Some common
LITERARY DEVICES
or Rhetorical Devices
found in literature
PPT made by Rashmi Mudoi, PGT (Eng), KVS
1. SIMILE
Simile is a comparison between two things. It compares one thing to
another (of a different kind, and alike in some significant way).
Words such as ‘like’ and ‘as’ are used to make this comparison.
Examples:
a. She was like a winter landscape in the mountains.
b. He is as strong as an ox.
c. Life is like a box of chocolates.
d. Without my glasses, I am blind as a bat.
e. I was so scared that I was as white as a sheet.
f. “I wandered lonely as a cloud” – ‘Daffodils’ by William Wordsworth.
2. METAPHOR
An expression often used in literature that describes a person or
object by referring to something which is considered to have similar
characteristics to that person or object.
‘Like’ and ‘as’ are not used in metaphor.
Examples:
a. Life is a battlefield.
b. He is a shining star.
c. Puneet was a pig during the feast.
d. My sister is a night owl.
e. “The sea is a hungry dog. Giant and grey.” by James Reeves.
f. “her words are a fountain of delight” by Kate Chopin in ‘The Storm’.
3. ALLITERATION
The repetition of CONSONANT SOUNDS, especially in the
beginning of closely placed words.
Examples:
1. Four friends finished their Friday feast.
2. Crazy kangaroos kicked quietly!
3. Mohan made a mountain out of a molehill.
4. Tongue Twisters are good examples
Made by Rashmi Mudoi, PGT (Eng), KVS
FOR FUN!!! • Betty Botter bought some butter but the butter was bitter,
so she got some better butter to make the bitter butter
better.
• How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a
woodchuck would chuck wood?
• She sells sea shells on the sea shore, but the sea shells
she sells are not sea shells.
• If two witches would watch two watches, which witch
would watch which watch?
4. ASSONANCE
The repetition of VOWEL SOUNDS in closely placed words.
Examples:
● ‘their hair’ (A Photograph)
● Well, it rises high into the bright blue sky.
● The three trees swayed in the breeze.
● Clare in the fair found a pair of chairs to sit with a flair.
● “The ship was cheered, and the harbours cleared.” in ‘The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner’ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Made by Rashmi Mudoi, PGT (Eng), KVS
5. REPETITION
The repeated use of a word or word pattern.
One specific kind of repetition is the literary
device called Anaphora.
Examples:
a. All she did was smile and smile and smile.
b. Its silence silences.
c. “And miles to go before I sleep
And miles to go before I sleep.”
-Robert Frost
6. ANAPHORA
The repetition of a certain expression in order to give emphasis or for artistic effects. Using
anaphora is also a way to emphasise a particular point, item, person or place within the
speech or text. By hearing the word/phrase repeated throughout what is being said draws
greater attention to it.
Example:
1. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong person.
2. We will work hard every day, every week and every month until the job is done.
3. My mantra is I am strong, I am confident, I am capable.
4. “So let the freedom ring in the hills of New Hampshire, let the freedom ring in mountains of
New York, let the freedom ring from Pennsylvania” in the famous speech made by Martin
Luther King.
5. “In every cry of the man, in every fearful infant’s cry, in every voice and in every ban” in
William Blake’s poem ‘London’.
7. PERSONIFICATION
The practice of representing an inanimate object or an abstract
idea as a person and endowing it with human traits.
Examples:
a. The wind whispered through the dry grass.
b. The flowers were smiling at the sun.
c. The car was suffering and needed some attention.
d. “the woods are preparing to go to sleep.” by L G Montgomery in
‘The Green Gables letter’.
e. “Oh Will we are tired of the weather, said the sunflowers as they
shone with dew.” in ‘Two sunflowers move into the yellow room’
by Nancy Willard.
8. OXYMORON The combination of contradictory words or ideas
to create a dramatic effect, but the meanings
taken separately, those words do not make any
literal sense..
Examples:
a. It was a living death.
b. He was found missing.
c. It was an open secret.
d. Act naturally.
e. She is seriously funny.
f. She was clearly misunderstood.
g. I was feeling numb.
h. There was a deafening silence.
i. It is the modern history of the world.
9. ANTITHESIS
Derived from ancient Greek word which directly translates to ‘opposite’. When two
contrary/opposite words or ideas come together to give a feeling of balance (otherwise
they cancel out each other)
Examples:
a. There was both war and peace.
b. To err is human, to forgive is divine.
c. Patience is bitter but it bears a sweet fruit.
d. Many are called but a few chosen.
e. Speech is silver, but silence is golden.
f. “In my beginning is my end.” in ‘Four Quartets’ by T. S. Eliot.
g. “Good we must love and must hate ill” in the poem
‘Community’ by John Donne.
Made by Rashmi Mudoi, PGT (Eng), KVS
10. HYPERBOLE
It is exaggeration of ideas for the sake of emphasis
Examples:
a. The bag weighs a tonne.
b. Her wrinkles ran from everywhere to everywhere.
c. I am dying of curiosity.
d. She said she has a million things to do tomorrow.
e. That man is as old as time.
f. “I was to wait at the train station for ten days – it was an
eternity” – Joseph Conrad wrote in Heart of Darkness.
g. She cried a river for him.
11. SYNECDOCHE
A word or phrase in which a part of something is
used to refer to the whole of it.
Examples:
a. I need eyes on that building.
b. ‘a pair of hands’ for a worker.
c. I got new wheels. (‘wheels’ for ‘a car’)
d. The captain commanded the sails.
e. Lend me your ears.
f. Give us our daily bread. (‘daily bread’ might
refer to the earnings to get a full meal).
g. The suits are coming for the annual audit.
(suits representing ‘businessmen’)
Made by Rashmi Mudoi, PGT (Eng), KVS
12. IRONY
The expression of one meaning by using language that normally
signifies the opposite, typically for humourous and emphatic
effect. The intended meaning is different from the actual
meaning.
Examples:
a. My sister is as kind as a wolf.
b. The butter is as soft as a slab of marble.
c. Oh great! Now you have broken my new camera.
d. The police station was robbed.
e. The fire-station burnt down.
13. PUN
Pun has double meaning and is humourously used. It is also
known as ‘paronomasia’ which literally means ‘to call a
different name’. It is a ‘play of words’.
It is usually based on homophones – words having the same
pronunciation but different spellings and different meanings.
Examples:
a. A horse is a very stable animal.
b. Reading while sunbathing makes a person well red (read).
c. He went to the seafood disco last night and pulled a
mussel (muscle).
d. Why couldn’t the bicycle stand up on its own? Because it
was two tyred (too tired).
14. EUPHEMISM
It is a mild or indirect way to express something that might be
considered too harsh, blunt, or embarrassing.
‘is no more’
Examples: ‘has left for the heavenly abode’
a. ‘passed away’ instead of ’died’ ‘is with his/her maker’
‘has kicked the bucket’
b. ‘gifted children’
c. ‘correctional facility’ instead of ‘prison’
d. ‘differently abled’ for a physically handicapped person.
e. She is ‘between jobs’ (instead of ‘unemployed’)
f. ‘I would like some peace and quiet’ instead
of ‘Shut up’
15. TRANSFERRED EPITHET
The transfer of a modifier/adjective/label from one noun to other to change
the structure of the sentence but not the meaning. It is an epithet/adjective
used to describe one thing but is transferred to another word.
Examples:
1. He had a sleepless night. (the night was not sleepless, the person was)
2. Good morning!
3. Happy birthday!
4. He had such a wonderful day!
Made by Rashmi Mudoi, PGT (Eng), KVS
16. IMAGERY
It uses figurative language to describe people, places or things in a way
that appeals to the physical senses and helps readers to picture the
scene more vividly.
Examples:
1. The moonlight shone over the lake and reflected in her big, dark eyes.
2. A gust of wind pierced his body.
3. Whenever I walk through town, I pass the café from which I inhale the
aroma of freshly brewed coffee.
17. ONOMATOPOEIA
Formation of a word from a sound associated with what is
named/written.
Examples:
1. The bees were buzzing happily.
2. The bomb went off with a loud boom.
3. The car zoomed around the race track at top speed
4. The train whooshed past the platform.
5. The metal clanked in the factory.
6. The flood water gushed through the town.
7. The phone beeped loudly.
THANK YOU
CREDITS: This presentation template was created
by Slidesgo, including icons by Flaticon, and
infographics & images by Freepik.
Please keep this slide for attribution.
Made by Rashmi Mudoi, PGT (Eng), KVS
