English A

Ms. Mathura
Literary Devices
• Literary devices are ways of taking writing beyond its
straightforward, literal meaning. In that sense, they are
techniques for helping guide the reader in how to read the
piece.
• What all these literary devices have in common is that they
create new connections: rich layers of sound, sense, emotion,
narrative, and ultimately meaning that surpass the literal
details being recounted. They are what sets literature apart,
and what makes it uniquely powerful.
Metaphor
• Metaphors, also known as direct comparisons, are
one of the most common literary devices. A
metaphor is a statement in which two objects, often
unrelated, are compared to each other.
• Example of metaphor: This tree is the god of the
forest.
• Obviously, the tree is not a god—it is, in fact, a tree.
However, by stating that the tree is the god, the
reader is given the image of something strong, large,
and immovable.
Simile
• Similes, also known as indirect comparisons, are similar in
construction to metaphors, but they imply a different
meaning. Like metaphors, two unrelated objects are being
compared to each other. Unlike a metaphor, the comparison
relies on the words “like” or “as.”

• Example of simile: This tree is like the god of the forest.

• OR: This tree acts as the god of the forest.

• The obvious difference between these two common literary

devices is that a simile uses “like” or “as,” whereas a metaphor
never uses these comparison words.
Imagery
• Imagery is what it sounds like—the use of figurative language
to describe something.

• However, imagery doesn’t just involve visual descriptions; the

best writers use imagery to appeal to all five senses. By
appealing to the reader’s sense of sight, sound, touch, taste,
and smell, your writing will create a vibrant world for readers
to live and breathe in.
Let us briefly describe this
piece in no more than 4 lines.
• Sight imagery: The tree spread its gigantic, sun-flecked
shoulders.
• Sound imagery: The forest was hushed, resounding with
echoes of the tree’s stoic silence.
• Touch imagery: The tree felt smooth as sandstone.
• Taste imagery: The tree’s leaves tasted bitter, like unroasted
coffee beans.
• Smell imagery: As we approached the tree, the air around it
smelled crisp and precise.
Exercise
• Choose something to write about—any object, image, or
idea—and describe it using the five senses.

• Idea- use the setting of a marketplace

Symbolism
• Essentially, a symbol is the use of an object to represent a
concept.

• A few very commonly used symbols include:

• “Peace” represented by a white dove

• “Love” represented by a red rose
• “Conformity” represented by sheep
• “Idea” represented by a light bulb switching on
Exercise 2
• Try your hand at symbolism by writing a poem or story
centered around a symbol. Choose a random object, and make
that object represent something. For example, you could try
to make a blanket represent the idea of loneliness.
Personification
• Personification, giving human attributes to nonhuman objects, is a
powerful way to foster empathy in your readers.

• Personification (using sight): The car ran a marathon down the highway.

• Personification (using sound): The car coughed, hacked, and spluttered.

• Personification (using touch): The car was smooth as a baby’s bottom.

• Personification (using taste): The car tasted the bitter asphalt.

• Personification (using smell): The car needed a cold shower.

• Personification (using mental events): The car remembered its first owner
fondly.
Hyperbole
• Basically, hyperbole refers to any sort of exaggerated
description or statement.

• I’ve been waiting a billion years for this

• I’m so hungry I could eat a horse
• I feel like a million bucks
• You are the king of the kitchen
Irony
• Irony is, first, when the writer describes something by using
opposite language.

• Like most bureaucrats, she felt a boundless love for her job,
and was eager to share that good feeling with others.

• The triple bacon cheeseburger glistened with health and good

choices.
• The fire station burned down.
Juxtaposition
• Juxtaposition refers to the placement of contrasting ideas next
to each other, often to produce an ironic or thought-provoking
effect.

• Example: Across the town from her wedding, the bank robbers
were tying up the hostages.

• Example: I put the box of chocolates on the coffee table, next

to the gas mask.
Paradox
• A paradox is a juxtaposition of contrasting ideas that, while
seemingly impossible, actually reveals a deeper truth.

• I hate and I love. Why I do this, perhaps you ask.

• I know not, but I feel it happening and I am tortured.

• “To be natural is such a very difficult pose to keep up.”

• Here, “natural” and “pose” are conflicting ideas. Someone

who poses assumes an unnatural state of being, whereas a
natural poise seems effortless and innate. Despite these
contrasting ideas, Wilde is exposing a deeper truth: to seem
natural is often to keep up appearances, and seeming natural
often requires the same work as assuming any other pose.
Allusion
• Allusion is just a fancy word for a literary reference; when a
writer alludes to something, they are either directly or
indirectly referring to another, commonly-known piece of art
or literature.

• Referring to a kind stranger as a Good Samaritan

• Describing an ideal place as Edenic, or the Garden of Eden
• Saying someone “turned the other cheek” when they were
passive in the face of adversity
• When something is described as lasting “40 days and 40
nights,” in reference to the flood of Noah’s Ark

You might describe a woman as being as beautiful as the Mona

Lisa
Common Literary Devices in
Poetry
• Rhyme
• Rhythm
• Alliteration
• Repetition- Strategic repetition of certain phrases can
reinforce the core of your poem.
• Consonance/Assonance
• Meter
Alliteration
• One of the more defining sound devices in poetry, alliteration
refers to the succession of words with similar sound.

• Alliteration is a powerful, albeit subtle, means of controlling

the poem’s mood. A series of s’es might make the poem sound
sinister, sneaky, or sharp; by contrast, a series of b’s, d’s, and
p’s will give the poem a heavy, percussive sound, like sticks
against a drum.

• Example: Larry’s Lizard likes lounging on land.

• Kin’s kid kept kicking like crazy.
• Nick’s nephews needed some new notebooks.
Let us look for any
Alliteration in this
poem.
Consonance & Assonance
• Alliteration refers specifically to the sounds at the beginning:
consonance and assonance refer to the sounds within words.
Consonance refers to consonant sounds, whereas assonance
refers to vowel sounds.

• Consonance examples: Mike likes his new bike.

• I will crawl away with this ball.
• Toss the ball, boss!
• It will creep and beep while you sleep.
Example
• Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
• And sorry I could not travel both
• And be one traveler, long I stood
• And looked down one as far as I could
• To where it bent in the undergrowth;

• (“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost)

• In Robert Frost’s poem example “The Road Not Taken” we can

find many devices at work, such as rhyme scheme (ABABB)
and symbolism. Though Frost seems to be simply describing
something he has come across in his travels, indeed there is
deep meaning to his contemplation of which path he took.
Mood
• The mood refers to the atmosphere that is prevalent in the
poem. Different elements of a poem such as its setting, tone,
voice and theme help establish this atmosphere. As a result,
the mood evokes certain feelings and emotions in the reader.
Tone and Mood
• The tone of a poem may be described using a variety of words
such as serious, playful, humorous, formal, informal, angry,
satirical, ironical or sad, or any other kind of appropriate
adjective. The mood of the poem may be described as
idealistic, romantic, realistic, optimistic, gloomy, imaginary or
mournful.
HW
• Write a short poem with two stanzas around a central theme.