Discovering Literary Devices

1. Discovering Literary Devices Aliteration Irony Allusion Assonance Simile Metaphor

2. Literary Devices • On the EOG, reading passages include questions about the authors’ use of literary techniques and figurative language —tools authors use to convey meaning or to lend depth and richness to their writing. • Figurative language refers to expressions that are not literally true. Examples: metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole • These devices may be used in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction.

3. Allusion • A reference within a literary work to a historical, literary, or biblical character, place, or event. • Examples that allude to people or events in literature:  • “I was surprised his nose was not growing like Pinocchio’s.” This refers to the story of Pinocchio, where his nose grew whenever he told a lie. It is from The Adventures of Pinocchio, written by Carlo Collodi.  • “When she lost her job, she acted like a Scrooge, and refused to buy anything that wasn’t necessary.” Scrooge was an extremely stingy character from Charles Dickens’, A Christmas Carol.  • “Chocolate was her Achilles’ heel.” This means that her weakness was her love of chocolate. Achilles is a character in Greek mythology who was invincible. His mother dipped him in magical water when he was a baby, and she held him by the heel. The magic protected him all over, except for his heel.

4. IRONY • Irony – an implied discrepancy between what is said and what is meant. Three kinds of irony: • verbal irony is when an author says one thing and means something else • dramatic irony is when an audience perceives something that a character in the literature does not know. • irony of situation is a discrepancy between the expected • result and actual results.

5. Alliteration

6. Assonance • The repetition of vowel sounds in a sequence of nearby words. For example, the line “The monster spoke in a low mellow tone” (from Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem “The Lotos-Eaters”) contains assonance in its repetition of the “o” sound.