English: poetry
Alliteration
Repetition of an identical consonant sound at the beginning of stressed words, usually close together.
Allusion
A brief, indirect reference to a historical or literary person, event or object. The writer assumes that the reader will recognize the reference and superimpose the ideas and meaning associated with it into the current context.
Euphemism
The use of inoffensive, mild or vague words in place of harsher, more blunt ones. Euphemisms are often used to reduce the risk of offending or upsetting people.
Foreshadowing
A device which hints or warns of events to happen later in the story. Foreshadowing prepares the reader for the climax, the “denouement”, and any changes in the character.
Hyperbole
A deliberate exaggeration for various effects – comic, tragic, etc.
Imagery
The mental pictures created by language (both metaphorical and literal) that appeal to the senses. (the 5 senses)
Irony
Is a literary device which reveals concealed or contradictory meaning(s). Three common forms of irony are:
1. Verbal irony, which occurs when a contrast is evident between what a character says and what the character actually means.
2. Dramatic irony, which occurs when the author shares with the reader information not known by a character. As a result, the reader becomes aware that a character’s actions may be inappropriate for the actual circumstances, that what is to come is the reverse of what a character expects, or that a character has unknowingly made a comment which anticipates the outcome.
3. Situational irony occurs when a set of circumstances turns out differently from what is expected or considered appropriate.
Juxtaposition
Contrasting elements are placed side by side to highlight their differences or create a specific emotional or thematic impact.
Metaphor
an implied comparison between two different things, which does not use the words like or as in the comparison; a word or phrase that ordinarily means one thing is used to describe another thing in order to suggest a likeness between the two.
Onomatopoeia
The use of a word that closely resembles the sound to which it refers.
Personification
A special form of metaphor in which human characteristics are attributed to animals, inanimate objects or ideas.
Repetition
Repeated words.
Rhetorical question
a question that doesn’t actually need an answer.
Simile
Where a comparison is made explicit with ‘as’ or ‘like’ (distinguish from metaphor). Can make descriptions vivid and unusual.
Symbolism
The use of symbols that stand for or represent something else. Characters, objects, events, and settings can all be symbolic.