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Learn about the techniques and elements that writers use to create literature, poetry, speeches, and more. Browse the alphabetical list of literary devices and terms, from acrostic to zeugma, with explanations and examples.
- read full acrostic explanation with examples
Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices....
- read full allegory explanation with examples
Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices....
- read full alliteration explanation with examples
Alliteration Definition. What is alliteration? Here’s a...
- read full anadiplosis explanation with examples
Anadiplosis Definition. What is anadiplosis? Here’s a quick...
- read full analogy explanation with examples
Despite the term's broad usage, this guide will focus solely...
- read full anaphora explanation with examples
Anaphora Definition. What is anaphora? Here’s a quick and...
- read full antagonist explanation with examples
Literary Terms Commonly Confused with Antagonist. There are...
- read full antanaclasis explanation with examples
Antanaclasis Definition. What is antanaclasis? Here’s a...
- read full acrostic explanation with examples
Literary terms refer to the technique, style, and formatting used by writers and speakers to masterfully emphasize, embellish, or strengthen their compositions. Learn about the importance, categories, and examples of literary terms such as persuasion, figurative language, plot and character devices, and more.
A comprehensive and accessible dictionary of literary terms from abjection to zeugma, covering traditional and modern genres, movements, and theories. Find definitions, examples, pronunciation guides, and web links for over 1,200 entries.
- Parable
- Paradox
- Parallelism
- Parody
- Personification
- Plot
- Point of View
- Polysyndeton
- Prologue
- Prose
A short story devised to provide a moral or spiritual lesson, often using metaphor, simile, or symbolism to make the moral more accessible to the audience. Jesus’s parable of the Good Samaritan in the Bible explores the meaning of one of the Ten Commandments, to “love thy neighbor as thyself.” In the story, a traveler is beaten, robbed, and left fo...
A provocative statement that contradicts itself yet is typically true in some sense. In George Orwell’s 1984,two of the official slogans of the Party serve as stark examples of paradox: “WAR IS PEACE” and “FREEDOM IS SLAVERY.” Although these statements appear to be patently false, they embody two of the twisted, elemental truths propagated by the P...
The repetition of similar grammatical structures within a sentence or passage, often for emphasis or to draw connections between objects. Great orators often employparallelism to make their ideas memorable. Consider the underlined phrases in this line from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, which uses parallel structure to highlight...
In literature, an imitation of another literary work that mocks, critiques, or makes light of the original. “For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls,” by Christopher Durang, is a one-act parody of The Glass Menagerie, caricaturing the overbearing Southern mother and exaggerating the idiosyncrasies of the other three characters.
A type of metaphor in which human attributes are assigned to inanimate objects or abstract ideas. Zora Neale Hurston uses personification throughout Their Eyes Were Watching Godto powerful effect, such as here, near the end of the novel, once Janie is home again and after Pheoby has left her: “The day of the gun, and the bloody body, and the courth...
The sequence of major events of a narrative or dramatic work, usually consisting of five basic elements: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. The plotof most romantic comedies can be succinctly described as: two people meet, they fall in love, they experience some challenge and break up, they cross paths again, they re...
The perspective from which the events of a story are reported to the reader or audience. Point of view can limit or expand the reader’s access to information about the action of the story, as well as the internal lives of the characters. In novels, there are three basic types of point of view: first-person, third-person, and less commonly, second-p...
The repetition of conjunctions (and, but, for, etc.) to connect a series of words, clauses, or sentences. Polysyndeton may emphasize the relationships between the items in the series as well as add rhythm to a list when reciting. One of the most familiar examples of polysyndeton is the motto of the United States Postal Service. “Neither snow nor ra...
An introductory section of a piece of literature, especially of plays, that precedes the inciting action of the story. The prologue is often designed to explain background or reveal context to the audienceso they better understand the story that follows. In the prologue of Tennessee Williams’s The Glass Menagerie, Tom Wingfield, the protagonist, ad...
Any form of writing that does not observe the limiting features of verse, particularly line breaks. Prose is the most dominant form of both fiction (novels, short stories, plays) and nonfiction (essays, articles, speeches, emails). Keen readers of Shakespeare will notice that “low-born” characters nearly always speak in prose, while their high-born...
Learn the basics and advanced concepts of literary terms with this comprehensive list from Purdue OWL. Find definitions, examples, and links to other resources for interpreting, critiquing, and responding to various written works.
A comprehensive guide to the types and functions of literary devices and terms, with detailed definitions and examples for each device. Learn how to use literary devices to convey messages, create effects, and enhance your writing.
This glossary of literary terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in the discussion, classification, analysis, and criticism of all types of literature, such as poetry, novels, and picture books, as well as of grammar, syntax, and language techniques.
