10 Literary Terms and Devices

Foil- A type of character whose actions emphasize qualities of another character, usually the protagonist.

 Spoonerism- A play on words that rearranges words in a sentence, or parts in words of a sentence. The rearrangement should still have real words, though, grammatically incorrect, and totally unrelated to the sentence. For example, instead of saying “a crushing blow”, “a blushing crow” would be used.

 Internal Rhyme- A rhyme within a line

Asyndeton- a small part of writing, such as a sentence, motto, or quote that deliberately excludes conjunctions between a sequence of related clauses.

Allegory- a type of writing that has a meaning other than its literal meaning. Basically, an extended metaphor, because it applies to an entire piece of writing and all that lies within it are connotations.

Euphemism- the replacing of a term which is harsh or impolite with a more acceptable, milder term; used to turn a negative term into something in a positive light. An example would be saying “laying off” instead of “you’re fired”.

 Flashback- a type of narration in the story, which involves the displaying of events before the present setting of the story.  Usually displayed in the form of thoughts, dreams, or stories, and is used to provide the reader with background information, more details about the characters, and possibly remove confusion towards the character’s personality.

 Onomatoepia- A word that, when pronounced, sounds the same as the sound that it makes. Splash, buzz, boom

Personification- giving an animal or an object human qualities

Hyperbation- The mixing-up of words in a statement, while still having it be comprehensible. Used quite often by Shakespeare.

Conflict- A struggle found in the plot of a story. 4 types: Character vs. self, character vs. character, character vs. nature, character vs.society

 Bildungsroman- A narrative where the progtagonist experiences growth, spiritually, and mentally, throughout the story.

 Aphorism- A concise saying which summarizes a moral, theme, or life principles.

Diction- Refers to the style of vocabulary and expression presented by the speaker or author.