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Similar term: personification The household items in 'Beauty and the Beast' have been anthropomorphized. 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). 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.Įxamples: In Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Mrs.

To anthropomorphize is to apply human traits or qualities to a non-human thing such as objects, animals, or the weather. 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.”Įxample: “Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing.” - The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe 7. '… 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.”Īnastrophe is a figure of speech wherein the traditional sentence structure is reversed. '… 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 one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. It’s often seen in poetry and speeches, intended to provoke a emotional response in its audience.Įxample: Martin Luther King’s 1963 “I Have A Dream” speech.

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AnaphoraĪnaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of a series of clauses or sentences. It lends a pleasing cadence to prose and Hamlet and the dollar as currency in Macbeth. AlliterationĪlliteration describes a series of words in quick succession that all start with the same letter or sound. 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. This dystopian novella is one of modern literature’s best-known allegories. 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.Įxample: Animal Farm by George Orwell. In an allegorical story, things represent more than they appear to on the surface. AllegoryĪn allegory is a type of narrative that uses characters and plot to depict abstract ideas and themes. Here are the literary devices you should know: 1. Takes one minute!Ĥ5+ literary devices everyone should know

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Now for the pièce de résistance: our full list of literary devices.įind out which literary luminary is your stylistic soulmate. Click here to learn more about rhetorical devices. That said, there can still be quite a bit of overlap between the two. The difference is that literary devices can be used to enhance writing in many different ways, not all of which involve trying to convince readers of something.īasically, literary devices are artistic rhetorical devices are informative and persuasive. We'll also note that some literary devices double as rhetorical devices, which are used to convey meaning and/or persuade readers on a certain point. Some may be characteristic of specific genres - for example, you'll often see flashbacks and foreshadowing in psychological thrillers - while others, like similes and metaphors, can be found in just about any text. Again, they vary in terms of what they do: some of them relate to word usage and description, while others relate to how scenes play out. You've probably heard of most (if not all) of the devices above. Indeed, some devices show up so frequently, you may not even register them as you're reading! The most common literary devices are: But here's a good rule of thumb: if you're reading a book and you find the author using language or narrative structure in an unusual way, there's probably a literary device at work.

Of course, for readers, literary devices can be difficult to identify. No matter what, if you're looking to inject something special into your prose, literary devices are a great place to start. They may also work subtly to improve the flow and pacing of your writing. Some might work on an intellectual level, while others have a more emotional effect. These devices serve a wide range of purposes in literature. A metaphor, for instance, is a famous example of a literary device. A literary device is a writing technique that writers use to express ideas, convey meaning, and highlight important themes in a piece of text.

Literary elements