10 Common Literary Devices to Know

What are literary devices?

From ancient epics to modern novels, literary devices are crucial role to help captivate readers’ imaginations and convey certain themes, emotions, and ideas.

In this comprehensive guide, we will delve popular literary devices, along with explain the role and purpose of literary devices. We will explain what these devices are, and what they are not.

A literary device is an umbrella term for the different techniques writers, songwriters, poets (or any literary artist) use to enhance their writing and convey a particular message.

What are literary devices?

Don’t overthink the term—a literary device is any aspect of literature or writing that can be interpreted, identified, and analyzed. Literary devices apply only to literature and other areas of creative writing.

Rhetorical devices, on the other hand, often appear in speech and informal writing and have a much broader application overall.

Literary devices vs. elements vs. techniques

Various terms are used when we speak about literary devices. Literary elements and literary techniques are other terms that are essentially the same as literary devices.

However, literary elements and techniques are “literary devices” since they are aspects of writing that can be interpreted, analyzed, and identified.

• Literary elements are “big-picture” (or high-level) literary devices that extend throughout a work. Key aspects of literature, such as setting, theme, and mood, count as literary elements.

• Literary techniques deal with particular words, phrases, or sentences and include euphemisms, alliterations, oxymorons, and more.

1. Alliteration

Examples of alliteration: Kit Kat. Dunkin’ Donuts. Coca-Cola. Paypal. Kim Kardashian.

What do these brand names and Kim Kardashian have in common? If you guess, “the repetition of consonant sounds in two or more nearby words“, then you must know your literary devices!

Alliterations are words that begin with the same sound (read: not spelling) and are close by. We use alliteration to make writing sound smoother and more playful or to help us remember specific words and phrases.

2. Hyperbole

Examples of hyperbole: “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.“

Could you really, though? When people say non-literal, highly unrealistic, or exaggerated things, it’s probably a hyperbole.

Hyperboles are exaggerations or overstatements that use bold or over-the-top language to emphasize the dramatic impact of what someone is saying or describing.

The dictionary defines hyperboles as “obvious or intentional exaggeration” and “an extravagant statement or figure of speech not intended to be taken literally, as ‘to wait an eternity.”

3. Oxymoron

Examples of oxymoron: bittersweet, jumbo shrimp, virtual reality.

Oxymorons are a literary device or figure of speech that uses opposing phraseology to emphasize or embellish writing or to drive home a certain image/point.

Note that oxymorons differ from paradoxes because the former applies only to specific words and phrases, whereas the latter applies more broadly to concepts or ideas.

4. Irony

Is it rain on your wedding day, a black fly in your Chardonnay? (These are not examples of ironic incidences, just to clarify.)

The dictionary defines “irony” as “an incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result” (Merriam-Webster, irony). There are different types of irony, each with various meanings; verbal, situational, and dramatic irony are the main types in literature and writing.

5. Idiom

Examples: Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water.You can bring a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.

An idiom is a phrase that, when taken as a whole, means something different from what the literal words themselves say. The word idiom comes from the Greek word ‘idioma‘, which directly translates to “peculiarity, peculiar phraseology”.

6. Portmanteau

Examples: Smog, Netflix, brunch, podcast.

Know what the words above have in common? It’s true that they’re all portmanteaus (also known as a blend), but what does that mean?

A portmanteau is like a word-smoothie: they create something new when we blend the words together. “Smog”, for example, is a combination of “smoke” and “fog”.

7. Pun

Examples of puns: German sausage jokes are just the Wurst. Santa Claus’ helpers are known as subordinate Clauses.

Puns are jokes based on wordplay, or the play of words with double meanings. Homophones, which are words that sound the same but have different meanings (and may be spelled differently), are the bread and butter of puns and are what allow for making puns.

8. Cliché

Clichés examples: There are plenty of fish in the sea. The grass is always greener on the other side. You can’t judge a book by its cover.

Ever hear phrases or sayings that are so popular they’ve lost their initial impact or punch? These tired, trite phrases and expressions are known as clichés in English (pronounced klee–shay). Remember: they’re clichés for a reason, and usually entail some generally accepted truth or sentiment.

9. Anthropomorphism

Examples of anthropomorphism: Toy Story. Bambi. Pinocchio. The Jungle Book. Animal Farm.

Notice something in common with these classic titles? If you answered anthropomorphism, you’d be right on the money! Anthropomorphism is a literary device when we assign human characteristics or traits to nonhuman entities, like nonhuman animals, inanimate objects (your iPhone), and the surrounding environment.

Characters like Pinocchio, Bambi, and Nemo (in the Pixar film Finding Nemo) are anthropomorphized because they act as humans do and are depicted as humans in the story.

10. Euphemism

Examples of euphemism: to “let go” instead of “fire“; to “spin the truth” instead of “lie”.

A euphemism is “an innocuous word or expression used instead of one deemed offensive or suggesting something unpleasant”. Phrased differently, it’s a softening of words that helps deliver the message less harshly.

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