Literary devices

A literary device is a tool used by writers to hint at larger

themes, ideas, and meaning in a story or piece of writing.
There are many styles of literary devices, each serving a
different purpose.

List of Literary Devices Famous Authors Use Most

#1 – Allusion
No, this is not an illusion, though the two can be confused with
one another.
An allusion is a literary device that references a person, place,
thing, or event in the real world. You can use this to paint a clear
picture or to even connect with your readers.
Allusions are often used as literary elements that help connect
the reader to the works. By referencing something the reader
may be familiar with within the real world, this invests them
more than if you didn’t have any connections.
Allusion Examples:
“Careful, now. You don’t want to go opening Pandora’s
Box.”
In this example, the allusion is Pandora’s Box. Because this is a
reference to a real-life element, it’s considered an allusion.
Alliteration
Alliteration is a literary device that uses the same letters or
sounds at the beginning of words in a sentence or title.
There are many nursery rhymes that use alliteration but this is
also useful for creating something memorable within your
writing.
You can also use alliteration when choosing the title of your
book, as it makes it easier to remember, as you can see in the
example of alliterative titles below.
Ex.  A good cook could cook as many cookies as a good cook
who could cook cookies.

 I saw a saw that could out saw any other saw I ever saw.

Alliteration ex titles book

Euphemism
We tend to think of euphemisms as sexual euphemisms, which
is how they’re often used. However, euphemisms are actually
any terms that refer to something impolite or unpleasant.
We create phrases or other words in order to avoid using the
actual term because they’re impolite, rude, or indecent.
Those alternatives are considered euphemisms.
This is often why we think of sexual euphemisms when we hear
of this literary device. Most individuals would rather make a
much lighter comment when referring to something as
“indecent” as sex, but the same case is made for when someone
dies.
Euphemism Examples

 Before I go – before I die

 Do the dirty – have sex
 Rear-end – butt
 perspiration – sweating
Foreshadowing
 Foreshadowing is when the author places elements within
the writing that gives clues about what will happen in the
future of the story.
 These can often be small bits and pieces that some readers
might not pick up on the first read-through. They might
even look back and realize that certain elements were
foreshadowing once they hit the climax or a big plot twist
was revealed.
 Foreshadowing can be both literal and thematic.
 You can write a scene where there’s a conversation that the
reader can’t fully understand the meaning of until more is
revealed.
 You can also write a scene that has symbolic elements that
foreshadow events, like placing a black crow in a scene that
foreshadows a death, as crows are symbolic of this.
 If you really want to up your creative writing, you can
even create themes to foreshadow within your own
world.
 As an example of this literary device, you can create a
culture in which rabbits are a “known” sign of change and
conspicuously place a rabbit in a later scene.
 Foreshadowing Examples
 In Back to the Future, one of the clocks in the
opening credits has actor Harold Lloyd from the silem
film Safety First hanging from the minute hand. This
foreshadows Doc Brown hanging from the Hill Valley
clock tower later in the movie as he tried to send
Marty McFly back to the 1980s

Imagery
This is one that we briefly touched on above and also one you
likely learned in school, though it may have been a while since
then so we’ll give you a refresher.
Imagery is when you use visually descriptive or figurative
language in your writing. Think of it more like showing versus
telling in writing where you use more sensory language versus
blunt, plain words.
You would also use stronger verbs in order to present stronger
imagery in your writing.
Imagery Example
Here’s an example of imagery from Hannah Lee Kidder’s
anthology, Little Birds:
Personification
Personification is a literary device where you give human-like
qualities to non-human elements.
This is one of the most well-known literary devices and it’s
useful for a number of reasons:
1. Creates a stronger visual
2. Pulls readers further into your world
3. Helps the readers relate to and understand what’s going on
 4. It can allow readers to have a new perspective
5. You can give readers a new view on a typical
visual/occurrence
Personification Examples
 The wind whistled past my ears like a familiar tune
I’d long forgotten.
 The moon yanked a blanket of silver light over the
forest.
Metaphor/Simile
 This is the most popular literary device that has to be used
with caution because if used too much, metaphors and
similes can reek of cliches and amateur writing.
 Metaphors and similes are comparisons used to create
better clarification and understanding for readers.
 While these are similar, they’re quite different.
 Metaphor
 A metaphor is a comparison between two things that are
NOT alike and replaces the word with another word.
 Simile
 Similes are comparisons between two things that are NOT
like and replace the word with another word but uses “like”
or “as” within it.
Onomatopoeia
While its name may be confusing, this literary device is actually
easy to understand once you get past its difficult spelling.
An onomatopoeia is a word or phrase that shows you the sound
something makes. Since we can’t hear books, this literary device
is best used to paint a clear picture and include the sense of
hearing in your writing.
When using this literary element in writing, the correct
formatting is almost always to have the word italicized to show
emphasis of the sound.
Onomatopoeia Examples

 Buzz
 Zap
 Splat
  Boom
 Splash
Symbolism
Every story uses symbolism in some way. This literary device is
the use of a situation or element to represent a larger message,
idea, or concept.
Many times, authors use symbolism as a way to convey a
broader message that speaks to more readers. You can also use
symbolism to foreshadow what will happen later in the story.
Symbolism Examples

 Crows are used to symbolize a bad omen, like death

 The color purple symbolizes royalty
 The color red can symbolize death, struggle, power,
passion
 Spiders can symbolize spying, sneaky, or
untrustworthiness

An oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines contradictory

words with opposing meanings, like “old news,” “deafening
silence,” or “organized chaos.” Oxymorons may seem illogical
at first, but in context they usually make sense.

examples:
  accurate estimate
 alone together
 awfully good
 bittersweet
 climb down
 close distance
Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which, most often, a part of
something is used to refer to its whole. For example, "The
captain commands one hundred sails" is a synecdoche that
uses "sails" to refer to ships—ships being the thing of which a
sail is a part. A less common form of synecdoche occurs when a
whole is used to refer to a part. An example of this is when the
word "mortals" is used to mean humans—"mortals" technically
includes all animals and plants (anything that dies), so using
"mortals" to mean humans is a synecdoche that uses a category
to stand in for one of its subsets.

A synecdoche occurs when a part stands in for a whole, or a

whole stands in for a part. To recognize synecdoche it's helpful
to understand that there are different sorts of wholes and parts.
The most common types of wholes and parts are:
 A physical structure and its parts: "All hands on deck!"
is a part-to-whole synecdoche of this sort because "hands"
stand in for the sailors of which they are physically a part.
 An object and the material it is made of: In this sort of
synecdoche, the whole can be thought of as the thing's
 essence—what the thing truly is—while the part is its
matter, the physical material that makes it up but which
doesn't define that full essence. "Are you paying with
plastic?" is a synecdoche in which plastic, a material,
stands in for a credit card, which, as a monetary device, is
much more than its material.
 A container and what it contains: "Can I buy you a
glass?" refers not to the glass itself; it is a synecdoche in
which "glass" refers to the drink inside it.
 A category and the items in those categories: "America
took home gold" is a whole-to-part synecdoche in which
the larger category of "America" is used to stand in only for
American olympians. This type of synecdoche can also be
part-to-whole. For example, "The citizens were all put to
the sword" is a synecdoche in which the term "sword"
stands in for the entire category of weapons used to kill.

 The word "head" can refer to counting cattle or people. ...

 The word "bread" can be used to represent food. ...
 The word "wheels" refers to a vehicle. ...