LITERARY DEVICES

Writers use imagery and literary

devices in order to achieve certain
effects, generate feelings, emphasise
ideas, and bring words to life.
Hyperbole: exaggeration.
I told you a million times!
He’s as tall as a tree.

Metaphor: Describing an object by replacing it

with another with which it shares a characteristic.
Her voice was music to his ears.
I will speak daggers to her, but use none.
Oxymoron: the union of two words or terms
that contradict each other.
Deafening silence.
Virtual reality.
Old news.

Personification: Giving human characteristics to

ideas, animals or objects.
Death lurked in every corner.
The wind whistled in the night.
Simile: comparison between two objects using
links (“like,” ”as,” etc.).
She is as brave as a lion.
Just like a monkey I’ve been dancing...
It was as dry as a bone.

Metonymy: a thing is replaced by the name of

something else with which it is closely associated.
Let me give you a hand. (The hand represents help).
The pen is mightier than the sword. (The pen represents words,
while the sword represents violence).
I swear loyalty to the crown. (The crown represents the king and
queen).
 Literary devices that relate to SOUND

Alliteration: repetition of the same consonant

sound at the beginning of consecutive words.
Live, love, laugh.
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.
Voilà, in view a humble vaudevillian veteran cast
vicariously as both victim and villain…

Onomatopoeia: words that imitate sounds.

Crash! Pow!
Boom! Ring!
Woof! Tic toc.
Ouch!
 Literary devices that relate to SOUND

Assonance: resemblance of vowel sounds in

consecutive words.
The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain.
And so all the night-tide, I lie down by the side of my
darling –my life and my bride.

Rhyme: correspondence of sound between the

endings of words.
I see no changes, all I see is racist faces
Misplaced hate makes disgrace to races
 IMAGERY

Words or phrases can offer an image

to the reader to set up and bring life to
a specific situation or mood. These
images don’t necessarily have to be
visual.
 IMAGERY
Images can evoke:
Sight (Visual image): It was dark in the forest.
Smell (Olfactory image): The fragrance of spring
flowers made her happy.
Sound (Auditory image): The silence in the room
was unnerving.
Touch (Tactile image): The old man took a handful of
sand, and sifted it through his fingers.
Taste (Gustatory image): The cranberry sauce
reminded him of the flavours of his youth.
Movement (Kinesthetic image): The birds flapped
their wings in excitement…
A

Look at the following Haiku by Taniguchi Buson:

The piercing chill I feel:

my dead wife’s comb, in our bedroom.
Under my heel…

a. Which senses does it evoke?

b. Can you imagine the situation? Describe what
you think is happening.
c. What feeling would you say dominates the
poem?
Even though we often refer to them as
literary devices, figurative language is
constantly used in non-literary
situations.

Take a look at the following

advertisements and try to figure out
which device is being used.
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