What are some examples of literary techniques?

What is technique in literature?

Also known as literary devices, narrative techniques provide deeper meaning for the reader and help the reader to use imagination to visualize situations. Common techniques relevant to style, or the language chosen to tell a story, include metaphors, similes, personification, imagery, hyperbole, and alliteration.

A narrative technique (also known more narrowly for literary fictional narratives as a literary technique, literary device, or fictional device) is any of several specific methods the creator of a narrative uses to convey what they want—in other words, a strategy used in the making of a narrative to relay information

Other Chapters

Alliteration, assonance, emotive language, colloquial, slang, jargon, neologism, cliché, rhetorical questions.

Simile, metaphor, idioms, personification, extended metaphor.

Hyperbole, allusion, symbolism, synechdoche, metonomy.

Sarcasm and irony.

Satire and parody.

Subversion, appropriation, intertextuality.

Literary TechniquesAllegoryStory with a double meaning: one primary (on the surface) and one secondary.AlliterationRepetition of consonants at the start of words or in a sentence or phrase.ClichéAn over-used, common expression.ConsonanceRepetition of consonants throughout a sentence or phrase.

Dialogue Examples. Dialogue is a conversation between two or more people in a narrative work. As a literary technique, dialogue serves several purposes.

A symbol is literary device that contains several layers of meaning, often concealed at first sight, and is representative of several other aspects, concepts or traits than those that are visible in the literal translation alone. Symbol is using an object or action that means something more than its literal meaning.

Mood Definition. In literature, mood is a literary element that evokes certain feelings or vibes in readers through words and descriptions. Usually, mood is referred to as the atmosphere of a literary piece, as it creates an emotional setting that surrounds the readers.

Literary element. For example, plot, theme, character and tone are literary elements, whereas figurative language, irony, or foreshadowing would be considered literary techniques.

Allusions Defined. An allusion is a figure of speech that refers to a well-known story, event, person, or object in order to make a comparison in the readers’ minds. For instance, imagine a writer needs to explain her main character’s struggle against an overwhelmingly powerful opponent.

Sarcasm is a form of verbal irony that mocks, ridicules, or expresses contempt. It’s really more a tone of voice than a rhetorical device. You’re saying the opposite of what you mean (verbal irony) and doing it in a particularly hostile tone.

Principles of analyzing a passage

Offer a thesis or topic sentence indicating a basic observation or assertion about the text or passage.

Offer a context for the passage without offering too much summary.

Cite the passage (using correct format).

Then follow the passage with some combination of the following elements:

The definition of literary device is a technique a writer uses to produce a special effect in their writing. An example of a literary device is a flashback. An example of a literary device is an analogy.

Flashback is a literary device wherein the author depicts the occurrence of specific events to the reader, which have taken place before the present time the narration is following, or events that have happened before the events that are currently unfolding in the story.

The use of third person narrative in terms of literary devices used by authors is also a popular point of view. Third person narrative is a narrator who tells the story from outside the narrative itself, they are not a character in the story nor do they ever refer to themselves.

Contrast is the antonym of simile. In poetic compositions, it is common for poets to set out an elaborate contrast or elaborate simile as the argument. For example, John Donne and the metaphysical poets developed the conceit as a literary device, where an elaborate, implausible, and surprising analogy was demonstrated.

Imagery Examples. When a writer attempts to describe something so that it appeals to our sense of smell, sight, taste, touch, or hearing; he/she has used imagery. Often, imagery is built on other literary devices, such as simile or metaphor, as the author uses comparisons to appeal to our senses.

Common Figures of Speech (With Examples): Alliteration, Anaphora, Antimetabole, Antithesis, Apostrophe, Assonance, Hyperbole, Irony, Metaphor, Metonymy, Onomatopoeia, Paradox, Personification, Pun, Simile, Synecdoche, Understatement.

Critical reading:

Identify the author’s thesis and purpose.

Analyze the structure of the passage by identifying all main ideas.

Consult a dictionary or encyclopedia to understand material that is unfamiliar to you.

Make an outline of the work or write a description of it.

Write a summary of the work.

A simile is a figure of speech that makes a comparison, showing similarities between two different things. Unlike a metaphor, a simile draws resemblance with the help of the words “like” or “as.” Therefore, it is a direct comparison. We can find simile examples in our daily speech.

Rhyme is a popular literary device in which the repetition of the same or similar sounds occurs in two or more words, usually at the end of lines in poems or songs. In a rhyme in English, the vowel sounds in the stressed syllables are matching, while the preceding consonant sound does not match.

Definition of Idiom. The term idiom refers to a set expression or a phrase comprising two or more words. An interesting fact regarding the device is that the expression is not interpreted literally. The phrase is understood to mean something quite different from what individual words of the phrase would imply.

Originally posted 2021-08-01 11:45:18.