What are Literary Devices

• refers to the typical structures used by writers in their works to

convey his or her message(s) in a simple manner to his or her
readers. When employed properly, the different literary devices
Kinds of Literary Devices
Literary Devices have two aspects. They can be treated as
either Literary Elements or Literary Techniques.

• Literary Elements have an inherent existence in literary piece and

are extensively employed by writers to develop a literary piece.
Writers simply cannot create his desired work without
including Literary Elements in a thoroughly professional manner.
e.g. plot, setting, narrative structure, characters, mood, theme,
moral etc.
• Literary Techniques, are structures usually a word(s) or phrases in
literary texts that writers employ to achieve not merely artistic ends
but also readers a greater understanding and appreciation of their
literary works.
Examples are: metaphor, simile, alliteration, hyperbole, allegory
etc.

In contrast to Literary Elements, Literary Techniques are not

unavoidable aspect of literary works.
 Common Literary Elements

• Setting: It refers to the time and place in which a story takes place.

Example: In the pacific ocean in modern times around 2003

(Finding Nemo)
• Character: is a person or an animal that takes part in the action of a
literary work.
 Protagonist: It is the main character of story, novel or a play

e.g. Hamlet in the play Hamlet

 Antagonist: It is the character in conflict with the Protagonist

e.g. Claudius in the play Hamlet

• Plot: It is the logical sequence of events that develops a story.
These are the important events and actions in the story.

Example: Nemo gets lost. His father Marlin begins his search
for his son and eventually finds him (Finding Nemo)
• Conflict. It is an issue in a narrative around which the whole story
revolves. It is the struggle between opposing forces in a story or
play.

• An internal or psychological conflict arises as soon as

a character experiences two opposite emotions or desires – usually
virtue and vice, or good and evil – inside him.

• External conflict is marked by a characteristic involvement of an action

wherein a character finds himself in struggle with those outside forces
that hamper his progress.
• Narrator: A person who tells the story.

 A first person narrator is a character inside the story. He/she tells the
reader what is happening from his/her own point of view, using “I,”
“me” and “myself” to tell the story.

 A second person narrator is fairly unusual. In a second person

narrative, the person telling the story uses “you” to describe the main
character or narrator.

 A third person narrator is not a part of the story, and refers to all of
the characters (including the protagonist) using “he” and “she.”
• Theme: It is central idea or concept of a story. A theme can usually be
expressed as a generalization, or general statement, about people or
life.
 Love
 Death
 Good vs. evil
 Power and corruption
 Survival
 Courage and heroism
• Mood: A general atmosphere of a narrative. It is how the story feels
for the reader.

Example: The mood in the story Finding Nemo is tense (or

stressful). The obstacles are scary so the readers is
often worry about Nemo.
 Common Literary Techniques

• Imagery: It is the use of figurative language to create visual

representations of actions, objects and ideas in our mind in such a
way that they appeal to our physical senses.

For example:
 The room was dark and gloomy. -The words “dark” and
“gloomy” are visual images.
 The river was roaring in the mountains. – The word “roaring”
appeals to our sense of hearing.
• Simile and Metaphor: Both compare two distinct objects and draws
similarity between them. The difference is that Simile uses “as” or
“like” and Metaphor does not.

For example:
 “My love is like a red red rose” (Simile)
 My brother was boiling mad. (Metaphor)
• Hyperbole: It is deliberate exaggeration of actions and ideas for the
sake of emphasis.

For example:
 Your bag weighs a ton!
 The blacksmith’s hand was harder than the rock.
 The boy was dying to get a new school bag.
• Personification: It gives a thing, an idea or an animal human
qualities.

For example:
 The flowers are dancing beside the lake.
 Have you see my new car? She is a real beauty!
 The full moon peeped through partial clouds.
• Alliteration: It refers to the same consonant sounds in words
coming together.

For example:
 Better butter always makes the batter better.
 She sells seashells at seashore.

In our daily life, we notice alliteration in the names of different

companies.
 Dunkin’ Donuts
 PayPal
 Best Buy
 Coca-Cola
• Allusion: It is a literary technique in which an abstract idea is
given a form of characters, actions or events.

For example:
 We’ll need to board an ark after school if this rain doesn’t stop.
 He thinks he’s such a Romeo with the ladies
 “This place is like a Garden of Eden.”
 “Hey! Guess who the new Newton of our school is?”
• Analogy is a comparison in which an idea or a thing is compared
to another thing that is quite different from it.

For example:
 Life is like a race. The one who keeps running wins the race, and
the one who stops to catch a breath loses.
 Defending the kingdom is like a game of soccer, and the castles
are the goals.
 Just as a caterpillar comes out of its cocoon, so we must come out
of our comfort zone.
• Assonance: takes place when two or more words, close to one
another repeat the same vowel sound, but start with different
consonant sounds.

For example:
 “I must confess that in my quest I felt depressed and
restless.” With Love, by Thin Lizzy

 The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plains.

• Consonance. refers to repetitive sounds produced by consonants
within a sentence or phrase.

For example:
• Do not go gentle into that good night

• While customers consume large quantities

Of curiously cultivated curtains
Alongside crowds of crude oils
Crossed and crooked
(from “Sssh” by Apex Theory)
• Symbolism. is the use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities, by
giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their
literal sense.

For example:
“Ah Sunflower, weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the sun;
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the traveler’s journey is done;”
(William Blake poem: Ah Sunflower)
 Major Literary Genres
• DRAMA. This genre includes all plays or any written works that
are meant to bed performed. This type of literature is written
with the intention of being performed for an audience.

For example:
Romeo and Juliet
Hamlet
Midsummer Night’s Dream
Florante at Laura
• Subgenre of Drama

 Comedy – a funny, or humorous. It is a type of drama that

aims to make the audience laugh. Its tone is light and it mostly
has a happy ending.

 Tragedy – a sad drama. It is one of literature’s greatest

dramatic genre. It presents life as solemn and serious and
mostly has a sad ending.
• FICTION. This is a written work that is no real and which uses
elaborate figurative language. Fiction is divided into chapters. It
is based on the writer’s creative imagination, and the subject
matter can be anything.

For example:
Game of Thrones series by George Martin
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
The Woman Who Had Two Navels by Nick Joaquin
• Subgenre of Fiction

 Fantasy – a story in a fantasy world

 Folklore – these are old cultural stories (includes fairytales,
fables, myths, legends and tall tales)
 Historical Fiction – a fiction story based on real history
 Mystery – a story about a crime
 Romance – a love story
 Science fiction – a story in the future with advanced
technology
 Thriller or suspense – a story that makes the readers nervous
or exited or even scared.
• NONFICTION. This is the opposite of fiction because the subject
matter comes from real life. Nonfiction works are all based on
real people and real world experiences.
• Subgenre of Nonfiction

 Biography – a story of a person’s life

 Autobiography – a story the author writes about himself or
herself
 Narrative non-fiction – a story (or narrative) that happened in
real life
 Periodical – magazines, newspapers, and journals that are
written regularly
 Reference materials – books with facts in alphabetical order
(dictionary, thesaurus, and encyclopedia)
• POETRY. Writing using language and sounds in special ways to
express ideas. Poem used to follow strict rules as to the number
and length of lines and stanzas but in recent years they have
become more free-flowing.
• Subgenre of Poetry

 Lyric – a poem about the speaker’s thoughts

 Elegy, Ode, Sonnet, and Haiku

 Narrative – a poem that tells story

 Epic – a long poem about a hero

 Dramatic – words spoken by a character

 Soliloquy, Dialogue, Monologue