What Are Literary Devices

Allegory

(pronounced AL-eh-goh-ree):

Allegory is a narration or description in which events, actions, characters, settings or objects represent ideas specifically related to religion, politics and morality.

An allegory is a story within a story. It has a “surface story” and another story hidden underneath. It can be explained as the surface story might be about two neighbours throwing rocks at each other’s homes, but the hidden story would be about war between countries.

Some allegories are very subtle, while others can be more obvious.

Example:

• Animal Farm by George Orwell
• Aesop’s fables
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Allusion

Allusion (pronounced ah-LOO-zhun) is a reference to something else. It is when a writer mentions some other work, or refers to an earlier part of the current work.

In literature, it is frequently used to reference cultural works (e.g. by alluding to a Bible story or Greek myth). Allusion also exists in other art forms – musicians, for example, frequently “allude” to melodies used by other musicians.

Example:

• “Open up Pandora’s box” This is an allusion to the Greek story of Pandora, the first woman, who accidentally released evil into the world.
• You’re acting like such a Scrooge! this is allusion to Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, this line means that the person is being miserly and selfish, just like the character Scrooge from the story.

Anachronism

(pronounced ah-NACK-ruh-nism) is a Greek word meaning “backward time.” It is what happens when an author, deliberately or accidentally, puts historical events, fashions, technology, etc., in the wrong place. The story shows something happening at a time when it would be impossible, or at least extremely unlikely, for that thing to happen.

Example:

• William Shakespeare sometimes used anachronisms deliberately in his plays about the ancient world. He has Cleopatra play billiards, a game that didn’t exist until over 1,000 years after her death. Shakespeare did this because he wanted his plays to be staged as though the events were happening in his own day, much the way we might do with a “modernized” version of old stories. In a story if a caveman is shown enjoying Xbox games, as Xbox never existed at that time!

Cliff hanger

When a story or plotline ends suddenly or a large plot twist occurs and is left unresolved. It is a device that is used to create suspense, but most importantly, it leaves unanswered questions that make the reader or viewer want to come back to learn what will happen next. Cliff hangers are a particularly popular and widely used device in television, whose success relies heavily on audiences returning to watch week after week with episodes that are “to be continued.”

Example:

• Read the following short passage:
• The man stood on the end of the platform, looking down at the still turquoise water ten meters below. He had worked towards this his whole life. He wasn’t nervous, even though what would happen in the next few moments—few seconds—would determine his future. But he was as tranquil as the water below. He arched his heels, balancing on the balls of his feet; his arms extended above him into the perfect point. He filled his lungs with air and closed his eyes for only a fraction of a second, and when they opened, he exhaled calmly, and dove.
• The passage above leaves one huge question unanswered—how did the diver perform? We wonder, what will happen if he fails? If he succeeds? Each possibility creates further questions for readers to consider, and in turn, we are likely to continue reading to get answers.

Dramatic Irony

Dramatic irony is when the audience knows something that the characters do not — so the characters might get an unexpected outcome, but for the audience it’s not unexpected at all.

Example:

• We all know the ending of Titanic — that ship is going down. But everyone on board thinks that it’s “unsinkable”!
• Shakespearean plays used lots of dramatic irony to create sympathy for the protagonist.

Foreshadowing

It gives the audience hints or signs about the future. It suggests what is to come through imagery, language, and/or symbolism. It does not directly give away the outcome, but rather, suggests it.

Example:

• A professionally dressed woman hurriedly leaves the house, slamming the front door. She frantically searches for her keys in the bottom of a giant purse while balancing a briefcase under her other arm. She finds her keys, gets in the car and begins backing out of the driveway, and then slams on the brakes. “I feel like I’m forgetting something,” she says. She shrugs and drives away.
• With only this information, we can predict the outcome of this story—the woman has forgotten something important at home, and she probably won’t realize it until she needs it, perhaps at a meeting. Her clothing, behaviour, and dialogue are all clues that work together to foreshadow what will happen in her future.

Extended Metaphor

An extended metaphor is a metaphor that is developed in great detail. The amount of detail can vary from that of a sentence or a paragraph, to encompassing an entire work. In an extended metaphor, the author takes a single metaphor and employs it at length, using various subjects, images, ideas, and situations. They are commonly used in poetry, as well as prose.

Example:

• An author wanting to tell a story about a criminal might employ extended metaphor and instead, tell a story about a fox who attacks a farmer’s flock of chickens. The fox would represent the criminal and the chickens would represent the victims.

Imagery

Imagery is language used by poets, novelists and other writers to create images in the mind of the reader. Imagery includes figurative and metaphorical language to make imagination more vivid to the readers through their senses.

Visual Imagery

The night was black as ever, but bright stars lit up the sky in beautiful and varied constellations that were sprinkled across the astronomical landscape.

In this example, the experience of the night sky is described in depth with color (black as ever, bright), shape (varied constellations), and pattern (sprinkled).

Auditory Imagery

Auditory imagery describes what we hear, from music to noise o pure silence. Auditory imagery may include:

Enjoyable sounds, such as: beautiful music, bird song, and the voices of a chorus. Noises such as: the bang of a gun, the sound of a broom moving across the floor, and the sound of broken glass shattering on the hard floor.

The lack of noise is described as peaceful calm or eerie silence.

Olfactory Imagery

Olfactory imagery describes what we smell. Olfactory imagery may include:

Fragrances such as perfumes, enticing food and drink, blooming flowers.

Odours, such as rotting trash, body odours, or a stinky wet dog.

Gustatory Imagery

Gustatory imagery describes what we taste. Gustatory imagery can include:

Sweetness: such as candies, cookies, and desserts.

Sourness: bitterness, and tartness, such as lemons and limes.

Saltiness: such as pretzels, French fries, and pepperonis.

Spiciness: such as salsas and curries.

Savouriness: such as a steak dinner or thick soup.

Tactile Imagery

Lastly, tactile imagery describes what we feel or touch. Tactile imagery includes:

Temperature: such as bitter cold, humidity, mildness, and stifling heat.

Texture: such as rough, ragged, seamless, and smooth.

Touch: such as handholding, one’s in the grass, or the feeling of starched fabric on one’s skin.

Movement: such as burning muscles from exertion, swimming in cold water, or kicking a soccer ball.