Literary Devices

Term Definition Examples

Hints or clues that Casey didn’t realize

a writer uses to it at the time, but
Foreshadowing his turn at bat
suggest what will would make him a
happen next in a legend.
story. (This is also an allusion!)

Repeating similar The doctor took her

grammatical temperature,
Parallelism checked her
structures (words, heartbeat, and
phrases, or tested her reflexes.
sentences) to give
writing rhythm.

A technique that Danielle smiles and

uses a word or laughs all of the
Irony time, so we call her
phrase to mean Grumpy.
the exact opposite
of its normal
meaning
 Tone: The writer’s And then he had the gall to
ask Lacey for the answer!
attitude toward his or Even after all the horrible,
her subject (i.e. mean-spirited, malevolent
things he did to her! All she
Tone/Mood serious, sarcastic, could do was walk away.
(relies heavily on objective, etc.)
vocabulary and
punctuation)
Mood: The feeling a Puffy white clouds floated
piece of literature across the sky; a warm, soft
breeze whispered through the
creates in a reader trees: it was a perfect day for
a trip to the park.

Sara couldn’t stand

the sight of red
A technique in balloons. Three
which a writer years before, on her
interrupts a story 10th birthday, her
Flashback brother tied her pet
to go back and
explain an earlier mouse to ten red
balloons and
event. snickered wickedly
as the mouse
floated out of her
life forever.
A reference to a
well-known Hector rushed in
person, place, like Superman and
rescued the cat
Allusion thing, or even that from the burning
the writer building.
assumes the
reader will be
familiar with.