressing your information in an authentic, clear way.

This literary device crash course is a helpful tool, but if you want to publish a great book, devices shouldn’t be your primary focus.

What Are Literary Devices?

Literary devices, also known as literary elements, are techniques that writers use to convey their message more powerfully or to enhance their writing.

Many Authors use literary devices without even realizing it. For example, if you exaggerate and say, “This method has the potential to revolutionize the world,” that’s hyperbole. Your method may be impactful, but it probably isn’t really going to upend the way every single country does things.

More complicated literary devices are a common feature in fiction, but most nonfiction books don’t need them. A nonfiction Author’s job is to deliver information in an engaging way. “Engaging” doesn’t necessarily mean “literary.”

Still, literary devices can add a lot to a text when they’re used correctly.

For example, in The Great Gatsby , Fitzgerald uses the following metaphor to describe human struggle: “So we beat on, boats against the current…”

The image of boats fighting against the current is a powerful way to express the simple idea that “life is hard.”

Literary devices are especially effective when they’re used sparingly. Don’t overdo it.

If your entire book is written in metaphors, it’s not only going to be an overkill of flowery language, but it’s probably going to be confusing too.

If you can incorporate literary devices in a way that makes sense and adds something to the readers’ experience, great. But don’t force it.

30 Common Literary Devices

1. alliteration.

Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds within a group of words. For example, “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.”

Nonfiction Authors can use alliteration to create catchy chapter or subsection titles. For example, “4 Best Bets for Better Business.”

Alliteration is also particularly effective for highlighting concepts you want your readers to remember. For example, if the takeaway of your chapter is a pithy, one-line sentence, alliteration can really make it stand out. Think, “Clear communication is key.”

Be careful not to overuse alliteration, or your book will start to sound like a nursery rhyme.

2. Onomatopoeia

An onomatopoeia is a word that imitates, suggests, or resembles the sound it’s describing. Common onomatopoeias include “gurgle,” “hiss,” “boom,” “whir,” and “whizz.”

In storytelling, onomatopoeia is an effective way to draw your reader into the environment. For example, if you’re telling an anecdote about a meeting you had with a client, it’s more vivid to say, “He plopped a sugar cube into his coffee and slurped,” than to say, “He drank his coffee with sugar.”

3. Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is an advance warning about something that’s going to happen in the future.

In fiction, foreshadowing can be subtle. For example, something that happens in the first chapter of a murder mystery can come into play at the end of the book.

But in nonfiction, foreshadowing tends to be more obvious. Authors often use it to tell readers what they can expect to learn. For example, an Author might say, “We’re going to talk more about this example later,” or “I’ll discuss this at length in Chapter Three.”

4. Hyperbole

Hyperbole is an exaggeration that’s not meant to be taken literally. For example, if my friend surprised me by eating a lot of pizza, I might say, “Hey man, remember that time you ate, like, fifteen pizzas in one night?”

Good nonfiction Authors often use hyperbole to emphasize the power of their statements. For example, “We all know how miserable it can be to work 24/7.” Do we really all know that? And it’s impossible to literally work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Nonfiction Authors have to be careful with hyperbole, though. If you’re using data, you want it to seem credible. In nonfiction, readers often want precision, not exaggeration.

5. Oxymoron

An oxymoron is a figure of speech where seemingly contradictory terms appear together. For example, “the dumbest genius I know.”

Oxymorons are useful if you want to create an unexpected contrast. For example, “Your unhappiest customers are often your business’ happiest accident.”

6. Flashback

A flashback is a scene set in an earlier time than the main story. They’re often used to provide important context or backstory for an event you’re discussing.

Because most nonfiction books aren’t chronological ( unless it’s a memoir ), you probably won’t have many opportunities to use flashbacks. But in anecdotes, a touch of flashback can be effective.

For example, “My boss congratulated me for landing the largest account our company had ever seen. It was hard to believe that only seven months earlier, I was struggling to keep the few clients I already had.”

7. Point of View

Point of view is the perspective you use to tell your story.

A lot of nonfiction is written with a first-person point of view, which means writing from an “I” perspective. For example, “I’ve developed the following ten-point system to improve your finances.”

It’s much rarer, although possible, to write nonfiction from the third-person perspective. For example, “They saw how powerful their methods could be.” Sometimes co-authors choose this method to avoid first-person confusion.

Nonfiction writers occasionally use second person (“you”) to directly address their readers. For example, “You know how hard it can be to fire someone.”

8. Euphemism

A euphemism is a polite way of describing something indirectly.

Many Authors use euphemisms to vary their language or soften the blow of a difficult concept. For example, “passed away” is a euphemism for “died.”

Some Authors use euphemisms to keep their texts more palatable for a general audience.

For example, if an Author is writing about sexual harassment in the workplace, they may not want to repeat lewd phrases and could use euphemisms instead. Or, an Author who wants to avoid the political controversy around the term “abortion” might opt for “pregnancy termination.”

9. Colloquialism

A colloquialism is a word or phrase that’s not formal or literary. It tends to be used in ordinary or familiar conversation instead. For example, it’s more colloquial to say, “How’s it going?” instead of “How are you doing?”

Slang is also a form of colloquialism. If you say something was “awesome,” unless you literally mean it inspired awe, you’re being colloquial.

No matter how professional your audience is, some colloquialism can make your book feel more relatable. Readers like to feel as if they’re talking with the Author. Colloquialism can help you create that personal, one-on-one feeling.

10. Anthropomorphism

Anthropomorphism is when you give human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human creatures or things.

If you think of your dog as having a “funny personality,” you’re anthropomorphizing him. The same goes for your “stubborn” toaster or “cranky” computer.

In nonfiction, you generally won’t encounter a lot of opportunities for anthropomorphism, but some Authors may want to humanize their products or services. For example, your software may be “friendly” or “kind” to new users.

11. Anaphora

Anaphora is a rhetorical device where you repeat a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses. This is a great way to draw emphasis to a certain portion of text.

For example, Charles Dickens uses anaphora in the opening of A Tale of Two Cities : “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief…”

12. Anachronism

An anachronism is a chronological inconsistency where you juxtapose people, things, or sayings from different time periods. If you were reading a book about colonial America where characters talk about cars, that would be anachronistic.

In nonfiction, you might want to use anachronism to make it easier for a current audience to relate to people in your stories.

For example, if you’re writing about the history of the banking industry, you might refer to certain individuals as “influencers” or talk about ideas that were “trending.”

13. Malapropism

A malapropism is the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one. This usually creates some kind of humorous effect. Imagine a person saying, “I know how to dance the flamingo,” instead of, “I know how to dance flamenco.”

There aren’t a lot of good reasons to use malapropism in nonfiction, but you could do this if you’re trying to amuse or delight your reader in an unexpected way. It’s a lot like using a pun.

For example, if you’re writing a book about sports, you might say, “The client and I saw things so eye-to-eye, it was almost like we had ESPN” (instead of “ESP”).

14. Figurative Language

Figurative language is language that dresses up your writing in an attempt to engage your readers. Figurative language is often more colorful, evocative, or dramatic.

For example, “She was chained to her desk for sixty hours a week.” Let’s hope not.

Still, it conjures a vivid image that’s more exciting for readers than, “She worked a lot.”

Figurative language is like taking your everyday language and putting it in a tuxedo.

15. Dramatic Irony

Irony is a literary technique where what appears to be the case differs radically from what is actually the case.

Dramatic irony is a type of irony that occurs when an audience understands the context more than the character in a story.

Let’s say you’re telling a story about an interaction with a client that didn’t go the way you expected. You might write, “Things seemed to be going well, but little did I know, she had already hired someone else.”

At the moment you were meeting with the client, you didn’t have that information. But now, the reader does. So, they get to follow along with the rest of the story, knowing more than you did at the time.

16. Verbal Irony

Verbal irony occurs when a person says one thing but means another. Sarcasm is a good example of verbal irony. For example, you might say, “It was a wonderful dinner,” when, in fact, the food was terrible, and your partner showed up an hour late.

Depending on the tone of your book, verbal irony can help create humor or make you more relatable.

17. Figure of Speech

Think of “figure of speech” as a kind of catch-all term for any word or phrase that’s used in a non-literal sense to create a dramatic effect.

For example, it’s a figure of speech to say that it was “raining cats and dogs” or that something stands “an ice cube’s chance in Hell” of happening.

A lot of the devices we’ve already discussed (e.g., alliteration, oxymoron, and metaphors) also fall into the category of figures of speech.

18. Metaphor

A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things in an interesting way. It often highlights the similarities between two different ideas.

Take, for example, “The classroom was a zoo.” It wasn’t literally a zoo, but this metaphor expresses the wild energy of a room full of children.

Or, “the curtain of night fell.” Night doesn’t have a curtain, but we can all imagine darkness falling like one.

Metaphors form direct comparisons by saying something is something else. (Similes, explained below, form comparisons by saying something is like something else.)

Metaphors are a useful tool for “showing” your reader something instead of just “telling.” They help your reader see and feel the scene, and they paint a vivid picture.

If you use a metaphor, though, make sure it’s intelligible. There are a lot of bad ones out there. The point of a metaphor is to make a scene clearer, not to confuse your reader.

A simile is also a figure of speech that compares two different things in an interesting way. But unlike a metaphor, a simile uses comparison words like “like” or “as.”

“She was as bright as a lightbulb.”

“He was stubborn like a mule.”

Using similes can make your writing more interesting. The comparisons can spark your readers’ imagination while still getting your information across clearly.

20. Metonymy

Metonymy is a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept.

For example, a businessman is sometimes known as “a suit.”

Or, in William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar , “lend me your ears,” is a metonymy for “give me your full attention.”

People use metonymy all the time without being conscious of it. For example, if you get in a car wreck, you’re likely to say, “That car hit me,” instead of, “That car hit my car.”

If you’re writing in relatable, colloquial language, your book will probably have metonymy in it.

21. Synecdoche

Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part of something stands in for the whole or vice versa. It’s a subset of metonymy.

For example, if you have “hungry mouths to feed,” you actually need to feed people. Their mouths are just a stand-in for the whole person.

Or, you might say, “All of society was at the gala,” when you really mean, “All of high society was there.”

Typically, synecdoche will come out in your writing naturally. When you force synecdoche, it can sound strange.

For example, what do you think I mean when I say, “I sat on the legs?” I’m guessing a chair didn’t come to mind, even though “legs” is a part of the whole “chair.”

22. Aphorism

An aphorism is a concise statement of a general truth or principle. For example, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Most aphorisms are handed down over time, so chances are, you won’t coin your own. Think of these as the tried-and-true statements people already know.

For example, if you’re describing toxic leadership, you could quickly say, “After all, power corrupts,” and your audience would immediately know what you mean.

Aphorisms are great for emphasis because they’re quick, clear, and to the point. They aren’t flowery, and their simplicity makes them memorable.

23. Rhetorical Question

A rhetorical question is a question asked for effect, not because you want an answer.

“Do you want to make money? Do you want to sleep better at night? Do you want to run a successful company?”

Who wouldn’t say yes? (See what I did there?)

Be careful not to overuse rhetorical questions because too many can get tedious. But used sparingly, they’re a great way to invite your reader into the conversation and highlight the benefits of your knowledge.

24. Polysyndeton

Polysyndeton comes from the Ancient Greek for “many” and “bound together.” As its name implies, it’s a literary technique in which conjunctions (e.g., and, but, or) are used repeatedly in quick succession.

Here it is in action: “I wanted an employee who was self-motivated and enterprising and skilled. I needed someone who could write and talk and network like a pro.”

In most cases, you’ll use a regular list instead of polysyndeton (e.g., “I like cats, dogs, and ferrets.”). But when it’s used correctly, polysyndeton is useful for drawing emphasis to different aspects of a sentence.

One common way to use polysyndeton is, “You’ll find everything in this book, from billing and buying to marketing and sales.”

25. Consonance

Consonance occurs when you repeat consonant sounds throughout a particular word or phrase. Unlike alliteration, the repeated consonant doesn’t have to come at the beginning of the word.

“Do you like blue?” and “I wish I had a cushion to squash” are examples of consonance.

Consonance can help you build sentences and passages that have a nice rhythm. When a text flows smoothly, it can subconsciously propel readers forward and keep them reading.

26. Assonance

Assonance is similar to consonance, except it involves repeating vowel sounds. This is usually a subtler kind of echo. For example, the words “penitence” and “reticence” are assonant.

Like consonance, assonance can help you build compelling, rhythmic language.

27. Chiasmus

Chiasmus is a rhetorical device where grammatical constructions or concepts are repeated in reverse order.

For example, “Never let a kiss fool you or a fool kiss you.” Or, “The happiest and best moments go to the best and happiest employees.”

In nonfiction, chiasmus can be an effective way to make a significant point. It often works because it’s unexpected and punchy.

28. Litotes

Litotes is a figure of speech closely related to verbal irony. With litotes, you use understatement to emphasize your point. They often incorporate double negatives for effect.

For example, “You won’t be sorry” is the litotes way of saying, “You will be glad.”

If I say, “He wasn’t a bad singer,” you can probably assume that he was actually a good singer. But the negative construction conveys a different tone.

If hyperbole lends more force to your claims, litotes diminishes your statement. In nonfiction, there are situations where you might want to downplay your judgment.

Take this statement, for example: “He wasn’t the worst lawyer I had ever seen, but he could have been more organized.” You aren’t completely bashing the lawyer, but you’re still showing there’s room for improvement.

Still, I recommend using litotes sparingly if you don’t want people to think you’re constantly damning with faint praise.

29. Epigraph

An epigraph is a short quotation or saying at the beginning of a book or chapter, intended to suggest its theme.

For example, Mario Puzo’s The Godfather begins with a quotation from the French writer Balzac: “Behind every great fortune, there is a crime.”

An epigraph is a great way to honor a writer or thinker you admire. It also immediately puts your work in conversation with theirs. In nonfiction, an epigraph can be a great way to signal to readers, “Hey, Tim Ferriss’ book has informed mine!”

But don’t rely too heavily on epigraphs. The point of writing a book is to show that you are an expert. You don’t want to constantly defer to other Authors to contextualize your ideas.

Also, epigraphs are only effective when they are truly relevant to your book. Don’t just pick a person that you think readers will recognize. Pick a quotation that really adds something to your book.

30. Epistrophe

Epistrophe is the repetition of the same word or words at the end of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences. It’s sometimes called epiphora or antistrophe.

Epistrophe is the cousin of anaphora, where the repetition happens at the beginning of successive phrases.

Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is a great example of a text that uses epistrophe: “… that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

His repetition of “the people” really drives home the importance of “the people” to American government. They are central, no matter how you slice it.

Epistrophe can be very dramatic, and it’s a great way to draw attention to crucial concepts or words in your book. But because it’s so impactful, it should be used in moderation.

The Scribe Crew

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Literary Devices

Literary devices, terms, and elements, what are literary devices.

From the very first time humans began sharing stories, literary devices have played a key role in our history. Along with the creation of storytelling came the development of narrative elements like plot, character, and tone. As storytelling evolved over the millennia, so too did the range and complexity of techniques available to authors. Many of the elements that authors use are so fundamental that they are not necessarily conscious choices, such as theme or tone (though these two examples, of course, could be consciously constructed by the author). Other techniques, however, are more intentional, such as foreshadowing and red herrings.

We will explore the difference between literary elements and literary techniques, and look at examples and definitions of several popular literary terms. We’ll also look at how these literary devices function in two popular works, Shakespeare’s Hamlet and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Literary Elements vs. Literary Techniques

Literary elements are the universal constituents of literature and thus can be found in any written or oral story. Plot and character, for example, are necessary to story and are present in stories from every culture and time period.

Literary techniques , however, are not universal or necessary in the sense that not all works contain instances of them. Simile and irony are examples of literary techniques. While many poems contain similes, not all do. Simile, therefore, is a literary technique instead of a literary element.

Examples of literary devices

There are many hundreds of terms that refer to a unique aspect of literature. Below, we’ve chosen three popular literary devices to examine in depth.

Common in all forms of literature, metaphor is a way of comparing things by stating that one thing is the same or very similar to another seemingly unrelated object. Metaphor is a type of analogy, and is often mistaken with simile. The difference between metaphor and simile is that a simile includes “like” or “as” in the comparison (for example: “O my luve’s like a red, red rose), whereas metaphor is an assertion of the comparison without modifiers or conjunctions. One of the most famous examples of metaphor is from Shakespeare’s play As You Like It :

All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages.

Here, the character Jaques states that the world is a stage, which we know not to be literally true. However, by extending the metaphor, Jaques compares the lifetime of a human to acts in a play, with birth and death being merely “entrances” and “exits”, respectively. Psychologically, the use of metaphor often expands the way the reader or viewer understands the world around him or her, as it does in this example.

Alliteration

Most common in poetry, though also present in some lines of prose and theater, alliteration is the repetition of the same sound at the beginning of adjacent words. This was a very popular literary device in Old English storytelling, as the presence of alliteration made the oral stories easier to remember and retell through the generations. The Mother Goose rhyme “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers” is an example of alliteration due to the repetition of the letter “p”. Alliteration is a special case of consonance, which is the repetition of consonant sounds anywhere in the word (the “ck” sound from the previous Mother Goose rhyme is an example of consonance, as it comes in the middle of the words rather than at the beginning, though the repetition of “p” sound can also be described as consonance).

Point-of-view

Point-of-view is a term for the narrative mode, and is a primary characteristic of prose. It is the way in which the author narrates the story. There are many options, the most common of which are first person singular and third person limited; authors also sometimes choose to mix different points of view in the same novel. Here is a list of the types of point-of-view:

• First person singular : This point-of-view uses an “I” character to narrate the story. The narrator is not necessarily the protagonist, though this is often the case as this point-of-view is the most intimate and allows for the most direct access to a character’s thoughts.

Whenever we saw Mrs. Lisbon we looked in vain for some sign of the beauty that must have once been hers.

You are a deep sea explorer searching for the famed lost city of Atlantis. This is your most challenging and dangerous mission. Fear and excitement are now your companions.

• Third person limited : This point-of-view uses “he” or “she” to refer to the narrator of the story. It is less intimate than the first person point of view, yet being limited to only one person’s thoughts it can still provide psychological access to that character. However, it also allows for the author to add descriptive and narrative details that the character doesn’t necessarily notice.
• Third person omniscient : Here the author uses the pronouns “he” and “she”, but can access the thoughts of any character in the story. This point of view creates the most distance between the reader and any one character of the story.

Literary Devices in Hamlet

Shakespeare’s classic play Hamlet is full of literary devices. Below is an excerpt from the most famous soliloquy from the play (and, indeed, perhaps the most famous soliloquy ever written).

To be, or not to be, that is the question— Whether ’tis Nobler in the mind to suffer The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune, Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles, And by opposing, end them? To die, to sleep— No more; and by a sleep, to say we end The Heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocks That Flesh is heir to? ‘Tis a consummation Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep, To sleep, perchance to Dream; Aye, there’s the rub, For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause.

In just this short excerpt, we are able to find many literary devices at work. There are many instances of repetition, especially of the word “sleep,” which functions as a metaphor for death. There are other metaphors in this excerpt, such as the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” and the “sea of troubles.” Fortune does not literally shoot arrows, and there is no literal sea of troubles, yet the reader or viewer is able to connect the two concepts mentally. In this excerpt, Hamlet is contemplating death, both murder and suicide, and thus the mood is quite somber. The soliloquy provides access to Hamlet’s motivation for whether or not to avenge his father’s death.

Literary Devices in The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is famous for its use of a third person limited narrator who is not the protagonist. This is a relatively uncommon method in which to narrate a novel. Nick Carraway tells the story, and yet the plot revolves around the actions of his friend Jay Gatsby.

There is much juxtaposition in the novel between West Egg and East Egg, and the comparable fortunes of the men who arrive at Jay Gatsby’s famous parties. Fitzgerald also uses irony throughout the novel, including readers’ knowledge of Jay and Daisy’s affair of which Daisy’s husband Tom is unaware (dramatic irony) and Daisy’s decision to stay with Tom at the end of the novel, contrary to readers’ expectations (situational irony).

An allegory uses symbols, characters, or events to represent abstract ideas or themes. It is a narrative that operates on two levels – the surface level and the symbolic level. The surface level tells a story, while the symbolic level conveys a deeper meaning. Allegories are often used to convey complex ideas or moral lessons in a way that is more accessible to the reader. They allow the reader to explore a subject in a more engaging and relatable way, Read More …

Alliteration

Alliteration is the repetition of the same sound or letter at the beginning of multiple words in a sentence or phrase. It is used to create a musical or rhythmic effect, to add emphasis to certain words, or to make a phrase more memorable. Alliteration can be found in poetry, song lyrics, and even in everyday speech. It is often used for its poetic qualities, to create a sense of harmony or to draw attention to certain words or ideas. Read More …

An allusion involves referencing or making a brief, indirect reference to a person, place, event, or thing that is outside the text. It is up to the reader to make a connection to the subject being mentioned. Allusions can be direct or indirect, and are often used to add complexity and depth to a narrative, to create a sense of familiarity or nostalgia, or to establish a connection between the author and the reader. Examples of allusion: “She had a Read More …

Amplification

Amplification involves expanding upon a word or phrase in order to clarify, emphasize, or add detail. By repeating or elaborating upon a word or phrase, amplification can create a sense of importance, urgency, or emotional impact, and can be a powerful tool for persuasion or argumentation. Amplification can also be used to add richness and depth to a narrative, by providing additional information or detail that can help to create a more vivid and immersive world for the reader. Examples Read More …

An anagram is a literary device that involves rearranging the letters of a word, phrase, or sentence to create a new word or phrase. The resulting words or phrases usually have some connection or relevance to the original word or phrase. An anagram is a form of wordplay that allows the writer to infuse mystery and a little interactive fun in the writing so that the reader can decipher the actual word on their own and discover a depth of Read More …

Analogy involves drawing a comparison between two things in order to clarify or explain something. Analogies are often used to help readers understand complex or abstract ideas by comparing them to something more familiar. Examples of analogy: Life is like a rollercoaster, with its ups and downs. Love is like a rose, delicate and beautiful but with thorns that can hurt. The human brain is like a computer, processing and storing information. Writing is like painting a picture, using words Read More …

Anastrophe is a form of literary device wherein the order of the noun and the adjective in the sentence is exchanged. In standard parlance and writing the adjective comes before the noun but when one is employing an anastrophe the noun is followed by the adjective. This reversed order creates a dramatic impact and lends weight to the description offered by the adjective. Examples of anastrophe: “Excited, the children were” – In this sentence, the usual subject-verb-object order is inverted, Read More …

Anecdote is a literary device that involves a short and often personal story or account that is used to illustrate a particular point or theme. Anecdotes can be humorous, serious, or poignant, and can be found in various forms of literature, from memoirs and essays to speeches and advertising. They are often used to create a sense of connection or empathy with the audience, and can be a powerful tool for conveying complex ideas and emotions in a simple and Read More …

Anthropomorphism

Anthropomorphism is a literary device that involves attributing human characteristics, emotions, or behaviors to non-human entities, such as animals, objects, or natural phenomena. It is used to create a sense of familiarity or empathy with the audience, and can make non-human entities more relatable and understandable. It can also be used to make a particular point or to convey a certain message, such as the idea that animals have personalities or that objects can have a life of their own. Read More …

Antithesis involves the writer employing two sentences of contrasting meanings in close proximity to one another. Whether they are words or phrases of the same sentence, an antithesis is used to create a stark contrast using two divergent elements that come together to create one uniform whole. An antithesis plays on the complementary property of opposites to create one vivid picture. The purpose of using an antithesis in literature is to create a balance between opposite qualities and lend a Read More …

Aphorism is a literary device that refers to a concise and memorable statement that expresses a universal truth or a wise observation about life. Aphorisms are often used to convey complex ideas in a simple and direct way, and can be found in various forms of literature, from poetry and prose to speeches and advertising. They are often used as a form of advice or guidance, and can offer insights into human nature, morality, and the human condition. Aphorisms are Read More …

Archetype refers to a universal symbol or pattern that recurs in myths, stories, and other forms of literature across different cultures and time periods. Archetypes can be characters, motifs, themes, or symbols that represent a particular idea, trait, or experience that is shared by humans. They are often used to create a sense of familiarity or resonance with the audience, and can convey complex meanings and emotions in a simple and direct way. Examples of archetype: The Hero – This Read More …

Assonance refers to repetition of sounds produced by vowels within a sentence or phrase. In this regard assonance can be understood to be a kind of alliteration. What sets it apart from alliteration is that it is the repetition of only vowel sounds. Assonance is the opposite of consonance, which implies repetitive usage of consonant sounds. Examples of assonance: “The light of the fire is a sight” – In this sentence, the repetition of the long “i” sound in “light,” Read More …

Asyndeton involves the deliberate omission of conjunctions (such as “and”, “or”, and “but”) between words, phrases, or clauses in a sentence. It is often used to create a sense of speed, urgency, or emphasis, by creating a rapid and staccato rhythm in the language. Asyndeton can also be used to create a sense of fragmentation or disconnection between ideas or clauses, emphasizing their independence or contrasting nature. Examples of asyndeton: “I came, I saw, I conquered” – This famous phrase Read More …

Authorial Intrusion

Authorial intrusion is a literary device in which the author directly addresses the reader, interrupting the narrative flow of the text. It involves breaking the fourth wall and momentarily stepping out of the story to offer commentary, explanation, or personal opinion. This technique is often used to provide additional context or clarification, to create a sense of intimacy or connection with the reader, or to convey the author’s worldview. Authorial intrusion can be found in various forms of literature, from Read More …

Bibliomancy

Bibliomancy involves using books or texts as a means of divination or seeking guidance. It is a form of fortune-telling that involves opening a book at random and interpreting the words or passage that one’s finger lands on. Bibliomancy has a long history, and has been used by various cultures and religions throughout the centuries. It is often associated with spiritual or mystical practices, and is used as a means of seeking guidance or insight from a higher power or Read More …

Bildungsroman

Bildungsroman refers to a novel or story that tells the coming-of-age or development of a young protagonist. This genre typically follows the protagonist’s journey from youth to adulthood and the various challenges and experiences that shape their personal growth and development. The term “Bildungsroman” is a German word that translates to “novel of education” or “novel of formation,” emphasizing the educational and developmental aspects of the genre. Examples of bildungsroman: “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini – The story follows Read More …

Cacophony is a literary device that refers to the use of harsh, discordant, or jarring sounds in language, often for artistic effect. It involves intentionally using words or phrases that create a harsh or grating sound when spoken, such as words with harsh consonants, repeated syllables, or unusual combinations of sounds. Cacophony can create a sense of chaos, conflict, or discomfort in the language, and is often used to evoke a particular emotion or tone in a literary work. Examples Read More …

Caesura is a pause or break in a line of poetry or prose, usually marked by a punctuation mark or a natural rhythm of speech. This pause can be used to create emphasis, contrast, or a sense of division or separation between different parts of a sentence or verse. In poetry, caesura is often used to create a sense of rhythm and structure, and can be found in various forms of verse, such as haiku, sonnets, and blank verse. Caesura Read More …

Characterization

Characterization refers to the process by which a writer reveals the personality, traits, and motivations of a character in a story. This can be accomplished through various means, including direct description, dialogue, actions, and interactions with other characters. Characterization is a fundamental element of storytelling, as it allows readers to understand and relate to the characters in a narrative. It also helps to drive the plot, as character traits and motivations often shape the decisions and actions taken by characters. Read More …

Chiasmus involves the repetition of words or grammatical structures in reverse order to create a parallel and balanced phrase or sentence. This device creates a symmetrical and memorable effect in the language, often used for emphasis or to add a poetic or rhetorical quality to the writing. Chiasmus can involve a range of linguistic elements, such as words, phrases, clauses, or even entire sentences. Examples of chiasmus: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can Read More …

Circumlocution

Circumlocution is a literary device that involves the use of indirect or roundabout language to express an idea, often with the intention of being more polite, tactful, or evasive. Rather than stating something directly, circumlocution involves using a series of words or phrases to hint at or imply the intended meaning. This device can be used to convey a variety of emotions, from diplomacy and politeness to sarcasm and criticism. Circumlocution is often used in literature, particularly in dialogue and Read More …

Conflict is the struggle between opposing forces in a story, such as characters, ideas, or emotions. Conflict is a fundamental element of plot, and it drives the narrative forward by creating tension and drama. There are several types of conflict in literature, including internal conflict (a struggle within a character’s own mind or emotions), external conflict (a struggle between a character and an outside force), and interpersonal conflict (a struggle between two or more characters). Conflict can be used to Read More …

Connotation

Connotation refers to the emotional, cultural, and social associations that are attached to a word, beyond its literal definition. Unlike denotation, which is the objective, dictionary definition of a word, connotation includes the subjective and often implicit meanings that words can carry based on the context in which they are used. Connotations can be positive, negative, or neutral, and can be influenced by factors such as culture, history, and personal experience. Examples of connotation: “The smell of fresh-cut grass reminded Read More …

Consonance is a literary device that involves the repetition of consonant sounds, typically at the end of words or stressed syllables within words. Unlike alliteration, which repeats the initial sounds of words, consonance emphasizes the similarity of consonant sounds throughout a phrase or sentence, creating a rhythmic and musical effect. This device is often used in poetry and prose to add emphasis to certain words, create a specific mood or tone, or to simply make the language more memorable and Read More …

Denotation refers to the literal or dictionary definition of a word, without any additional connotation or associated meanings. It is the objective and factual meaning of a word, rather than its emotional, cultural, or symbolic significance. Denotation can be used deliberately by authors to create precision and clarity in their writing, or to convey a specific message or tone. Examples of denotation: “They built a house.” In the above sentence, house is meant literally as in a building where a Read More …

Deus ex Machina

Deus ex machina is a plot device in which a seemingly unsolvable problem or conflict is resolved suddenly and unexpectedly by the introduction of a new character, event, or object. This resolution is often contrived, improbable, or artificial and does not arise organically from the story. The term originates from ancient Greek theater, where a god would be lowered onto the stage by a machine to resolve the conflicts of the play. Deus ex machina is often considered a flawed Read More …

Diction is the author’s choice and use of words in a literary work. It encompasses the author’s style of writing and their selection of words, phrases, and expressions that convey a particular tone or mood. Diction can be formal or informal, abstract or concrete, technical or colloquial, and it can have a significant impact on the reader’s interpretation of the work. An author’s diction can reflect their purpose, audience, and the message they are trying to convey. Examples of diction: Read More …

Doppelganger

Doppelganger refers to the appearance of a character that is a double or counterpart to another character in the same story. The doppelganger is usually similar in appearance and sometimes also in personality, but with a significant difference that highlights the contrasting traits of the two characters. This literary device is often used to create tension or suspense in a story, as the doppelganger may be a harbinger of danger or foreshadow a character’s downfall. The doppelganger is a powerful Read More …

Ekphrastic involves the description or interpretation of a visual work of art in a written form, such as a poem, a story, or an essay. The aim of ekphrastic writing is to convey the meaning or significance of the artwork to the reader, often by exploring themes or ideas that are suggested by the work. Ekphrastic writing can help to create a deeper appreciation of the visual arts by providing an alternative perspective or interpretation of the artwork. Examples of Read More …

An epilogue appears at the end of a book, play, or other written work. It is a section that provides additional information, reflection, or commentary on the events that have unfolded throughout the work. Epilogues can take many forms, including letters, diary entries, or prose. They are often used to tie up loose ends in the narrative, provide closure for the reader, or offer final thoughts on the themes or messages of the work. Epilogues are a useful device for Read More …

Epithet involves the use of a descriptive word or phrase that highlights a particular characteristic of a person, place, or thing. Epithets are often used to create a more vivid and memorable image in the reader’s mind, and to emphasize a certain aspect of the subject. They can be either positive or negative, depending on the intended effect. Epithets are remarkable in that they can become a part of common parlance over time. Examples of epithet: “Swift-footed Achilles” – Homer, Read More …

Euphemism uses mild or indirect words or expressions to replace ones that are considered too harsh, blunt, or offensive. Euphemisms are often used to convey delicate or sensitive topics, such as death, sex, bodily functions, or social taboos, in a more polite or socially acceptable manner. They can also be used to avoid causing offense or discomfort to the listener or reader. Examples of euphemism: “He passed away” instead of “He died” – a common euphemism for death. “She’s expecting” Read More …

Euphony is refers to the use of words and phrases that are pleasing to the ear and create a harmonious, melodious effect in language. Euphony can be achieved through a variety of techniques, including the use of alliteration, assonance, consonance, and onomatopoeia. It is often used in poetry and other forms of creative writing to create a sense of musicality and beauty in language. Euphony can also be used to convey a sense of calmness, peace, and tranquility, and to Read More …

Faulty Parallelism

Faulty parallelism is a literary device that involves an incorrect or inconsistent use of parallel structure in a sentence or passage. Parallel structure is the repetition of similar grammatical forms or patterns within a sentence or passage, which creates a sense of balance and symmetry. Faulty parallelism occurs when the structures being repeated are not truly parallel, leading to confusion or awkwardness in the writing. This can include errors in verb tense, subject-verb agreement, or use of conjunctions. Faulty parallelism Read More …

Flashback involves a shift in the narrative to a scene from an earlier time. It is a technique used to provide background information or to reveal important details about the plot or characters. Flashbacks can take many forms, including memories, dreams, or even historical events. Examples of flashback: In Toni Morrison’s novel “Beloved,” the character Sethe has several flashbacks to her time as a slave and the traumatic events that led to her escape. In Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre,” the Read More …

Foil is a literary device that involves the use of a character who contrasts with another character in order to highlight certain qualities or traits of the other character. The foil character is often portrayed as a contrast to the protagonist or another important character in the story. This contrast can be used to emphasize the differences between the two characters, highlight certain themes or motifs, or provide a better understanding of the protagonist’s qualities. Foil characters can be similar Read More …

Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing refers to the use of clues or hints to suggest what will happen later in the story. It is a way for authors to create anticipation and build suspense by hinting at future events or outcomes. Foreshadowing can take many forms, including symbolic objects or actions, dialogue, or descriptions of setting or characters. It is often used in literature, particularly in mystery, suspense, and horror genres, but can be found in all types of writing. By providing subtle hints Read More …

Hubris is a literary device that refers to excessive pride or arrogance that leads to a character’s downfall. It is a common theme in literature, particularly in tragic plays and epic poetry. Characters with hubris often have an inflated sense of their own abilities or importance, and they disregard the warnings of others or the consequences of their actions. They may believe that they are invincible or above the laws of the gods or society. Hubris is often used to Read More …

Hyperbaton involves the deliberate rearrangement of words in a sentence to create a different meaning or emphasis. This can include changing the order of adjectives, adverbs, or verbs, and can involve splitting a word or phrase between two parts of a sentence. Examples of hyperbaton: “To die, to sleep— To sleep, perchance to dream—” – This line from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” uses hyperbaton to emphasize the repetition of “to sleep”. “Of man’s first disobedience, and the fruit Of that forbidden tree Read More …

Hyperbole is a literary device that involves using exaggerated statements or claims to emphasize a point or create a dramatic effect. It is an intentional exaggeration that is not meant to be taken literally, but rather used to make a point or create a vivid image in the reader’s mind. Hyperbole can be used to express strong emotions, create humor, or to emphasize a particular point in a text. Examples of hyperbole: In “The Odyssey” by Homer, the protagonist Odysseus Read More …

An idiom is a figure of speech that has a different meaning from the literal definition of the words used. Idioms are commonly used in language and are often specific to a particular culture or region. They can be used to express a wide range of emotions, ideas, and concepts, from humor and sarcasm to affection and respect. Idioms can take many forms, including similes, metaphors, and hyperbole. Examples of idioms: “Break a leg” – This idiom is used to Read More …

Internal Rhyme

Internal rhyme is a literary device in which two or more words within the same line of poetry rhyme with each other. This is different from end rhyme, which occurs at the end of a line of poetry. Internal rhyme is often used to create a musical or rhythmic effect in poetry, and can also serve to connect ideas or reinforce themes. Internal rhyme can be subtle or pronounced, and can occur with different types of rhyme, such as identical Read More …

Inversion involves reversing the usual word order of a sentence to create a different effect or emphasis. This can involve placing the verb before the subject or using a different word order to create a more dramatic or poetic effect. Inversion can be used to create emphasis, suspense, or to draw attention to a particular word or phrase. Examples of inversion: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” – This Read More …

Imagery uses sensory details to create a vivid and concrete description of a scene, object, person, or idea. It appeals to the reader’s senses of sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell, and is used to create a specific mood or atmosphere in a literary work. By using descriptive language, similes, metaphors, and other literary techniques, imagery helps the reader to visualize and experience the story in a more immersive way Examples of imagery: “She walks in beauty, like the night Read More …

Irony is contradiction between what is said or done and what is actually meant or expected. It is often used to create a humorous, dramatic, or sarcastic effect, or to highlight a discrepancy between appearance and reality. Irony can take many forms, including verbal irony, situational irony, and dramatic irony. Verbal irony involves saying something that is the opposite of what is meant, while situational irony occurs when events turn out differently than expected. Examples of irony: “Oedipus Rex” by Read More …

Juxtaposition

Juxtaposition involves placing two contrasting things or ideas side by side to highlight their differences or similarities. Juxtaposition can be used to create irony, tension, or humor, or to highlight social or political commentary. It can be used to compare and contrast characters, settings, themes, or ideas. Examples of juxtaposition: In “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger, the main character Holden Caulfield is described as both cynical and idealistic, which creates a juxtaposition of conflicting personality traits. In Read More …

The use of kennings in literature is characteristically related to works in Old English poetry where the author would use a twist of words, figure of speech or magic poetic phrase or a newly created compound sentence or phrase to refer to a person, object, place, action or idea. The use of imagery and indicative, direct and indirect references to substitute the proper, formal name of the subject is known as kennings. The use of kennings was also prevalent in Read More …

litotes is a rhetorical device that is used to make an understatement by negating the opposite of what is being said. It is a form of understatement that can be used to create a subtle or ironic effect. By using a double negative or negating the opposite of what is being said, litotes can add nuance, complexity, or irony to a statement. It is often used in literature to express modesty, soften criticism, or create a sense of humor or Read More …

Malapropism

Malapropism is a figure of speech in which a word is used incorrectly in place of a word that sounds similar but has a different meaning. It is often used for humorous effect, as the resulting phrase or sentence can be nonsensical or absurd. The term “malapropism” comes from the character Mrs. Malaprop in Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s play The Rivals, who frequently used incorrect words to humorous effect. Malapropisms can be intentional or unintentional, and they can occur in both Read More …

A metaphor asserts that one thing is another thing, even though the two things are not literally the same. Unlike simile, which uses “like” or “as” to make a comparison, a metaphor creates a direct relationship between the two things being compared. Examples of metaphor: “The world is a stage, and we are all merely players.” – William Shakespeare “The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor.” – Alfred Noyes “My life is a desert, barren and Read More …

Metonymy is a literary device that involves using a word or phrase to represent something else that is closely associated with it, often based on context or cultural significance. For example, using the phrase “the White House” to refer to the U.S. government or “the crown” to refer to the monarchy. Metonymy is often used in literature to create vivid and concise descriptions. Examples of metonymy: “The Oval Office was in turmoil.” This example from a news article uses the Read More …

Mood is the emotional atmosphere or feeling that a work of literature creates for the reader. It is often created through the use of descriptive language, setting, tone, and imagery, and can be used to convey a wide range of emotions, from joy and excitement to fear and despair. The mood of a work of literature can be crucial in creating a sense of engagement and immersion for the reader, and can help to establish the tone and theme of Read More …

A motif is a recurring element, image, or idea in a work of literature that has symbolic significance and contributes to the overall meaning of the work. A motif can be a word, phrase, object, or concept that appears repeatedly throughout the text, and can help to develop themes, characters, and plot. Motifs can add depth, complexity, and unity to a work of literature, and can create a sense of continuity and coherence. Examples of motif: In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Read More …

Negative Capability

Negative capability is a literary concept introduced by poet John Keats, which refers to the ability of a writer to embrace uncertainty, doubt, and ambiguity in their work. It involves the willingness to accept and tolerate contradictions and paradoxes without seeking a definitive resolution. Negative capability is a way of thinking that emphasizes the value of imagination and intuition, and allows for multiple interpretations and meanings in a work of literature. Examples of negative capability: The best references of the Read More …

Nemesis refers to a character or force that is an opponent or enemy of the protagonist in a work of literature. This character or force represents the main obstacle or challenge that the protagonist must overcome in order to achieve their goals. Nemesis is often used to create tension and conflict in a story, and to challenge the protagonist’s beliefs, values, or abilities. Nemesis can take many forms, from a rival character to a natural disaster or societal structure. Examples Read More …

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is a literary device that involves the use of words that imitate the sound of the object or action they refer to. These words are intended to evoke the sound that they describe and create a sensory experience for the reader. For example, words such as “buzz,” “hiss,” and “boom” are examples of onomatopoeia. This literary device is often used in poetry, where it can create vivid images and sensory experiences, but it can also be used in prose Read More …

An oxymoron uses the combination of two contradictory terms to create a new meaning or effect. This device is often used to create a sense of irony or humor, and to emphasize the contrast between two seemingly opposite concepts. An oxymoron can also be used to convey a deeper meaning or message, and to challenge the reader’s assumptions about the world. Examples of oxymoron: “Jumbo shrimp” “Living dead” “Deafening silence” “Open secret” “Act naturally”

A paradox involves a statement or situation that contradicts itself or seems to go against common sense. It is often used to create an element of surprise or confusion in a work of literature, and to challenge the reader’s assumptions about the world. A paradox can also be used to highlight an underlying truth or irony in a situation, and to convey a deeper meaning or message. This device is commonly used in poetry, prose, and drama, and can add Read More …

Pathetic Fallacy

Pathetic fallacy is a literary device in which human emotions, traits, or intentions are attributed to inanimate objects or natural phenomena. This device is often used to create a sense of mood or atmosphere in a work of literature, and to reflect the emotional state of the characters or events. Pathetic fallacy can also be used to create symbolism and allegory in a work, and to enhance the overall meaning and impact of the writing. This device is commonly used Read More …

Periodic Structure

Periodic structure involves structuring a sentence or paragraph so that the main point or idea is not revealed until the end. This creates a sense of suspense and anticipation for the reader, as they are kept in suspense until the end of the sentence or paragraph. Periodic structure is often used in persuasive writing, speeches, and other forms of rhetoric to create a sense of drama and emphasize key points. By delaying the reveal of the main idea, writers can Read More …

Periphrasis

Periphrasis uses a roundabout or indirect way of expressing something, rather than stating it directly. It involves using more words than necessary to describe a simple concept, often to create a more elaborate or poetic effect. Periphrasis is commonly used in poetry, but can be found in other forms of writing as well. By using periphrasis, writers can create a more complex and nuanced meaning, or convey a sense of richness or depth in their writing. Examples of periphrasis: “The Read More …

Personification

Personification gives human qualities, characteristics, and emotions to non-human objects, animals, or concepts. It is a form of figurative language that uses metaphorical language to convey meaning and create vivid imagery. By personifying non-human entities, writers can help readers relate to them on a more personal level and make abstract concepts more concrete. Personification is often used in poetry and fiction, but can be found in many forms of writing Examples of personification: “The wind howled through the night, rattling Read More …

Plot is the sequence of events that make up a story. It includes the main events, conflicts, and resolutions that move the story forward and create tension and drama for the reader. The plot is typically structured around a central conflict or problem that the characters must confront and overcome, and is often divided into distinct acts or chapters. A well-crafted plot can engage the reader and create a sense of emotional investment in the story, while also conveying important Read More …

Point of View

Point of view refers to the perspective from which a story is told. It determines the narrator’s relationship with the characters, events, and themes of the story. There are several types of point of view in literature, including first-person, second-person, and third-person, which can be further divided into limited or omniscient perspectives. Each point of view has its own advantages and disadvantages, and authors may choose a particular point of view based on the needs of their story. Examples of Read More …

Polysyndeton

Polysyndeton involves the repeated use of conjunctions (such as “and,” “or,” or “but”) to create a sense of emphasis, rhythm, or continuity in a sentence or passage. Unlike asyndeton, which omits conjunctions for effect, polysyndeton adds extra conjunctions to create a deliberate effect. This can give a sense of accumulation, amplification, or urgency to the words being connected. Polysyndeton is a common device in both prose and poetry, and can be used to create a range of effects, from the Read More …

Portmanteau

A portmanteau combines two or more words or parts of words to create a new word with a blended meaning. The term “portmanteau” itself is a combination of the French words “porter” (to carry) and “manteau” (cloak), and was coined by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-Glass. Portmanteaus are often used in literature and popular culture to create new words that express a concept more succinctly than existing words can. They can also add humor or playfulness to language and Read More …

A prologue is used to introduce a story or play, often providing background information and setting the stage for the events to come. It is typically found at the beginning of a piece of literature and is often written in a different style or tone than the rest of the work. Prologues can be used to establish the themes and tone of the work, introduce the main characters or conflicts, or provide historical or cultural context for the story. They Read More …

Puns play with words in a humorous or clever way by using a word or phrase that has multiple meanings, or by using words that sound similar but have different meanings. Puns are often used to create wordplay and humor in literature, jokes, and advertisements. They can be used to create double entendres, where a phrase can have both a literal and a figurative meaning. Puns are a common form of wordplay that can add wit and humor to writing Read More …

Rhyme Scheme

Rhyme scheme refers to the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem or song. It is often represented by a series of letters, where each letter corresponds to a particular rhyme. For example, the rhyme scheme of a poem might be ABAB, meaning that the first and third lines rhyme with each other, as do the second and fourth lines. Rhyme scheme can be used to create a sense of structure and order in a Read More …

Rhythm and Rhyme

Rhythm and rhyme are two closely related literary devices that are often used in poetry and song lyrics. Rhythm refers to the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of verse, which can create a musical or metrical effect. Rhyme, on the other hand, refers to the repetition of sounds at the end of words, which can create a pleasing or memorable effect. Together, rhythm and rhyme can enhance the musicality of language and add emphasis and structure Read More …

The use of satire in literature refers to the practice of making fun of a human weakness or character flaw. The use of satire is often inclusive of a need or decision of correcting or bettering the character that is on the receiving end of the satire. In general, even though satire might be humorous and may “make fun”, its purpose is not to entertain and amuse but actually to derive a reaction of contempt from the reader. Examples of Read More …

Setting refers to the time, place, and environment in which a story takes place. It includes physical and geographical details, historical context, and cultural background, all of which can shape the characters and events in the story. The setting can affect the mood and atmosphere of a story and help to create a sense of authenticity and realism. By using specific details and descriptions, writers can transport readers to different places and times and immerse them in the world of Read More …

Simile is a literary device that involves comparing two things using “like” or “as” to create a vivid and imaginative picture in the reader’s mind. By likening one thing to another, similes can enhance a description, add depth to a character, or convey a specific mood or tone. Similes are often used in poetry, but they can also be found in prose and everyday speech. Examples of simile: “Her smile was like sunshine on a rainy day.” – This simile Read More …

Spoonerism is a literary device in which the initial sounds or letters of two or more words are switched to create a new and often humorous meaning. It is named after the Reverend William Archibald Spooner, who was known for accidentally mixing up the sounds of words while speaking. Spoonerisms can occur intentionally or unintentionally and are often used for comedic effect. They can also be used to draw attention to a particular word or phrase, or to create a Read More …

A stanza is used in poetry to create a division within a poem. It is a group of lines that are separated from other groups of lines by spacing, indentation, or other visual cues. Stanzas are often used to structure a poem, to create a sense of rhythm, to emphasize certain words or ideas, or to indicate a change in tone or subject matter. The number of lines in a stanza can vary, and different types of stanzas have different Read More …

Stream of Consciousness

Stream of consciousness is used to depict the continuous flow of thoughts, feelings, and sensations in a character’s mind. It is often used in modernist literature and is characterized by a lack of linear structure, punctuation, or grammar rules. The technique seeks to replicate the disjointed, fragmented, and often chaotic nature of the human mind. It can be used to convey a character’s innermost thoughts and emotions, providing the reader with insight into their psyche. By immersing the reader in Read More …

Suspense creates a feeling of tension or anticipation in the reader. It is often used in literature, film, and other storytelling mediums to engage the audience and keep them invested in the story. Suspense is created by withholding information or revealing it slowly, creating a sense of mystery or uncertainty about what will happen next. This can be achieved through various techniques such as foreshadowing, cliffhangers, and dramatic irony. By using suspense, writers can heighten the emotional impact of their Read More …

Symbol is a literary device where an object, action, or event represents a larger concept, idea or emotion. A symbol can be a concrete object, like a rose, or an abstract concept, like freedom, and it carries a deeper meaning beyond its literal interpretation. Symbols are used in literature to create layers of meaning and to convey themes, ideas, or messages to the reader in a more subtle way. Through the use of symbols, writers can give their greater emotional Read More …

Synecdoche uses a part of something to represent the whole, or vice versa. It is a type of figurative language that can create a more specific or impactful image, and is often used to highlight a particular aspect of the thing being described. For example, referring to a car as “wheels” or a worker as “hands” are both examples of synecdoche. Synecdoche can also be used to refer to a category of things using a specific example, such as saying Read More …

Synesthesia

Synesthesia involves the blending or crossing of two or more sensory experiences or perceptions, such as sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. It is often used to create vivid and evocative descriptions that appeal to multiple senses and create a more immersive reading experience for the audience. Synesthesia can be achieved through the use of metaphors, similes, and other forms of figurative language that compare or combine sensory experiences, such as “the sound of her voice was like velvet” or Read More …

Syntax refers a  to the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language. It is concerned with the structure of language, including the rules and principles that govern how words are combined to create meaning. Syntax can be used to create a range of effects, such as emphasizing certain words or ideas, creating rhythm and flow, and conveying tone and mood. The use of syntax in literature can help to establish a particular style or voice, Read More …

Theme refers to the underlying message or meaning of a work of literature. It is the central idea or insight that the author is attempting to convey to the reader through the characters, plot, and other elements of the text. Themes can be expressed in a variety of ways, such as through symbolism, imagery, and metaphor, and can explore complex issues such as love, death, power, identity, and morality. The use of themes in literature can serve to provide a Read More …

Tone refers to the author’s or narrator’s attitude towards the subject matter or audience. It is conveyed through the use of language, word choice, syntax, and other stylistic elements, and can create a specific emotional response in the reader. Tone can be used to convey a wide range of emotions, such as humor, irony, sadness, anger, or nostalgia, and can shape the reader’s interpretation of the text. The use of tone in literature can serve to emphasize themes and ideas, Read More …

Tragedy depicts a character’s downfall or destruction, usually as a result of their own actions or flaws. Tragic narratives often involve a central character who possesses admirable qualities but is ultimately undone by their own hubris, ignorance, or circumstance. Tragedies typically evoke feelings of pity, sorrow, and even fear in the reader or audience, as the character’s fate is often seen as inevitable or unavoidable. The use of tragedy in literature can serve to explore universal themes such as morality, Read More …

Understatement

Understatement is used to convey a situation or description that is less significant, intense, or extreme than it really is. It involves deliberately downplaying or minimizing the importance or impact of something, often for comedic or ironic effect. Understatement is achieved through the use of language that is less expressive or emotional than what is expected, and it can create a sense of understated humor, sarcasm, or satire. This technique is often used to subvert expectations and to highlight the Read More …

Verisimilitude

Verisimilitude is used to create the appearance of truth or reality in a work of fiction or nonfiction. It involves presenting characters, events, and settings in a way that is believable and authentic, even if they are fictional or imaginary. Verisimilitude can be achieved through the use of descriptive detail, realistic dialogue, and accurate depictions of social and historical contexts. This technique helps to immerse readers in a story, allowing them to suspend their disbelief and fully engage with the Read More …

Verse refers to a single line or stanza of poetry. It is used to create rhythm, meter, and structure in a poem. Verses are often characterized by their rhyme scheme, syllable count, and the arrangement of stresses and accents. Poets use verses to convey meaning, evoke emotions, and create a musical quality in their writing. A poem may contain multiple verses, each with its own unique structure and purpose. Verses can be used in a variety of poetic forms, from Read More …

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Literary Elements: What are the 7 Elements of Literature?

by Fija Callaghan

Literary elements in storytelling can cause a lot of confusion, and even a bit of fear, among new writers. Once you’re able to recognize the literary elements of a story you’ll realize that they’re present in absolutely everything.

All stories are made up of basic structural building blocks such as plot, character, and theme, whether it’s a riveting Friday night TV series, a two-hundred-thousand-word Dickensian novel of redemption, or a trashy paperback about fifty shades of highly inappropriate workplace relations. Once you understand how these elements of story take shape from our literary elements list, you’ll be able to use them to explore entire worlds of your own.

What are literary elements?

Literary elements are the common structural elements that every story needs to be successful. The seven elements of literature are character, setting, perspective, plot, conflict, theme, and voice. These elements are the building blocks of good stories because if any are missing, the story will feel incomplete and unsatisfying. Applying these elements is critical to crafting an effective story.

Here’s an example of why literary elements matter in storytelling:

The cat sat on the chair is an event. A small, quiet happenstance with a beginning and an ending so closely entwined that you almost can’t tell one from the other.

The cat sat on the dog’s chair is a story.

Why? Because with the addition of one little word, suddenly this quiet happenstance is glowing with possibility. We have our characters—a cat and a dog, whose relationship is gently hinted at with the promise of being further explored. We have our setting—a chair, which has taken on new importance as the central axis of this moment. And, perhaps most importantly, we have our conflict. An inciting moment where two characters want something and we know that these desires can’t exist side by side. This is a story.

All stories come from these basic building blocks that we call “literary elements.” Without them, seeds of a story like this one can’t grow into rich, full narratives.

You may already be able to identify some or all of these literary elements from the stories you’ve experienced throughout your life, whether that’s through reading them or from watching them in films or on television. Once you know what these literary elements of a story are and how they fit together, you’ll be able to create vivid, engaging stories from your own little seeds.

What’s the difference between literary elements vs. literary devices?

Sometimes you’ll see a “literary elements list” or “literary devices list” that toss the two together in one big storytelling melange, but literary elements and literary devices are actually two very distinct things. Let’s take a closer look at each one.

Literary elements

These are things that every single story needs to have in order to exist—they’re the architectural foundation. Without them, your story is like a house without any supports; it’ll collapse into a sad, lifeless pile of rubble, and you’ll hear your parents tossing around unfeeling words like “day job” when talking about your writing.

Literary devices

A literary device , on the other hand, refers to the many tools and literary techniques that a writer uses to bring a story to life for the reader. The difference is like the difference between making a home instead of merely building a house.

You can have a very simple story without any literary devices at all, but it would do little other than serve a functional purpose of showing a beginning, middle, and end. Literary devices are what bring that basic story scaffolding to life for the reader. They’re what make the story yours .

Some of the most common literary devices are things like metaphors, similes, imagery, language, and tons more. By experimenting with different literary devices and literary techniques in your own writing, you open up the full expanse of potential in creating literary works.

Once you’ve got a handle on the literary elements that we’re going to show you and how to apply them to your own narrative, you can check out our lesson on popular literary devices to find ways to bring new richness and depth to your work.

The 7 elements of literature

1. character.

The most fundamental of the literary elements, the root of all storytelling, is this: character .

No matter what species your main character belongs to, what their socio-ethno-economic background is, what planet they come from, or what time period they occupy, your characters will have innate needs and desires that we as human beings can see within ourselves. The longing for independence, the desire to be loved, the need to feel safe are all things that most of us have experienced and can relate to when presented through the filter of story.

The first step to using this literary element is easy, and what most new writers think of when they start thinking about characters. it’s simply asking yourself, who is this person? (And again, I’m using “person” in the broadest possible sense.) What makes them interesting? Why is this protagonist someone I might enjoy reading about?

The second step is a little harder. Ask yourself, what does this person want? To be chosen for their high school basketball team? To get accepted into a university across the country? To find a less stressful job?

The third step is the most difficult, and the most important. Ask yourself what they need . Do they want to join the basketball team because they need the approval of their parents? Do they want to move across the country because they need a fresh start in a new place? Do they want a new job because they need to feel that their contribution is valued?

Once you’re able to answer these questions you’ll already feel the bones of a narrative taking shape.

Types of characters you’ll find in every story

Since character is the primary building block of all good literature, you’ll want your character to be as engaging and true to real life as can be. Let’s take a quick look at some of the different character types you’ll encounter in your story world.

Protagonist

Your protagonist is the main character of your story. Often they’ll be the hero, but not always—antiheroes and complex morally grey leads make for interesting plots, too. This is the character through which your reader goes on a journey and learns the valuable lessons illustrated in your themes (more on theme down below).

Your antagonist is the person standing in the way of your protagonist’s goal. These two central characters have opposing desires, and it’s the conflict born out of that opposition that drives the events of the plot. Sometimes an antagonist will be a villain bent on world destruction, and sometimes it’ll be an average person who simply sees the world in a different way.

Supporting characters

Once you have those two essential leads, your story needs its supporting cast. This is where you get to have fun with other characters like friends, love interests, family dynamics, and a whole range of character archetypes that bring your story to life.

Foil characters

As a bonus, many stories may also feature foil characters. A foil character in literature refers to two characters who may or may not be at odds with each other, but are opposite in every way. This literary technique works effectively to highlight aspects of each character. Your foil characters may be the protagonist and the antagonist, or the protagonist and one of the supporting characters, or both.

Your setting is where , when , and to some degree how your story takes place. It’s also your character’s relationship with the world around them. A story setting might be as small as a cupboard under the stairs, or it might be as wide and vast as twenty thousand leagues of endless grey sea. A short story might have only one setting, the heart of where the story takes place; longer works such as novels will probably have several. You can use all five senses to develop your setting.

Setting often gets overlooked as a less important literary element than character, plot, or conflict, but in reality a setting can drive all of these things. So much of who we are is shaped by the social setting we grew up, the places we spend our time, the time period we grew up in, and major events of the time that impacted our cultural awareness. Your characters are no different.

Someone who has spent their life on a sprawling country estate bordering a dark and spooky wood will naturally grow into someone very different than someone living in the narrow back alleys of a noisy, gritty city—just as someone living in the Great Depression of the 1930s will grow to develop different habits and perspectives than someone living in the technological advancements of the late 1990s.

Layers of setting to explore in your writing

Setting isn’t just about place—it’s about building your story world from the ground up. Here are the three different layers of setting you’ll need to consider when crafting your tale.

Temporal settings

Temporal setting refers to the time in which your story is set. This means the period of history—whether that’s in contemporary times, at the turn of the century, or in a distant future—as well as the season of the year, time of day or night, and point in your protagonist’s life cycle.

Environmental settings

This is the wider world of your story—what fantasy and science-fiction writers call “worldbuilding.” It refers to the natural landscape your characters find themselves in as well as cultural, political, and socioeconomic values and the way your characters interact with those values.

Individual settings

This is the fine details of setting, and what we most often tend to think about when we consider setting in a story. These are the stages on which your story takes place: an elementary school, a police station, a city park, a pirate ship. Your story needs the support of temporal and environmental setting, but individual settings are what really bring the world to life.

3. Narrative

The way you’re telling your story to the reader is as essential as the story that’s being told. In literary terms, narrative is the perspective from which the events of the story are unfolding and the way that you, as the author, have chosen to communicate them.

Every single character brings a different perspective to the story. They may have prejudices, limitations, prior knowledge, or deep character flaws that colour the way they see the world around them.

Some stories stay with only one character throughout the entire journey; others may explore the thoughts and feelings of many. As an exercise, you may want to try writing a story from multiple perspectives to gain a better understanding of your story world. You’d be surprised how much you can learn about your characters that you never imagined.

Types of PoV used in fiction writing

Point of view, or PoV, is one of the most important choices a writer makes when beginning a new work of fiction. Here’s a quick overview of the different points of view you’ll find in all narratives.

First Person Subjective

First person narratives are written from the character’s point of view (or the PoV of multiple characters) as if they were speaking directly to the reader. You’ll use statements like “I saw a shadow move from the corner of my eye,” or, “and then he told me that it was over.” First person subjective PoV takes the reader into the mind of the character and shows us everything they’re thinking and feeling.

First Person Objective

First person objective is very similar because it’s also from the character’s perspective and uses “I” and “me” statements. The difference is that the objective PoV doesn’t show the character’s internal thoughts and feelings—only their actions. This gives the reader an outside perspective and makes them feel like they’re watching video footage of the story, deducing what’s happening under the surface from the events of the plot.

Second Person

Second person PoV has a lot in common with first person, but instead of being told from the main character’s perspective, it’s told from the reader’s—this allows the reader to become the person telling the story. You may remember this from “Choose Your Own Adventure” books. In second person narration, you’ll use statements like “you turn a corner and find yourself staring at a door you’ve never seen.” This is challenging to do well, but a fun creative exercise for any writer.

Third Person Limited Subjective

Third person points of view are the most classic in literature; they use “he,” “she,” or “they” to follow the characters’ journeys. In a limited subjective point of view, you’ll allow the reader to experience the thoughts and feelings of your protagonist—but no one else. This is a common narrative choice in mystery novels.

Third Person Objective

Third person objective is pretty similar to first person objective, but it uses the third person pronouns. The reader won’t experience anything the characters are thinking or feeling except through their actions and the choices that they make, leaving the true undercurrents of the story to the reader’s imagination.

Third Person Multiple Subjective

This perspective works like third person limited subjective, in that it takes the reader into the minds of the characters using the pronouns “he,” “she,” or “they.” The difference is that the reader gets to see into more than one character—but only one at any given moment. This might involve chapters that alternate between one character and another, or a story that shows two different timelines with protagonists for each one.

Third Person Omniscient

This perspective is very similar to third person multiple subjective, but it allows the reader to see into more than one character’s thoughts in the same moment. The third person omniscient creates a “mental dollhouse” effect in which the internal workings of everyone on stage is exposed to the reader.

In a literary text, the plot is the sequence of events that takes the protagonist on a journey —whether that’s a literal journey from one place to another, a journey in which they learn how something came to be, or a journey in which they learn something about themselves. Some stories may be all of these things.

How your protagonist reacts to the events around them and the choices that they make come from the things they want and the things they need—we looked at that a little bit in character, above. Most of these stories will fall into one of a few classic plot structures that have been shown to resonate with us on a deep, instinctual level. And every one of these plot structures will use several essential plot points.

Important plot points every story needs

There’s a number of different ways to approach the plot of your story, but you’ll find that most of them follow the same general sequence of events from the inciting incident, or the first key plot point, to the denouement. Let’s look at the different stages that a good story will pass through from beginning to end.

Inciting incident

The inciting incident is the event that changes the protagonist’s life and sends them on a different path than the one they were on before. This will be the first major plot point of every story, and is essential for grabbing the reader’s attention. A good example might be if a mysterious new stranger enters the protagonist’s life.

Rising action

During the first half of your story, your characters will encounter several challenges on their way to achieving their goal (the one set into motion by the inciting incident). These “mini battles” form the rising action of a story.

The climax is the great showdown between the protagonist and their adversary, the moment of greatest triumph and greatest loss. Everything your characters have learned through the rising action has led to this moment.

Falling action

After the final battle, your characters need to adjust to the new landscape of their world. During the falling action, you’ll show the reader how the effects of the rising action and the climax reverberate into the characters’ lives.

The denouement is the final scene of any story that wraps up all the lingering threads and answers any unaddressed questions. A well-written denouement will leave the reader feeling satisfied as they close the book.

5. Conflict

When looking at the events that make up your plot, all of the choices your character needs to make will be in response to the literary element we call “conflict.” This makes it one of the most essential literary elements in literature. This might be a conflict with another person, a conflict inside themselves, or a conflict with their environment. It might be all of these things. There’s a reason we close the book after “happily ever after”; once there’s no more conflict, the story has run its course and there’s nothing more to say.

In a story, your protagonist should always have something to fight for. After you’ve determined what they want and what they need most, ask yourself what’s standing in their way. What steps can they take to overcome this obstacle? And—this is a big one— what do they stand to lose if they fail?

How your protagonist reacts to these conflicts shows a lot about who they are as a person. As the story progresses and your character grows, the way they handle these conflicts will probably change—they’ll start taking an active role in moving the story along, rather than a passive one.

Types of conflict that drive your characters

Conflict is essential to a good story, but it can be so much more than simply pitting a hero against a villain. Let’s look at the different kinds of conflict that drive a story forward.

Character vs. Character

Above, we looked at how antagonists can be central characters in a good narrative. This type of conflict sets a person against another person, usually the classic bad guys of literature, and watches their opposing needs play out. These will usually be the main characters of the literary work.

Character vs. Self

Sometimes, a protagonist’s obstacle comes from within. This might be something like addiction, alcoholism, fear, or other forms of self-sabotage. This type of conflict shows the main character fighting and ultimately overcoming their central weakness.

Character vs. Society

This type of conflict sets an individual protagonist against the larger world. Stories that deal in difficult themes like racism, homophobia, misogyny, or class divides often focus on this conflict. (We’ll look a little more at theme down below.)

Character vs. Nature

A beloved mainstay of hollywood blockbusters, this type of conflict sets the protagonist against an impersonal force of the natural world—an animal, a natural disaster, or illness.

Theme as a literary element is something that makes both readers and writers a little cautious. After all, doesn’t worrying about developing and understanding a theme take some of the enjoyment out of stories? Well no, it shouldn’t, because themes are present in all works of art whether they were put there intentionally or not. Theme is simply the sum of what the creator was trying to communicate with their work.

Neil Gaiman approached the idea of theme very nicely by asking one simple question: “What’s it about?” What’s this story really about? Underneath all the explosions and secrets and tense kisses and whatever else makes your plot go forward, maybe it’s really a story about family. Or injustice. Or maybe it’s about being there for your best friend even when they screw up really, really bad.

Contrary to popular belief, your theme isn’t an extra layer you add to give depth and richness to the plot. Your theme is the story’s heart —the reason it exists.

Your central theme probably isn’t where the story comes from, at least not initially. Most likely it’s something you’ll discover along the way as the story’s central message becomes clearer through the actions of your characters. It might be an abstract idea, or a lesson you want to share with the world.

Then, once you find this idea taking shape in your mind, you can double back and add in literary devices, details, figurative language, motifs, and relationships that support this heart of the story. Voilà —now it looks like you knew what you were doing all along.

Examples of classic themes in literature

A story’s theme is the central axis of every literary work. Sometimes you’ll find you have multiple themes present in one story, each supporting and underlining the other. Here’s a list of common themes you’ll find across literature.

Central idea themes

Disillusionment

Opposing principle themes

Good vs. Evil

Individual vs. Society

Life vs. Death

Fate vs. Free Will

Tradition vs. Change

Pride vs. Humility

Justice vs. Depravity

Morality vs. Fear

A writer’s voice is something that no guidebook can give you; it’s simply what’s left after everything that’s not your voice has been worn away.

Think of it this way: the work of new writers is usually a spark of an idea (sometimes original, sometimes not) encrusted with everything they’ve ever read. They may be trying to emulate writers who have written things that they’ve resonated with, or they may have simply absorbed those things subconsciously and are now watching them leak out of their fingers as they write.

That’s not to say that writing literature in the style of other craftsmen before you is a negative thing; in fact, it’s how we learn to master the storytelling craft of our own. This is how we try things and find them delightful, or we try things and find that, for some reason or another, they don’t quite settle into our bones the way we’d like them too. Those pieces get discarded, and we continue to grow.

Every time you write something, you’re essentially working in the dark to smooth down the rough gem that will become your storytelling voice. Little by little it takes shape, and one day you read over something you’ve written and are surprised by the thought, “Hey! That sounds like me .”

There’s no formula to this, unfortunately. A writer develops this core literary element simply by doing, by trying, by experimenting with word choice and by being aware of what works and what doesn’t and why.

Once you have this your stories become something that is intimately yours, and no one else’s, even as you grow and share those stories with the world.

Tips for developing your writer’s voice

A writer’s voice can only be found by practicing your own writing and looking inwards, but here’s a few tips to keep in mind that will help you uncover and refine your signature voice.

Read everything

The best way to find your unique voice as a writer is by reading the work of others who have gone before you. This will help you immerse in different styles, sentence structures, and literary devices to find which ones feel like a natural fit.

Try on other writers

As an exercise, try emulating the style of different writers. By experimenting with the different narrative structures in literary works that you’ve read, you’ll be able to refine the parts that feel like you and discard the ones that don’t.

Experiment with structure

Another great exercise is experimenting with specific story archetypes and writing prompts. By imposing restraints on a piece of narrative work, you’ll be able to see how your own natural writer’s voice breaks through.

How to use literary elements to write a great story

There are as many ways to begin a story as there are storytellers. We’ve reviewed the seven literary elements that are the basic building blocks of all good stories:

We’ve looked at how characters are the lifeblood of every story; how our characters are shaped by their world, or setting; how characters reveal themselves through the events of the plot; how plot is powered by a series made of choices in response to conflict; how the underlying theme of your story is at the heart of every choice your character makes; and how their unique perspective and your unique perspective come together to tell the story in a way that only you can.

The truth is, every single one of these literary elements is an essential piece of a perfect, interwoven whole.

To create a powerful story , review each of these seven literary elements and consciously pay attention to each one as you explore your own writing. The most memorable stories are the ones where the writer has carefully used these seven elements in depth to build a solid storytelling foundation.

When you sit down to write, the idea for a new story can come from any one of these literary elements. It might be a cool new character you want to explore further, a period in time that you’re fascinated by, an event you overhear while sitting at a café, or an underrepresented theme that you want to build a story around so that you can share it with the world.

Once you catch a little glimmer of what your story has the potential to become, the next step is to ask yourself some of the questions we discussed here to see how all of these literary elements will fit together. You can also consider incorporating a simple literary device, or several, to watch the work come to life.

Then you begin. Write things. Reconsider. Begin again. Never throw anything away. Allow yourself the freedom to learn as you go. Trust that there’s something that the world needs to hear locked somewhere inside of you, and you’re uncovering it one layer at a time. Sometimes you’ll feel like your creative spirit is on fire. Sometimes you’ll feel like it’s sitting in a pile of ashes. Both are valid. Have a teapot nearby.

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Literary Elements: A List of 21 Powerful Literary Devices

POSTED ON Oct 25, 2023

Written by Hunter Freeman

Literary elements might sound like a scary technical term, but many people are surprised to learn how commonly these devices are found in everyday life. As an author, literary elements are especially beneficial, and it's helpful to have a list of literary elements next to you as you write to maximize the power of your words.

If you’ve read a book or two, or even listened carefully to some song lyrics, it’s highly likely that you've encountered several literary elements without realizing it. But what is a literary element, and how do you use one successfully in your writing?

To improve your writing and make it more powerful , you’ll need to become closely acquainted with these techniques no matter what book genres you are writing, so you can feel comfortable using them in your stories.

Today we will break down what literary elements are, and give you a list of literary elements examples so you know precisely how to use them.

Need A Fiction Book Outline?

This blog on literary elements will cover:

What is a literary element.

Literary elements, also known as literary devices, are writing techniques used to create artistic special effects that immerse the reader. They are considered the main tools in a writer's toolbox. Popular literary elements examples include allusion, diction, foreshadowing, imagery, metaphors, similes, and personification, which we'll cover more in our list of literary elements below.

What is a literary element used for? You can think of is like adding spice to your writing. Literary elements prevent your book or story from tasting dull and bland to the reader.

What are some literary elements examples?

Some common examples of literary elements that most people are familiar with are metaphors, similes, personification, alliteration, and symbolism . But this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many more elements to consider, with more advanced or less-known devices such as aphorism, archetype, red herring, mood, and more.

The more literary elements you have to use in your arsenal, the more powerful your writing will be.

This will also prevent you from overusing the same literary elements in your writing. While it's natural that as you practice and develop your writing skills, you'll likely stick to a handful of devices that become part of your style, variety is always beneficial – especially for strengthening your writing craft.

Why use literary elements?

It's important to use literary elements in your storytelling to improve your narrating technique. As you become a strong writer and work to continuously improve your writing development , the use of literary elements and other techniques will make you a prolific writer and storyteller.

Maybe you have a love-hate relationship with writing. Maybe you’re of the mind that the more simplistic writing is, the better it is. Maybe you just don’t want to overcomplicate things. We get it!

But if you take a look at most successful writers, both modern authors and classic authors, you’ll find that remarkable writers use literary elements in their work .

Here are the main reasons to use literary devices in your writing:

• They add special effects to your writing. Part of showing, and not telling, through your story involves the use of literary elements and other techniques in your storytelling.
• They help you connect with the reader. You can draw the reader into your story and encourage them to engage with the text. Literary elements can also stimulate the reader's mind, giving them a deeper reading experience.
• They make your writing more interesting to read. No one likes to read a boring story. By incorporating literary techniques in your writing, you add life to your words.
• They convey abstract information. More common in fiction stories, literary elements can help the author convey abstract concepts or information to the reader. They can help communicate specific themes in books without the writer having to directly state the purpose.
• They paint a vivid picture with your words. Literary techniques can help paint a visual picture or image in the reader's imagination. Again, it all comes back to showing the reader what's happening, rather than simply telling.

Authors use literary elements to enhance their creative expression, and to add artistic flair to their writing, which provides an unforgettable reader experience.

Learn how to become an author by studying the greats – the more literature you read, the more you’ll see just how often famous writers rely on literary elements to strengthen their writing.

Common literary elements

The most common literary devices used in literature, art, and everyday language are similes, metaphors, personification, hyperbole, and symbolism.

However, many people don't know the actual names of literary elements, so they don't realize when they encounter them in everyday situations.

While these literary elements are most commonly used, there are numerous other devices that are alive and used by writers often, which we'll cover in the literary elements list.

Tips to use literary elements

As you become familiar with this literary elements list, you’ll find that using these elements in your own writing will come more natural. With practice, you'll soon be able to identify literary devices in your own work-in-progress, as well as the work of other authors and storytellers.

Even if you’re learning how to become a non-fiction author , you’ll want to use literary elements because they are an effective way to captivate readers on any topic.

Here are some tips to use literary elements in your own writing:

• Read the work of other writers. Make it a point to study the craft of other authors whose writing you admire. The more you encounter the natural use of literary elements in others' work, the more familiar you will be with identifying them and learning how to use them in your own writing.
• Don’t overdo it. Remember when we compared literary elements to being a spice? Think of it in terms of how you would use seasoning in an actual recipe. Sprinkle in literary elements – don’t just dump them!
• Make it seem natural. This is an art in itself. You should be strategic about where and how you use literary devices in your writing.
• When in doubt, don’t use literary devices. If you don’t understand exactly how a literary element works, don’t use it. Instead, familiarize yourself with each device first.
• Make it understandable for your readers. Readers shouldn’t have to interrupt their reading to pause and think about what you are trying to say.
• Look for real-life examples. Pay closer attention to the songs, poetry, screenplays, and books you encounter in everyday life.

Now that you understand what literary elements are, and some tips for using them effectively in your writing, let's dive into the actual list of literary elements.

A list of 21 literary elements to engage readers

From Shakespeare to Kristin Hannah , writers have been using literary elements to write powerful sentences and prose for ages. Here is a list of the 21 most commonly used literary elements:

1. Allusion

An allusion is a literary device that indirectly refers to external people, events, or things .

An easy way to remember the definition of an allusion is to think of the verb “allude.” When you allude to something, you are referencing something else.

An example of allusion: With a deep frown on his face as he stormed through the Christmas market, Johnny looked like a real Scrooge.

2. Alliteration

Alliteration is when words with the same sound or letter appear in a sentence, often consecutively .

Popular uses for alliteration include book titles , business names, nursery rhymes, and tongue twisters. Alliteration is an easy literary element to use because it’s a simple way to enhance phrases.

These classic book titles are great examples of alliteration:

• Pride and Prejudice
• The Great Gatsby
• Of Mice and Men
• Sense and Sensibility
• Love’s Labor’s Lost

However, alliteration is also used in actual sentences, like the example below in Edgar Allen Poe’s famous Gothic poem, “The Raven.”

3. Anaphora

Anaphora is similar to alliteration in the sense that it relies on repetition. The difference is that an anaphora repeats the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive sentences.

Used widely in rhetoric , examples of anaphoras can be found in many famous speeches.

In the example of anaphora below , look at the repeated use of “it was” at the beginning of each new concept:

Diction is the literary element that’s all about word choice . The specific choice of words used helps determine the style in which the person is speaking or writing.

Diction comes in handy when you’re trying to show the reader a particular situation or encounter between characters . The word choice a certain character uses will indirectly show the reader what a character is like, and what type of social setting the character is in.

There are four different types of diction:

• Formal diction is when the word choice is considered formal. It’s typically used in situations to convey a sense of social class or education, or in formal situations.
• Informal diction is when the word choice is informal, more geared towards a casual conversation. It’s typically used to convey a sense of familiarity, such as in a letter to a friend.
• Colloquial diction is when words are used in everyday situations, and are often different depending on the region or community.
• Slang diction is when newly created, trendy words, or impolite words are used.

Here are examples of the different types of diction:

5. Euphemism

A euphemism is used to refer to something indirectly, or to describe something in a more pleasant or polite way .

Use euphemisms in your own writing when you want to add in some humor, or when you want to soften the blow or use less harsh imagery or phrasing.

For example, doctors use the euphemism “negative patient outcome.” This is a more polite or “pleasant” way of saying that a patient has died.

6. Epistrophe

The opposite of anaphora, which we covered earlier in this literary elements list, is an epistrophe. It is defined as the repetition of a word or phrase at the end of a sentence.

Use an epistrophe in your own writing when you want to add rhythm to a paragraph, or to emphasize a point . Since the reader is drawn to the end of words in a sentence, euphemisms are a strategic way to subtly call attention to something.

Examples of epistrophes can be found in many famous speeches, such as Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” in the lines: “…government of the people , by the people , and for the people , shall not perish from the earth.”

7. Flashbacks

Flashbacks are a popular literary element not only in stories and books, but in films and screenwriting, too. A flashback is exactly what it sounds like; in writing, it’s when a narrator is mentally transported to an event that happened in the past.

Common reasons to use flashbacks in your story are to:

• Provide the reader with more context about the character, situation, or event.
• Increase the suspense and tension
• Clue readers in to an important event that affected the present

Look to any popular movie for flashback examples . In Disney’s Tangled , Rapunzel has an important flashback when she looks up at the ceiling in the tower, and notices the sun symbol. Seeing the sun symbol triggers her to have a flashback in which she remembers who her real parents are.

8. Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is a literary element used by writers to hint at what will happen next , or at some point, in the story.

Use this device in your writing when you want to build suspense in the story, and when you want to hint about something that might happen, without being too obvious.

An example of foreshadowing is explained below:

9. Hyperbole

Hyberbole is an extreme exaggeration of a real event or situation .

Use hyberbole in your writing to add a humorous effect or to emphasize a concept . It’s easy to use, and many examples of this literary element can be found in everyday conversation.

Some examples of hyperbole are:

• I’m so hungry, I can eat a whole cow.
• It had been forever since they saw each other.
• She was dying to attend one of the best writers conferences this year.

10. Imagery

Have you ever read a sentence that allowed you to envision exactly what the author was describing? If so, chances are that the writer was using imagery, which appeals to the reader’s physical senses.

A common term for imagery is figurative language, which is how writers show the story, as opposed to telling it.

One of the best places to use imagery is in the setting of a story .

Just like the five senses, there are five types of imagery:

• Visual imagery is when vivid images are conveyed in the reader’s mind.
• Olfactory imagery is when smells are described to the reader.
• Gustatory imagery is when tastes are described to the reader.
• Tactile imagery is all about the reader’s sense of physical touch.
• Auditory imagery is when sounds are described to the reader.

These are examples of the five types of imagery:

11. Juxtaposition

Juxtaposition is when a writer places two contrasting concepts, people, or events directly side-by-side in a sentence or paragraph.

Use this literary element in your own writing when you want to help show the reader the differences or similarities between two things , or when you want to add an element of surprise.

An example of juxtaposition is in the classic movie The Godfather , when baptism scenes were juxtaposed with murder scenes.

A motif in any work of film or literature is when a recurrent element (such as an image, sound, or concept) is found throughout a story to help develop the theme or central message.

A common example of motif in fairy tales, such as Disney adaptations, is the presence of older female villains. For example, in Cinderella and Snow White , there is the presence of the wicked stepmother. In A Little Mermaid , the sea witch is an aging woman who desires youth and beauty.

13. Metaphor

This literary elements list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning metaphors! Not to be confused with simile, which we cover next, a metaphor is an implicit comparison between two or more things.

When incorporating metaphors in your own writing, be sure to imply a comparison. The key to using metaphors is to not include the words “like” or “as” in your comparison.

An example of a metaphor: “That woman is a devil in disguise.”

While a metaphor is an implicit comparison, a simile is an explicit comparison. A simile directly compares two or more things.

With a simile, it is clear that the author is showing the reader that one thing is similar or different to another. A simile almost always includes the words “like” and “as.”

An example of a simile: “His face was as red as a tomato.”

15. Personification

Personification is another fun device that's worth mentioning on this list of literary elements. As its name implies, personification is a technique used when a writer gives inanimate objects or inhuman beings (like animals) human characteristics or attributes.

You can easily use personification in your own writing draw your reader’s attention and convey a deeper meaning . One of the easier writing tips to implement, personification is a simple, but effective, literary technique.

Some examples of personification are:

• The trees whispered to one another in the night.
• Time waits for no one.
• The snow whirled and danced across the sky.

16. Onomatopoeia

Difficult to say, but easy to understand, onomatopoeia is a word or phrase that conveys the sound of something.

Use this element when you want to show the reader what is happening by stimulating their auditory senses. It's also a great way to incorporate stronger vocabulary!

Common examples of words or phrases that are onomatopoeia:

• Cock-a-doodle-doo

17. Oxymoron

Oxymoron is a literary element that includes a combination of contrasting, or opposite, words . It’s important to note that an oxymoron is not the same as a paradox – we’ll explain why in the next section.

Use oxymorons in your writing when you want to create a dramatic effect for the reader , especially in poetry.

An example of an oxymoron is found in these sentences:

• Writers have a love-hate relationship with writing.
• Saying goodbye is bitter sweet .
• Well, aren’t you awfully good ?

18. Paradox

A paradox is different from an oxymoron because it is a sentence or a phrase that appears contradictory, but implies some truth. When you want to add a hidden meaning to a concept in your writing, use a paradox. It will engage the reader by subtly adding a sense of mystery to a larger context. Many readers love to read between the lines!

An example of a paradox is found in this quote: “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.”

19. Symbolism

Symbolism is when something is used to represent something else, such an idea or concept.

Authors commonly use symbols as objects to represent a non-literal meaning . You can use symbols in your own story to make it more powerful.

An example of symbolism is in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic novel, The Scarlet Letter. Throughout the story, the letter “A” symbolizes adultery and its effects both on an individual basis, and within society.

Tone is defined as a speaker or narrator’s attitude about a subject. It is different from the mood a reader gets during a scene in the story.

Set the narrator’s tone in your writing through choosing words that fit the tone you're trying to convey , and by having the character take a certain stance or position on a topic.

21. Nostalgia

Nostalgic writing serves as a powerful literary element by evoking deep emotions and fostering a sense of connection between the readers and the past . It can create an atmosphere of longing and wistfulness, drawing the audience into a world tinged with fond memories and bittersweet reflections.

By skillfully incorporating nostalgia, authors can enrich their narratives, add complexity to characters, and transport readers to different eras, making the storytelling experience more immersive and resonant.

Literary Devices: Quick Guide

Now that you have a thorough understanding of powerful literary elements to use in your own writing, it’s time to put your skills to the test!

Set a writing goal to use at least one different literary element in your work each day to help you practice.

Need some inspiration? Use our writing prompt generator to get started! The only way to improve your writing, and ultimately your reader’s experience, is to practice.

Start engaging your readers with literary elements today!

Ready to improve your book with literary elements?

Learn more about who you are as an author and how you can use literary techniques to enhance your work.

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Any writer looking to master the art of storytelling will want to learn the literary devices in prose. Fiction and nonfiction writers rely on these devices to bring their stories to life, impact their readers, and uncover the core truths of life. You can, too, with mastery over the different literary devices! 

If you’re not familiar with the common literary devices, start with this article for definitions and examples. You may also benefit from brushing up on the six elements of fiction , as most prose stories have them. Combined with the following literary devices in fiction and nonfiction, these framing elements can help you write a powerful story.

10 Important Literary Devices in Prose

We’ve included examples and explanations for each of these devices, pulling from both contemporary and classical literature. Whether you’re a writer, a student, or a literary connoisseur, familiarize yourself with the important literary devices in prose.

1. Parallelism (Parallel Plots)

Parallelism refers to the plotting of events that are similarly constructed but altogether separate.

Are you familiar with the phrase “history often repeats itself”? If so, then you’re already familiar with parallelism. Parallelism refers to the plotting of events that are similarly constructed but altogether separate. Sometimes these parallels develop on accident, but they are powerful tools for highlighting important events and themes.

A surprising example of parallelism comes in the form of the Harry Potter series. As an infant, Harry is almost killed by Voldemort but is protected by his mother’s love. Eighteen years later, Harry must die in order to defeat Voldemort, thus shouldering the burden of love himself.

What does this parallelism do for the story? Certainly, that’s open to interpretation. Perhaps it draws attention to the incompleteness of love without action: to defeat Voldemort (who personifies hatred), Harry can’t just be loved, he has to act on love—by sacrificing his own life, no less.

This is unrelated to grammatical parallelism , a different literary device.

2. Foil Characters

A foil refers to any two characters who are “opposites” of each other.

A foil refers to any two characters who are “opposites” of each other. These oppositions are often conceptual in nature: one character may be even-keeled and mild, like Benvolio in Romeo & Juliet, while another character may be quick-tempered and pugnacious, like Tybalt.

What do foil characters accomplish? In Romeo & Juliet , Benvolio and Tybalt are basically Romeo’s devil and angel. Benvolio discourages Romeo from fighting, as it would surely end in his own death and separation from Juliet, whereas Tybalt encourages fighting out of family loyalty.

Of course, foils can also be the protagonist and antagonist, especially if they are character opposites. A reader would be hard-pressed to find similarities between Harry Potter and Voldemort (except for their shared soul). If you can think of other embodiments of good versus evil, they are most assuredly foils as well.

Foil characters help establish important themes and binaries in your work.

Foil characters help establish important themes and binaries in your work. Because Shakespeare wrote Benvolio and Tybalt as foils, one of the themes in Romeo & Juliet is that of retribution: is it better to fight for honor or turn the other cheek for love?

When considering foil characters in your writing, consider which themes/morals you want to turn your attention towards. If you want to write about the theme of chaos versus order, and your protagonist is chaotic, you might want a foil character who’s orderly. If you want to write about this theme but it’s not central to the story, perhaps have two side characters represent chaos versus order.

Learn more about foil characters here:

What is a Foil Character? Exploring Contrast in Character Development

You’ll often hear that “diction” is just a fancy term for “word choice.” While this is true, it’s also reductive, and it doesn’t capture the full importance of select words in your story. Diction is one of the most important literary devices in prose, as every prose writer will use it.

Diction is best demonstrated through analyzing a passage of prose, so to see diction in action, let’s take apart the closing paragraphs of The Great Gatsby . 

Take a look at the highlighted words, as well as the opposition between different highlights. F. Scott Fitzgerald juxtaposes many different emotions in this short, poignant passage, resulting in an ambivalent yet powerful musing on the passage of time. By focusing the diction of this passage on emotions both hopeful and hopeless, Fitzgerald masterfully closes one of the most important American novels.

For a further analysis of diction, as well as some great examples, check out our article expanding upon word choice in writing !

The mood of a story or passage refers to the overall emotional tone it invokes.

The mood of a story or passage refers to the overall emotional tone it invokes. When writers craft a mood in their work, they’re heightening the experience of their story by putting you in the characters’ shoes. Since mood requires using the right words throughout a scene, mood can be considered an extended form of diction.

The writer cultivates mood by making consistent language choices throughout a passage.

The writer cultivates mood by making consistent language choices throughout a passage of the story. Take, for example, the cliché “it was a dark and stormy night.” That phrase wasn’t clichéd when it was first written; in fact, it did a great job of opening Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s novel Paul Clifford . The narrator’s dark, bleak description of the weather brings the reader into the bleary, tumultuous life of its protagonist, building a mood in both setting and story.

Or, consider this excerpt from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë:

Charlotte is quick to build the mood, keying in on Jane’s sombre beginnings before juxtaposing it against the ironic perfection of her siblings. Jane’s world is clear from the beginning: a cloudy house amidst a sunny street.

Learn more about this device at our article on mood in literature.

What is Mood in Literature? Creating Mood in Writing

5. Foreshadowing

A foreshadow refers to any time the writer hints towards later events in the story.

Foreshadowing is a powerful literary device in fiction, drawing readers ever-closer to the story’s climax. A foreshadow refers to any time the writer hints towards later events in the story, often underscoring the story’s suspense and conflict.

Sometimes foreshadowing is obvious, and sometimes you don’t notice it until rereading the story.

Sometimes foreshadowing is obvious, and sometimes you don’t notice it until rereading the story. For example, the foreshadowing in Harry Potter makes it fairly obvious that Harry will have to die. Once the idea of horcruxes, or “split souls,” was introduced in the books, it was only a matter of time before readers connected these horcruxes to the psychic connection Harry shared with Voldemort. His mission—to die and be reincarnated—becomes fairly obvious as the heptalogy comes to a close.

However, sometimes foreshadowing is much more discreet. In Jane Eyre , for example, it’s clear that many of the people in Jane’s life are keeping secrets from her. Rochester doesn’t let anyone know about his previous marriage but it gets alluded to several times, and St. John is reluctant to admit that he does not actually love Jane, foreshadowing Jane’s return to Rochester. All of this combines to reinforce Jane’s uncertain place in the world and the journey she must take to settle down.

6. In Media Res

In Media Res refers to writing a story starting from the middle

From the Latin “In the middle of things,” In Media Res is one of the literary devices in prose chiefly concerned with plot. In Media Res refers to writing a story starting from the middle; by throwing the reader into the center of events, the reader’s interest piques, and the storytelling bounces between flashback and present day.

Both fiction and nonfiction writers can use In Media Res, provided it makes sense to do so. For example, Margaret Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale begins in the middle of a dystopian society. Atwood leads us through the society’s establishment and the narrator’s capture, but all of this is in flashback, because the focus is on navigating the narrator’s escape from this evil world.

In Media Res applies well here, because the reader feels the full intensity of this dystopia from its start. Writers who are writing stories in either alternate worlds or very private worlds may benefit from this literary device in fiction, as it helps keep the reader interested and attentive.

7. Dramatic Irony

Dramatic irony occurs when the audience understands more about the situation than the story’s characters do.

Dramatic irony is a literary device in prose in which the audience understands more about the situation than the story’s characters do. This is an especially important literary device in fiction, as it often motivates the reader to keep reading.

We often see dramatic irony in stories which involve multiple points-of-view.

We often see dramatic irony in stories which involve multiple points-of-view. For example, the audience knows that Juliet is still alive, but when Romeo discovers her seemingly dead body, he kills himself in grief. How ironic, then, for Juliet to wake up to her lover’s passing, only to kill herself in equal grief. By using dramatic irony in the story, Shakespeare points towards the haphazardness of young love.

8. Vignette

A vignette is a passage of prose that’s primarily descriptive, rather than plot-driven.

A vignette (vin-yet) refers to a passage of prose that’s primarily descriptive, rather than plot-driven. Vignettes throw the reader into the scene and emotion, often building the mood of the story and developing the character’s lens. They are largely poetic passages with little plot advancement, but the flourishes of a well-written vignette can highlight your writing style and the story’s emotions.

The story snippets we’ve included are striking examples of vignettes. They don’t advance the plot, but they push the reader into the story’s mood. Additionally, the prose style itself is emotive and poetic, examining the nuances of life’s existential questions.

9. Flashback

A flashback refers to any interruption in the story where the narration goes back in time.

A flashback refers to any interruption in the story where the narration goes back in time. The reader may need information from previous events in order to understand the present-day story, and flashbacks drop the reader into the scene itself.

Flashbacks are often used in stories that begin In Media Res, such as The Handmaid’s Tale. While the main plot of the story focuses on the narrator’s struggles against Gilead, this narration frequently alternates with explanations for how Gilead established itself. The reader gets to see the bombing of Congress, the forced immigration of POC, and the environmental/fertility crisis which gives context for Gilead’s fearmongering. We also experience the narrator’s separation from her daughter and husband, supplying readers with the story’s highly emotive world.

10. Soliloquy

A soliloquy is a long speech with no audience in the story.

Soliloquy comes from the Latin for self (sol) and talking (loquy), and self-talking describes a soliloquy perfectly. A soliloquy is a long speech with no audience in the story. Soliloquies are synonymous with monologues, though a soliloquy is usually a brief passage in a chapter, and often much more poetic.

Shakespeare’s plays abound with soliloquies. Here’s an example, pulled from Scene II Act II of Romeo and Juliet .

But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she.

Romeo isn’t talking to anyone in particular, but no matter: his soliloquy is rife with emotion and metaphor, and one can’t help but blush when he expresses how his love for Juliet makes her like the sun to him.

As a literary device in prose, soliloquy offers insight into the characters’ emotions. Soliloquy doesn’t have to be in dialogue, it can also take the form of private thoughts, but a soliloquy must be an extended conversation with oneself that exposes the character’s own feelings and ideas.

Write Powerful Literary Devices in Prose with Writers.com

The literary devices in Jane Eyre , Romeo & Juliet, and The Great Gatsby help make these stories masterful works of fiction. By using these literary building blocks, your story will sparkle, too. Take a look at our upcoming courses in fiction and nonfiction , and take the next step in writing the great American novel. Happy writing!

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Narrative Definition

What is narrative? Here’s a quick and simple definition:

A narrative is an account of connected events. Two writers describing the same set of events might craft very different narratives, depending on how they use different narrative elements, such as tone or  point of view . For example, an account of the American Civil War written from the perspective of a white slaveowner would make for a very different narrative than if it were written from the perspective of a historian, or a former slave.

Some additional key details about narrative:

• The words "narrative" and "story" are often used interchangeably, and with the casual meanings of the two terms that's fine. However, technically speaking, the two terms have related but different meanings.
• The word "narrative" is also frequently used as an adjective to describe something that tells a story, such as narrative poetry.

How to Pronounce Narrative

Here's how to pronounce narrative: nar -uh-tiv

Narrative vs. Story vs. Plot

In everyday speech, people often use the terms "narrative," "story," and "plot" interchangeably. However, when speaking more technically about literature these terms are not in fact identical. 

• A story refers to a sequence of events. It can be thought of as the raw material out of which a narrative is crafted.
• A plot refers to the sequence of events, but with their causes and effects included. As the writer E.M. Forster put it, while "The King died and the Queen died" is a story (i.e., a sequence of events), "The King died, and then the Queen died of grief" is a plot.
• A narrative , by contrast, has a more broad-reaching definition: it includes not just the sequence of events and their cause and effect relationships, but also  all of the decisions and techniques that impact how a story is told. A narrative is  how a given sequence of events is recounted.

In order to fully understand narrative, it's important to keep in mind that most sequences of events can be recounted in many different ways. Each different account is a separate narrative. When deciding how to relay a set of facts or describe a sequence of events, a writer must ask themselves, among other things:

• Which events are most important?
• Where should I begin and end my narrative?
• Should I tell the events of the narrative in the order they occurred, or should I use flashbacks or other techniques to present the events in another order?
• Should I hold certain pieces of information back from the reader?
• What point of view  should I use to tell the narrative?

The answers to these questions determine how the narrative is constructed, so they have a huge influence on the way a reader sees or understands what they're reading about. The same series of events might be read as happy or sad, boring or exciting—all depending on how the narrative is constructed. Analyzing a narrative just means examining how it is constructed and why it is constructed that way.

Narrative Elements

Narrative elements   are the tools writers use to craft narratives. A great way to approach analyzing a narrative is to break it down into its different narrative elements, and then examine how the writer employs each one. The following is a summary of the main elements that a writer might use to build his or her narrative.

• For example, a story about a crime told from the perspective of the victim might be very different when told from the perspective of the criminal.
• For instance, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway were friends, and they wrote during the same era, but their writing is very different from one another because they have markedly different  voices.
• For example, Jonathan Swift's essay " A Modest Proposal " satirizes the British government's callous indifference toward the famine in Ireland by sarcastically suggesting that cannibalism could solve the problem—but the essay would have a completely different meaning if it didn't have a sarcastic tone. 
• For example, the first half of Charles Dickens' novel David Copperfield tells the story of the narrator David Copperfield's early childhood over the course of many chapters; about halfway through the novel, David quickly glosses over some embarrassing episodes from his teenage years (unfortunate fashion choices and foolish crushes); the second half of the novel tells the story of his adult life. The pacing give readers the sense that David's teen years weren't really that important. Instead, his childhood traumas, the challenges he faced as a young man, and the relationships he formed during both childhood and adulthood make up the most important elements of the novel.
• For example, Mary Shelley's novel   Frankenstein  uses three different "frames" to tell the story of Dr. Frankenstein and the creature he creates: the novel takes the form of letters written by Walton, an arctic explorer; Walton is recounting a story that Dr. Frankenstein told him; and as part of his story, Dr. Frankenstein recounts a story told to him by the creature. 
• Linear vs. Nonlinear Narration:  You may also hear the word narrative used to describe the order in which a sequence of events is recounted. In a linear narrative, the events of a story are described  chronologically , in the order that they occurred. In a nonlinear narrative, events are described out of order, using flashbacks or flash-forwards, and then returning to the present. In some nonlinear narratives, like Ken Kesey's  Sometimes a Great Notion , there is a clear sense of when the "present" is: the novel begins and ends with the character Viv sitting in a bar, looking at a photograph. The rest of the novel recounts (out of order) events that have happened in the distant and recent past. In other nonlinear narratives, it may be difficult to tell when the "present" is. For example, in Kurt Vonnegut's novel  Slaughterhouse-Five , the character Billy Pilgrim, seems to move forward and backward in time as a result of post-traumatic stress. Billy is not always certain if he is experiencing memories, flashbacks, hallucinations, or actual time travel, and there are inconsistencies in the dates he gives throughout the book—all of which of course has a huge impact on how  his stories are relayed to the reader.

Narrative as an Adjective

It's worth noting that the word "narrative" is also frequently used as an adjective to describe something that tells a story.

• Narrative Poetry: While some poetry describes an image, experience, or emotion without necessarily telling a story, narrative poetry is poetry that does tell a story. Narrative poems include epic poems like The Iliad , The Epic of Gilgamesh , and Beowulf .  Other, shorter examples of narrative poetry include "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carrol, "The Lady of Shalott" by Alfred Lord Tennyson, "The Goblin Market" by Christina Rossetti, and "The Glass Essay," by Anne Carson.
• Narrative Art: Similarly, the term "narrative art" refers to visual art that tells a story, either by capturing one scene in a longer story, or by presenting a series of images that tell a longer story when put together. Often, but not always, narrative art tells stories that are likely to be familiar to the viewer, such as stories from history, mythology, or religious teachings. Examples of narrative art include Michelangelo's painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the  Pietà ; Paul Revere's engraving entitled  The Bloody Massacre ; and Artemisia Gentileschi's painting  Judith Slaying Holofernes .

Narrative Examples

Narrative in  the book thief  by markus zusak.

Zusak's novel,  The Book Thief , is narrated by the figure of Death, who tells the story of Liesel, a girl growing up in Nazi Germany who loves books and befriends a Jewish man her family is hiding in their home. In the novel's prologue, Death says of Liesel:

Yes, often, I am reminded of her, and in one of my vast array of pockets, I have kept her story to retell. It is one of the small legion I carry, each one extraordinary in its own right. Each one an attempt—an immense leap of an attempt—to prove to me that you, and your human existence, are worth it.

Narrators do not always announce themselves, but Death introduces himself and explains that he sees himself as a storyteller and a repository of the stories of human lives. Choosing Death (rather than Leisel) as the novel's narrator allows Zusak to use Liesel's story to reflect on the power of stories and storytelling more generally.

Narrative in  A Visit From the Goon Squad   by Jennifer Egan

In A Visit From the Good Squad ,  Egan structures the narrative of her novel in an unconventional way: each chapter stands as a self-contained story, but as a whole, the individual episodes are interconnected in such a way that all the stories form a single cohesive narrative. For example, in Chapter 2, "The Gold Cure," we meet the character Bennie, a middle-aged music producer, and his assistant Sasha:

"It's incredible," Sasha said, "how there's just nothing there." Astounded, Bennie turned to her…Sasha was looking downtown, and he followed her eyes to the empty space where the Twin Towers had been. 

Because there is an empty space where the Twin Towers had been, the reader knows that this dialogue is taking place some time after the September 11th, 2001 attack in which the World Trade Center was destroyed. Bennie appears again later in the novel, in Chapter 6, "X's and O's," which is set ten years prior to "The Gold Cure." "X's and O's" is narrated by Bennie's old friend, Scotty, who goes to visit Bennie at his office in Manhattan:

I looked down at the city. Its extravagance felt wasteful, like gushing oil or some other precious thing Bennie was hoarding for himself, using it up so no one else could get any. I thought: If I had a view like this to look down on every day, I would have the energy and inspiration to conquer the world. The trouble is, when you most need such a view, no one gives it to you.

Just as Sasha did in Chapter 2, Scotty stands with Bennie and looks out over Manhattan, and in both passages, there is a sense that Bennie fails to notice, appreciate, or find meaning in the view. But the reader wouldn't have the same experience if the story had been told in chronological order.

Narrative in Atonement by Ian McEwan

Ian McEwan's novel Atonement tells the story of Briony, a writer who, as a girl, sees something she doesn't understand and, based on this faulty understanding, makes a choice that ruins the lives of Celia, her sister, and Robbie, the man her sister loves. The first part of the novel appears to be told from the perspective of a third-person omniscient narrator; but once we reach the end of the book, we realize that we've read Briony's novel, which she has written as an act of atonement for her terrible mistake. Near the end of  Atonement , Briony tells us:

I like to think that it isn’t weakness or evasion, but a final act of kindness, a stand against oblivion and despair, to let my lovers live and to unite them at the end. I gave them happiness, but I was not so self-serving as to let them forgive me. Not quite, not yet. If I had the power to conjure them at my birthday celebration…Robbie and Cecilia, still alive, sitting side by side in the library…

In Briony's novel, Celia and Robbie are eventually able to live together, and Briony visits them in an attempt to apologize; but in real life, we learn, Celia and Robbie died during World War II before they could see one another again, and before Briony could reconcile with them. By inviting the reader to imagine a happy ending, Briony effectively heightens the tragedy of the events that actually occurred. By choosing Briony as his narrator, and by framing the novel Briony wrote with her discussion of her own novel, McEwan is able to create multiple interlacing narratives, telling and retelling what happened and what might have been.

Narrative in Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Slaughterhouse-Five tells the story of Billy Pilgrim, a World War II veteran who survived the bombing of Dresden, and has since “come unstuck in time.” The novel uses flashbacks and flash-forwards, and is narrated by an unreliable narrator who implies to the reader that the narrative he is telling may not be entirely true:

All this happened, more or less. The war parts, anyway, are pretty much true. One guy I knew really was shot in Dresden for taking a teapot that wasn’t his. Another guy I knew really did threaten to have his personal enemies killed by hired gunmen after the war. And so on. I’ve changed all the names.

The narrator’s equivocation in this passage suggests that even though the story he is telling may not be entirely factually accurate, he has attempted to create a narrative that captures important truths about the war and the bombing of Dresden. Or, maybe he just doesn’t remember all of the details of the events he is describing. In any case, the inconsistencies in dates and details in Slaughterhouse-Five  give the reader the impression that crafting a single cohesive narrative out of the horrific experience of war may be too difficult a task—which in turn says something about the toll war takes on those who live through it.

What's the Function of Narrative in Literature?

When we use the word "narrative," we're pointing out that who tells a story and how that person tells the story influence how the reader understands the story's meaning. The question of what purpose narratives serve in literature is inseparable from the question of why people tell stories in general, and why writers use different narrative elements to shape their stories into compelling narratives. Narratives make it possible for writers to capture some of the nuances and complexities of human experience in the retelling of a sequence of events.

In literature and in life, narratives are everywhere, which is part of why they can be very challenging to discuss and analyze. Narrative reminds us that stories do not only exist; they are also made by someone, often for very specific reasons. And when you analyze narrative in literature, you take the time to ask yourself why a work of literature has been constructed in a certain way.

Other Helpful Narrative Resources

• Etymology: Merriam-Webster describes the origins and history of usage of the term "narrative."
• Narrative Theory: Ohio State University's "Project Narrative" offers an overview of narrative theory.
• History and Narrative:  Read more about the similarities between historical and literary narratives in Hayden White's  Metahistory: The Historical Imagination in 19th-Century Europe.
• Narrative Art: This article from Widewalls explores narrative art and discusses what kind of art doesn't  tell stories. 

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Characterization

Characterization definition.

Characterization is a literary device that is used step-by-step in literature to highlight and explain the details of a character in a story . It is in the initial stage in which the writer introduces the character with noticeable emergence. After introducing the character, the writer often talks about his behavior; then, as the story progresses, the thought processes of the character.

The next stage involves the character expressing his opinions and ideas and getting into conversations with the rest of the characters. The final part shows how others in the story respond to the character’s personality.

Characterization as a literary tool was coined in the mid-15th century. Aristotle in his Poetics argued that “ tragedy is a representation, not of men, but of action and life.” Thus the assertion of the dominance of plot over characters, termed “plot-driven narrative ,” is unmistakable. This point of view was later abandoned by many because, in the 19th century, the dominance of character over plot became clear through petty-bourgeois novels.

Types of Characterization

An author can use two approaches to deliver information about a character and build an image of it. These two types of characterization include:

• Direct or explicit characterization

This kind of characterization takes a direct approach toward building the character. It uses another character, narrator , or the protagonist himself to tell the readers or audience about the subject .

• Indirect or implicit characterization

This is a more subtle way of introducing the character to the audience. The audience has to deduce for themselves the characteristics of the character by observing his/her thought process, behavior, speech, way of talking, appearance, and manner of communication with other characters, as well as by discerning the response of other characters.

Characterization in Drama

On stage or in front of the camera, actors usually do not have much time to characterize. For this reason, the character faces the risk of coming across as underdeveloped. In dramaturgy, realists take a different approach, by relying on implied characterization. This is pivotal to the theme of their character-driven narrative. Examples of these playwrights are Anton Chekhov, Henrik Ibsen , and August Strindberg.

Classic psychological characterization examples, such as The Seagull , usually build the main character in a more indirect manner. This approach is considered more effective because it slowly discloses the inner turmoil of the character, over the course of the show, and lets the audience connect better.

The actors who act in such roles usually work on them profoundly to get an in-depth idea of the personalities of their respective characters. Often, during such shows, plays, or dramas , no direct statements about the character’s nature are found. This kind of realism needs the actors to build the character from their own perspective initially. This is why realistic characterization is more of a subtle art, which cannot directly be recognized.

Importance of Characterization

Characterization and skill to create characters are very important for writing fiction , especially short stories and novels. The reason is that the storyline of stories hinges upon characters. The actions of the characters in certain settings not only move the storyline forward but also create tension, and conflict and convey a message to the writers. Although there could be a story without characters, it would not be much interesting for the readers, for they want to learn something about human beings and the human quest for peace, happiness, and solution of mundane issues or complex ones.

Everyday Examples of Characterization  

• Online Dating Websites: Every dating websites offer examples of characterization as people pick up certain characters and adopt them as their names. Some even go for avatars.
• Police Line-ups: Some people adopt different characters of police-line ups to hide their true identities.
• Obituaries: Obituaries also demonstrate the characterization of the dead ones in good terms.
• Eulogies : Written for specific persons, these poems also offer examples of characterizations.

 Difference Archetypes and Characterization

Whereas archetype characters have specific features and characteristics, characterization means to bless such characters with those features. Characterization is the manner of delineation while archetypes are characters themselves. Also, archetype and characterization are both nouns , but whereas one means the creative task, the other is itself the creation.

Difference Between Characterization and Stereotypes

Characterization and stereotypes are both entirely different things. As a literary device, a characterization is an act of creating characters. It is linked with stereotyping as some of the skills learned during characterization are used for generalizing some traits of specific people to denounce or torment those people. This is called stereotyping. It could be of a tribe, race, a whole nation, or even a specific individual. It happens with African Americans or Asians and Latinos in the United States.

Round and Flat Characters  

Round Characters are complex characters. They undergo a considerable transformation during their work or life in the storyline. They, sometimes, cause shock and surprise the readers and seem to them interesting. However, flat characters are not very complex as they are just two-dimensional. They are simple and often stay the same throughout the storyline.

Characterization in Stories

• Beowulf : It includes a balanced characterization as King Hrothgar, Beowulf , and their supporters are good characters while Grendel, his mother, and the dragon are bad characters.
• The Gift of the Magi: It introduces innocent characterization as both Dell and Jim are loving and caring, demonstrating their family traits.
• To Kill a Mockingbird : harper lee presented the beautiful characterization of both good and bad characters such as Scout, Jem, Finch, Dubose, and Lee.
• Animal Farm: It comprises the characterization of animals among which some are good such as Snowball and Boxer, some are innocent such as Mollie and pigeons and some are clever and shrewd such as Napoleon and Squealer.
• Lord of the Flies : It reveals innocent characterizations of Ralph and Piggy and clever of Roger and his supporters.

Examples of Characterization in Literature

Example #1: the great gatsby by f. scott fitzgerald.

There are many examples of characterization in literature. The Great Gatsby  is probably the best. In this particular book, the main idea revolves around the social status of each character. The major character of the book, Mr. Gatsby, is perceptibly rich, but he does not belong to the upper stratum of society. This means that he cannot have Daisy. Tom is essentially defined by his wealth and the abusive nature that he portrays every now and then, while Daisy is explained by Gatsby as having a voice “full of money.”

Another technique to highlight the qualities of a character is to put them in certain areas that are symbolic of social status. In the novel , Gatsby resides in the West Egg, which is considered less trendy than East Egg, where Daisy lives. This difference points out the gap between Jay’s and Daisy’s social statuses. Moreover, you might also notice that Tom, Jordan, and Daisy live in East Egg while Gatsby and Nick reside in West Egg, which again highlights the difference in their financial background. This division is reinforced at the end of the novel when Nick supports Gatsby against the rest of the folk.

Occupations have also been used very tactfully in the novel to highlight the characteristics of certain protagonists. The prime example is Gatsby who, despite being so rich, is known for his profession: bootlegging. He had an illegal job that earned him a fortune but failed to get him into the upper class of New York society. In contrast , Nick has a clean and fair job as a “bondman” that defines his character. The poor guy Wilson, who fixes rich people’s cars, befriends his wife; and then there is Jordon, who is presented as a dishonest golf pro.

Function of Characterization

Characterization is an essential component in writing good literature. Modern fiction, in particular, has taken great advantage of this literary device. Understanding the role of characterization in storytelling is very important for any writer. To put it briefly, it helps us make sense of the behavior of any character in a story by helping us understand their thought processes. Good use of characterization always leads the readers or audience to relate better to the events taking place in the story. Dialogues play a very important role in developing a character because they give us an opportunity to examine the motivations and actions of the characters more deeply.

Synonyms of Characterization

The following words are close synonyms for Characterization: picture, verbal description, word painting, depiction, delineation, portrait, word picture, and portrayal. Each word has a distinct meaning as well.

Related posts:

• Direct Characterization
• 10 Best Characterization Examples in Literature

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Book News & Features

'brotherless night,' an ambitious novel about sri lankan civil war, wins $150k prize.

Andrew Limbong

The writer V. V. Ganeshananthan has won this year's Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, for her novel Brotherless Night . This is the second year of the prize, which awards English-language writing by women and nonbinary authors. Winners of the award receive $150,000.

Brotherless Night centers on a young woman named Sashi, in 1981, who wants to become a doctor. But her dreams get upended as her family gets swept up in the conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the minority insurgent group known as the Tamil Tigers. "I was interested in writing about the gray space between militarized societies and questions of choice and coercion," Ganeshananthan told WBUR's Here & Now in a 2023 interview.

In a statement announcing the win, the prize jury called the book "ambitious and beautifully written," and praised Ganeshananthan's characters for asking readers to "consider how history is told, whom it serves, and the many truths it leaves out."

NPR's Book of the Day

'brotherless night' examines the sri lankan civil war through the eyes of one family.

The prize is named after Canadian Pulitzer-Prize winning author Carol Shields, who died in 2003. The first novel awarded last year was When We Were Sisters by Fatimah Asghar. The money awarded is higher than most literary prizes. Winners of the Pulitzer Prize, for instance, receive $15,000. On top of the money, winners of the Carol Shields prize win a residency at the Fogo Island Inn, on the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The shortlisted books include Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton, Daughter by Claudia Dey, Coleman Hill by Kim Coleman Foote, and A History of Burning by Janika Oza. Finalists will receive $12,500.

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Alice Munro, Nobel literature winner revered as short story master, dead at 92

FILE - Canadian author Alice Munro poses for a photograph at the Canadian Consulate’s residence in New York on Oct. 28, 2002. Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world’s most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history’s most honored short story writers, has died at age 92. (AP Photo/Paul Hawthorne, File)

FILE - Canadian author Alice Munro is photographed during an interview in Victoria, B.C. Tuesday, Dec.10, 2013. Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world’s most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history’s most honored short story writers, has died at age 92. (Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

FILE - Nobel Prize-winning Canadian author Alice Munro attends a ceremony held by the Royal Canadian Mint where they unveiled a 99.99% pure silver five-dollar coin in Victoria, B.C., on March 24, 2014. Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world’s most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history’s most honored short story writers, has died at age 92. (Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

FILE - Writer Alice Munro attends the opening night of the International Festival of Authors in Toronto on Wednesday Oct. 21, 2009. Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world’s most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history’s most honored short story writers, has died at age 92. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Nobel laureate Alice Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world’s most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history’s most honored short story writers, has died at age 92.

A spokesperson for publisher Penguin Random House Canada said Munro, winner of the Nobel literary prize in 2013, died Monday at home in Port Hope, Ontario. Munro had been in frail health for years and often spoke of retirement, a decision that proved final after the author’s 2012 collection, “Dear Life.”

Often ranked with Anton Chekhov, John Cheever and a handful of other short story writers, Munro achieved stature rare for an art form traditionally placed beneath the novel. She was the first lifelong Canadian to win the Nobel and the first recipient cited exclusively for short fiction. Echoing the judgment of so many before, the Swedish academy pronounced her a “master of the contemporary short story” who could “accommodate the entire epic complexity of the novel in just a few short pages.”

Munro, little known beyond Canada until her late 30s, also became one of the few short story writers to enjoy ongoing commercial success. Sales in North America alone exceeded 1 million copies and the Nobel announcement raised “Dear Life” to the high end of The New York Times’ bestseller list for paperback fiction. Other popular books included “Too Much Happiness,” “The View from Castle Rock” and “The Love of a Good Woman.”

Over a half century of writing, Munro perfected one of the greatest tricks of any art form: illuminating the universal through the particular, creating stories set around Canada that appealed to readers far away. She produced no single definitive work, but dozens of classics that were showcases of wisdom, technique and talent — her inspired plot twists and artful shifts of time and perspective; her subtle, sometimes cutting humor; her summation of lives in broad dimension and fine detail; her insights into people across age or background, her genius for sketching a character, like the adulterous woman introduced as “short, cushiony, dark-eyed, effusive. A stranger to irony.”

Her best known fiction included “The Beggar Maid,” a courtship between an insecure young woman and an officious rich boy who becomes her husband; “Corrie,” in which a wealthy young woman has an affair with an architect “equipped with a wife and young family"; and “The Moons of Jupiter,” about a middle-aged writer who visits her ailing father in a Toronto hospital and shares memories of different parts of their lives.

“I think any life can be interesting,” Munro said during a 2013 post-prize interview for the Nobel Foundation. “I think any surroundings can be interesting.”

Disliking Munro, as a writer or as a person, seemed almost heretical. The wide and welcoming smile captured in her author photographs was complemented by a down-to-earth manner and eyes of acute alertness, fitting for a woman who seemed to pull stories out of the air the way songwriters discovered melodies. She was admired without apparent envy, placed by the likes of Jonathan Franzen, John Updike and Cynthia Ozick at the very top of the pantheon. Munro’s daughter, Sheila Munro, wrote a memoir in which she confided that “so unassailable is the truth of her fiction that sometimes I even feel as though I’m living inside an Alice Munro story.” Fellow Canadian author Margaret Atwood called her a pioneer for women, and for Canadians.

“Back in the 1950s and 60s, when Munro began, there was a feeling that not only female writers but Canadians were thought to be both trespassing and transgressing,” Atwood wrote in a 2013 tribute published in the Guardian after Munro won the Nobel. “The road to the Nobel wasn’t an easy one for Munro: the odds that a literary star would emerge from her time and place would once have been zero.”

Although not overtly political, Munro witnessed and participated in the cultural revolution of the 1960s and ‘70s and permitted her characters to do the same. She was a farmer’s daughter who married young, then left her husband in the 1970s and took to “wearing miniskirts and prancing around,” as she recalled during a 2003 interview with The Associated Press. Many of her stories contrasted the generation of Munro’s parents with the more open-ended lives of their children, departing from the years when housewives daydreamed “between the walls that the husband was paying for.”

Moviegoers would become familiar with “The Bear Came Over the Mountain,” the improbably seamless tale of a married woman with memory loss who has an affair with a fellow nursing home patient, a story further complicated by her husband’s many past infidelities. “The Bear” was adapted by Sarah Polley into the 2006 feature film “Away from Her,” which brought an Academy Award nomination for Julie Christie. In 2014, Kristen Wiig starred in “Hateship, Loveship,” an adaptation of the story “Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage,” in which a housekeeper leaves her job and travels to a distant rural town to meet up with a man she believes is in love with her — unaware the romantic letters she has received were concocted by his daughter and a friend.

Even before the Nobel, Munro received honors from around the English-language world, including Britain’s Man Booker International Prize and the National Book Critics Circle award in the U.S., where the American Academy of Arts and Letters voted her in as an honorary member. In Canada, she was a three-time winner of the Governor’s General Award and a two-time winner of the Giller Prize.

Munro was a short story writer by choice, and, apparently, by design. Judith Jones, an editor at Alfred A. Knopf who worked with Updike and Anne Tyler, did not want to publish “Lives of Girls & Women,” her only novel, writing in an internal memo that “there’s no question the lady can write but it’s also clear she is primarily a short story writer.”

Munro would acknowledge that she didn’t think like a novelist.

“I have all these disconnected realities in my own life, and I see them in other people’s lives,” she told the AP. “That was one of the problems, why I couldn’t write novels. I never saw things hanging together too well.”

Alice Ann Laidlaw was born in Wingham, Ontario, in 1931, and spent much of her childhood there, a time and place she often used in her fiction, including the four autobiographical pieces that concluded “Dear Life.” Her father was a fox farmer, her mother a teacher and the family’s fortunes shifted between middle class and working poor, giving the future author a special sensitivity to money and class. Young Alice was often absorbed in literature, starting with the first time she was read Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid.” She was a compulsive inventor of stories and the “sort of child who reads walking upstairs and props a book in front of her when she does the dishes.”

A top student in high school, she received a scholarship to study at the University of Western Ontario, majoring in journalism as a “cover-up” for her pursuit of literature. She was still an undergraduate when she sold a story about a lonely teacher, “The Dimensions of a Shadow,” to CBC Radio. She was also publishing work in her school’s literary journal.

One fellow student read “Dimensions” and wrote to the then-Laidlaw, telling her the story reminded him of Chekhov. The student, Gerald Fremlin, would become her second husband. Another fellow student, James Munro, was her first husband. They married in 1951, when she was only 20, and had four children, one of whom died soon after birth.

Settling with her family in British Columbia, Alice Munro wrote between trips to school, housework and helping her husband at the bookstore that they co-owned and would turn up in some of her stories. She wrote one book in the laundry room of her house, her typewriter placed near the washer and dryer. Flannery O’Connor, Carson McCullers and other writers from the American South inspired her, through their sense of place and their understanding of the strange and absurd.

Isolated from the literary center of Toronto, she did manage to get published in several literary magazines and to attract the attention of an editor at Ryerson Press (later bought out by McGraw Hill). Her debut collection, “Dance of the Happy Shades,” was released in 1968 with a first printing of just under 2,700 copies. A year later it won the Governor’s General Award and made Munro a national celebrity — and curiosity. “Literary Fame Catches City Mother Unprepared,” read one newspaper headline.

“When the book first came they sent me a half dozen copies. I put them in the closet. I didn’t look at them. I didn’t tell my husband they had come, because I couldn’t bear it. I was afraid it was terrible,” Munro told the AP. “And one night, he was away, and I forced myself to sit down and read it all the way through, and I didn’t think it was too bad. And I felt I could acknowledge it and it would be OK.”

By the early ’70s, she had left her husband, later observing that she was not “prepared to be a submissive wife.” Her changing life was best illustrated by her response to the annual Canadian census. For years, she had written down her occupation as “housewife.” In 1971, she switched to “writer.”

Over the next 40 years, her reputation and readership only grew, with many of her stories first appearing in The New Yorker. Her prose style was straightforward, her tone matter of fact, but her plots revealed unending disruption and disappointments: broken marriages, violent deaths, madness and dreams unfulfilled, or never even attempted. “Canadian Gothic” was one way she described the community of her childhood, a world she returned to when, in middle age, she and her second husband relocated to nearby Clinton.

“Shame and embarrassment are driving forces for Munro’s characters,” Atwood wrote, “just as perfectionism in the writing has been a driving force for her: getting it down, getting it right, but also the impossibility of that.”

She had the kind of curiosity that would have made her an ideal companion on a long train ride, imagining the lives of the other passengers. Munro wrote the story “Friend of My Youth,” in which a man has an affair with his fiancee’s sister and ends up living with both women, after an acquaintance told her about some neighbors who belonged to a religion that forbade card games. The author wanted to know more — about the religion, about the neighbors.

Even as a child, Munro had regarded the world as an adventure and mystery and herself as an observer, walking around Wingham and taking in the homes as if she were a tourist. In “The Peace of Utrecht,” an autobiographical story written in the late 1960s, a woman discovers an old high school notebook and remembers a dance she once attended with an intensity that would envelop her whole existence.

“And now an experience which seemed not at all memorable at the time,” Munro wrote, “had been transformed into something curiously meaningful for me, and complete; it took in more than the girls dancing and the single street, it spread over the whole town, its rudimentary pattern of streets and its bare trees and muddy yards just free of the snow, over the dirt roads where the lights of cars appeared, jolting toward the town, under an immense pale wash of sky.”

This story has been updated to correct the title of “The Beggar Maid.”

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Explore African Literature

Weganda Review’s New Issue Features Diary of a Ugandan Grocery Store Clerk and More!

by Kuhelika Ghosh

May 17, 2024

The Weganda Review just published its fourth issue this April and it features a stunning collection of Ugandan texts exploring memory and history. Our favorites are the diary of a Ugandan grocery store clerk and an essay on African hair!

The Weganda Review (TWR) is a literary journal produced in Uganda. Founded in 2023 as a cultural project of the non-profit Weganda Foundation, this quarterly is an intellectual platform for writers, researchers, academics, artists and others whose thinking is worth sharing. TWR publishes short stories, poetry, art portfolios, photography, reviews, diaries and, especially, essays as cultural criticism.

The Weganda Review ’s fourth issue (April – June 2024) has been published in print and online. It includes essays on Kenya’s disputatious leader, the political rise of the Ugandan president’s brother, the “madness” of Nairobi, broken things in Uganda, and African hair. As a fun genre-bending surprise, this issue also includes the diary of a young grocery clerk who works in a supermarket outside Kampala.

The latest issue features poetry by Chioniso Tsikisayi, Ber Anena, Ssebo Lule, and Mugabi Byenkya. You will also find fiction by Rodney Muhumuza and Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto, as well as art portfolios belonging to George W. Kyeyune and R. Canon Griffin. The Quote of the Quarter is extracted from The Sea by John Banville.

Check out the full issue here . Read the table of contents of below.

Table of Contents

Rutocracy  by Robert Waswani

Number Five  by Rodney Muhumuza

Till the End  by Risdel Kasasira

What’s Broken?  by Adventino Banjwa

Good Kid, M.A.A.D City  by Dennis Mugaa

Important Hair  by Iruoma Chukuemeka

Grace Achike  by Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto

Two poems  by Ber Anena

One poem  by Chioniso Tsikisayi

One poem  by Ssebo Lule

One poem  by Mugabi Byenkya

Counting  by Jackline Nanziri,  Grocery Clerk

John Banville  via The Sea

Art and Photography

Weganda Cartoon  by Joseph Mugume

Ordinary Lives  by George W. Kyeyune, with an introduction by  TWR

Weganda Expression  by  TWR

Subtlety  by R. Canon Griffin, with an introduction by  TWR

Cover art  by George W. Kyeyune

• weganda review

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‘Jar Jetha Ghar’ finds its way to Bengali television; Ashutosh Mukhopadhyay's acclaimed literary work features in ‘Sahityer Shera Somoy’ series

‘Sahityer Shera Somoy’ is a popular series currently up and running on Bengali television. The series features notable literary works, adapted for the small screen to entertain the audience. For the sixth story, Ashutosh Mukhopadhyay's acclaimed novel ‘Jar Jetha Ghar’ has found its way to the popular series.

Based on the renowned Bengali author Shri Ashutosh Mukhpadyay's novel, this recently launched story will beautifully highlight the society of the 70’s era and the various challenges it used to impose on ordinary people. It will reveal the real complexities of human relationships, inner corruption, and family conspiracies, the challenges of love, and the diverse shades of a woman’s psychology.

Priyanka Bardia, director of the respective channel, says, “Reviving the classic, vintage tales from the treasure trove of Bengali Literature is undoubtedly a challenging task, especially when the generation is focused on the glamour of technology. The team of Sahityer Shera Somoy has wonderfully brought five back-to-back hit series to the show. Now, with the introduction of Jaar Jetha Ghar, it is a testament to our commitment of continuing to introduce high-quality and engaging content for the viewers. We believe that the interesting characters in the new series and the poignant storyline will resonate deeply with our viewers. We hope that Jaar Jetha Ghar leaves a lasting impression on our all-time viewers and we will conclude the series with optimistic responses.”

The lead actor for ‘Jar Jetha Ghar’, Pranay Chandra says, "I feel privileged with my new onscreen journey as Sunanda Bose in Jaar Jetha Ghar in Sahityer Shera Somoy. It is an adaptation of a well-known literary work of an eminent author. As the storyline throws light on the 70’s era, so resurrecting the societal cultures, costumes, and individual personality of the hero with whom the audience can easily feel and establish that connection is tough but interesting. Every day is a learning experience for me."

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Joyeeta Goswami, who essays the role of the female protagonist in the story, says, "Essaying the character of Arati in Jaar Jetha Ghar is an absolute pleasure for me. Arati, by nature, is an affectionate, jovial, and independent woman who declines to surrender to any kind of personal and social limitations. This particular character is quite unique and bears a different appeal from all the other onscreen roles in which I have previously acted."

Jaar Jetha Ghar in Sahityer Shera Somoy also casts the actors Chandraniv, Pratik Ganguly, Shankar Chakraborty, Chaitali Chakraborty, Rimjhim Das, Soumi Banerjee, Jyotirmoy and Piyali Das in the other significant roles. This new series is directed by Sajal Bose.

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Winner of the 2024 Dylan Thomas Prize Is Revealed

BY Michael Schaub • May 17, 2024

Caleb Azumah Nelson’s novel Small Worlds has won the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize, given annually to “​​the best published literary work in the English language, written by an author aged 39 or under.”

The novel, published in the U.S. in 2023 by Grove, tells the story of Stephen, a Ghanaian British man whose world comes apart when he chooses to pursue a career in music rather than go to college. The book is Azumah Nelson’s second, after the 2021 novel Open Water .

Namita Gokhale, the chair of the prize jury, said in a statement, “There is a musicality to Caleb Azumah Nelson’s writing, in a book equally designed to be read quietly and listened aloud.…Emotionally challenging yet exceptionally healing, Small Worlds feels like a balm: honest as it is about the riches and the immense difficulties of living away from your culture.”

And Azumah Nelson said, “I’m deeply grateful to be acknowledged for the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize.…My mum, dad, brother and sister—this is for them—and my partner, who shows me what is love. And to the other shortlisted authors—I’m grateful to be on a list with you and your astounding work.”

The Dylan Thomas Prize was established in 2006, and comes with a cash award of £20,000, or about $25,400. Previous winners include Claire Vaye Watkins for  Battleborn , Max Porter for Grief is the Thing With Feathers , and Arinze Ifeakandu for God’s Children Are Little Broken Things .

Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.

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