1. 8th Grade Literary Devices
Cantrell’s English Class
Tidwell Middle School

2. Alliteration
The repetition of initial consonant sounds

3. Allusion
A reference to a literary, mythological, or historical person, place, or thing.

4. Anadiplosis
The repetition of a word or clause at the end of one sentence is repeated at the beginning of the next successive sentence.

5. Anaphora
The repetition of a word or clause at the beginning of successive sentences.

6. Antagonist
The character opposing the protagonist; can be a person, idea, or force.

7. Antithesis
Using opposite phrases in close conjunction – especially within a sentence.

8. Apostrophe
The act of addressing something – idea or personification of an idea that is not physically present.

9. Archetype
A type of character, action, or situation that occurs over and over in literature; a pattern or example that occurs in literature and life.

10. Assonance
Repetition of vowel sounds but not consonant sounds

11. Character vs. Character
When a character has a problem with another character

12. Character vs. Fate Character vs. Fate
When a character has a problem with something he can’t do anything about, such as God, luck, death, etc.

13. Character vs. Nature
When a character has a problem with a force of nature, such as cold, storms, earthquakes, etc.

14. Character vs. Self
When a character must make a decision about a problem or struggle he is having within himself.

15. Character vs. Society
When a character has a problem with a tradition or rule of society.

16. Characterization
The methods used by an author to create a character, including:
The character’s physical appearance
The characters own speech, thoughts, actions, and or feelings
Other characters’ feelings, actions, thoughts, or speech toward the character
Direct comments by the author about the character

17. Climax
The most critical moment in the story; the point at which the main conflict is at its highest; that is, the point of no return.

18. Conflict
A struggle between two opposing forces

19. Connotation
The emotions or associations a word normally arouses in people using, hearing, or reading the word. The feeling may be positive, negative, or neutral.

20. Consonance
The repetition of consonant sounds, but not vowel sounds.

21. Denotation
The specific dictionary definition of a word.

22. Detail
Facts revealed by the author or speaker that support the attitude or tone in the work.

23. Device
Any literary technique used to achieve a specific effect.

24. Dialect
The language of a particular district, class, or group of persons. It encompasses the sounds, spelling, grammar and diction used by a specific group of people as different from other people either geographically or socially.

25. Diction
Word choice. An author chooses words to create a specific effect. It is the appropriateness of the words with regard to the emotions and or ideas associated with them.

26. Dynamic Character
A character that undergoes a change in actions or beliefs during the course of a story.

27. Epanalepsis
The repetition of a word or clause at the beginning and end of the same sentence.

28. Epiphany
An event in which the essential nature of something, a person, a situation, an object, is suddenly realized in a new way; a sudden realization; an “a-ha” moment.

29. Epistrophe
The repetition of a word of clause at the end of successive sentences.

30. Euphemism
The substitution of an agreeable expression to replace one that is offensive.

31. Exposition
The author lays the groundwork for the story by revealing the:
-Setting
-Relationships between the characters
-Situation as it exists before the conflict begins

32. Falling Action
Events that occur after the climax and lead up to closure and conclusion of the story.

33. Figures of Speech
Words or phrases that describe one thing in terms of something else. They always involve some sort of imaginary comparison between seemingly unlike things; not meant to be taken literally.

34. Flashback
An action that interrupts the plot to show an event that occurred at an earlier time which is necessary to better understanding.

35. Foreshadowing
The use in a literary work of clues that suggest events that have yet to occur.

36. Hyperbole
A deliberate, extravagant and often outrageous exaggeration; may be used for either serious or comic effect.

37. Iamb
A combination of one unstressed, and one stressed syllable in the following pattern [ U / ]

38. Idiom
An accepted phrase or expression having a meaning different from the literal.

39. Imagery
The words or phrases a writer uses to represent persons, objects, actions, feelings and ideas descriptively by appealing to the five senses (sight, sounds, smell, taste, and touch).

40. Inciting Incident
Interrupts the peace and balance of the situation and one or more of the characters come into conflict with an outside force, himself, or another character.

41. Irony
A contrast between appearance and reality. It is usually one in which reality is the opposite from what it seems; when one thing is expected to happen or be, and the exact opposite occurs.

42. Magic 3
Three (or more) details in a series used for emphasis or to create a specific effect.

43. Metaphor
A comparison of two unlike things WITHOUT the use of LIKE or AS.

44. Meter
Measure of rhythm in a poem.

45. Mood
The feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage.

46. Motif
A recurrent element in a literary work. A pattern or strand of imagery or symbolism within a work of literature.

47. Motivation
A reason that explains a character’s thoughts, feelings, actions, or behavior.

48. Onomatopoeia
A word that imitates the sound it represents.

49. Oxymoron
A form of paradox that combines a pair of opposite terms into a single unusual expression.

50. Paradox
When elements of a statement contradict each other; may appear illogical, impossible, or absurd, but turns out to reveal a hidden truth.

51. Personification
Writing that gives nonhuman subjects human characteristics.

52. Point of View The perspective from which a story is told.
1st Person – use of pronoun ‘I,’ ‘me,’ ‘we,’ ‘us,’ ‘my’
Third Person Limited- told from the perspective of one character only.
Third Person Omniscient – told from the perspective of more than one character.

53. Protagonist
The central character and focus of interest that tries to accomplish or overcome an adversity, and has the ability to adapt to new circumstances.

54. Pun
A play on words that are identical or similar in sound but have sharply different meanings. Puns can have serious as well as humorous uses.

55. Refrain
A stanza or line that is repeated within a poem.

56. Repetition
A device in which words, sounds, and or ideas are used more than once to enhance rhythm and to create emphasis.

57. Resolution
The problem set up in the inciting incident is unraveled; there is a revelation of meaning.

58. Rhyme
A pattern of words that contain similar sounds.

59. Rhythm
The movement with uniform occurrence of a beat or accent.

60. Rising Action
The action and events that take place in the story and build up to the critical moment when the main conflict is confronted.

61. Setting
The time and place of a literary work.

62. Simile
A comparison of two different things or ideas through the use of the words LIKE or AS OR THAN.

63. Stanza
A paragraph in a poem.

64. Static Character
A character that does not grow or change throughout the story.

65. Suspense
The quality of a literary work that makes the reader uncertain or tense about the outcome of events.

66. Symbol
The use of any object, person, place, or action that both has a meaning in itself and that stands for something larger than itself, such as a quality, attitude, belief, or value.

67. Theme
A central message or insight into life revealed through the literary work. A lesson about life or people.

68. Tone
The writer’s attitude toward his or her subject. It can often be described by a single adjective.

69. Trochee
A combination of one stressed, and one unstressed syllable in the following pattern [ / U]