devices that help you in literature

1. POETIC DEVICES & LITERARYTERMS USEDIN POETRYANALYSIS
 ALLITERATION -is the repetition of initial consonantsounds.
 ALLUSION -is a direct or indirectreferenceto a familiar figure, place or
eventfrom history, literature, mythology or the Bible.
 APOSTROPHE -afigureof speech in which a person not presentis
addressed.
 ASSONANCE -isa close repetition of similar vowelsounds, usuallyin
stressed syllables.
 ATMOSPHERE / MOOD - is the prevailingfeelingthat is created in a
story or poem.
 CACOPHONY -Harshsoundsintroduced for poeticeffect - sometimes
wordsthat are difficultto pronounce.
 CLICHE -an overused expression thathas lost its intended forceor
novelty.
 CONNOTATION - the emotional suggestions attached to wordsbeyond
their strict definition.
 CONTRAST -the comparison or juxtaposition of things that are different
 DENOTATION -the dictionary meaningof words.
 EUPHONY -agreeable soundsthat are easy to articulate.
 HYPERBOLE -an exaggeration in the service of truth - an
overstatement.
 IMAGERY -isthe representation through languageof sense experience.
The image most often suggests a mental picture, but an image may also
representa sound, smell, taste or tactile experience.
 IRONY -is a literary devicewhich revealsconcealed or contradictory
meanings.
 JUXTAPOSITION - is the overlappingor mixingof opposite or different
situations, characters, settings, moods, or points of view in order to
clarify meaning, purpose, or character, or to heighten certain moods,
especially humor, horror, and suspense. also Contrast
 METAPHOR -acomparison between two things which are essentially
dissimilar. The comparison is implied rather than directly stated.
 METER - any regular pattern of rhythm based on stressed and
unstressed syllable

2.  ONOMATOPOEIA -the use of wordswhich sound likewhat they mean.
 OXYMORON -two wordsplaced closetogether which arecontradictory,
yet havetruth in them.
 PARADOX -astatement in which there is an apparentcontradiction
which is actually true.
 PERSONIFICATION -givinghuman attributes to an animal, object or
idea.
 RHYME -wordsthatsound alike
 RHYME SCHEME -any pattern of rhymesin poetry. Each new sound is
assigned the next letter in the alphabet.
 RHYTHM -aseries of stressed or accented syllablesin a group of words,
arranged so that the reader expects a similar series to follow.
 SIMILE -a comparison between two things which are essentially
dissimilar. The comparison is directly stated through wordssuchas like,
as, than or resembles.
 SPEAKER - the "voice" which seems to be telling the poem. Not the same
as the poet; this is like a narrator.
 SYMBOL -a symbolhas two levels of meaning, a literal leveland a
figurativelevel. Characters, objects, eventsand settings can all be
symbolic in that they representsomethingelse beyond themselves.
 THEME - is the central idea of the story, usually implied rather than
directly stated. It is the writer's ideaabut life and can be implied or
directly stated through the voiceof the speaker. It should notbe
confused with moralor plot.
 TONE - is the poet'sattitude toward his/her subject or readers. it is
similar to tone of voicebut should not be confused with mood or
atmosphere. An author's tonemight be sarcastic, sincere, humorous.