Search results
Knowing these (and how they look in writing) will allow you to more easily pinpoint these techniques in various types of written works. Tip 3: Know the Author's Intended Audience Knowing what kind of audience an author intended her work to have can help you figure out what types of literary devices might be at play.
- Rhetorical Devices
We might have gathered one of those things without...
- Complete List of Crucible Characters
Act 3: Putnam briefly shows up in court to say that Giles’...
- Assonance
James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man tells...
- Points of View
In first person point of view, you see the story through the...
- Tone Words
In a young adult novel, the author has a casual voice. She...
- Money and Materialism
The description of Gatsby's parties at the beginning of...
- The Most Important Themes in This Play
Check out our full thematic analysis of the play and...
- Green Light in The Great Gatsby
Like many of the most interesting symbols, the green light...
- Rhetorical Devices
- Setting. This technique is particularly popular in Gothic fiction, where a house or landscape are used almost as an additional character in the story, setting the mood and having a significant influence on the protagonist.
- Foreshadowing. As the name suggests, writers will use foreshadowing to suggest events or outcomes that will happen later in the writing, using either characters or objects within the story.
- Cliffhanger. A cliffhanger is when a story is left open-ended and unresolved. This is a commonly used narrative technique in television and film, as creators want the viewers to come back for the next episode or sequel to see if the answers are revealed.
- Flashback or Flash Forward. Taking the reader out of an otherwise chronological story, a flashback or flash forward will show events that happened in the past or future that impact the characters in the present day of the story timeline.
- Allegory. Allegory is a literary device used to express large, complex ideas in an approachable manner. Allegory allows writers to create some distance between themselves and the issues they are discussing, especially when those issues are strong critiques of political or societal realities.
- Allusion. An allusion is a popular literary device used to develop characters, frame storylines, and help create associations to well-known works. Allusions can reference anything from Victorian fairy tales and popular culture to the Bible and the Bard.
- Anachronism. Imagine reading a story about a caveman who microwaves his dinner, or watching a film adaptation of a Jane Austen novel in which the characters text each other instead of writing letters.
- Cliffhanger. It’s a familiar feeling: You’re on minute 59 of an hour-long television episode, and the protagonist is about to face the villain—and then episode cuts to black.
- Metaphor and Simile. People use these a lot and often struggle to understand the difference. What both of these do is compare one thing to another but in ways that are not literally applicable.
- Foreshadowing. This is simply the indication of something that will happen in the future. You’re dropping clues, you’re creating tension, and adding up to a moment (such as the climax) where it all comes together.
- Symbolism. This is taking a thing (an object, mark, character, image, or place) and having it represent something else. Blue means sadness, birds means freedom, a heart means love, a key means a solution, fire is passion, a dove is peace, etc.
- Flashback. This is an interjected scene that leaps back in time away from the current moment in your story. Typically this is used to give us backstory or history, to unpack a moment, scene, or trauma from the past that influences and helps to explain the present (or future).
- Alliteration
- Anaphora
- Anastrophe
- Chiasmus
- Congeries
- Cumulative Sentence
- Epistrophe
- Erotesis
- Hyperbaton
- Isocolon
Alliteration describes a series of words in quick succession that all start with the same letter or sound. It lends a pleasing cadence to prose and Hamlet and the dollar as currency in Macbeth. Example: “One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally, And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.” — “Death, Be Not Proud” by John Donne Exercise: Pic...
Anaphorais the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of a series of clauses or sentences. It’s often seen in poetry and speeches, intended to provoke an emotional response in its audience. Example:Martin Luther King’s 1963 “I Have A Dream” speech. “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its c...
Anastropheis a figure of speech wherein the traditional sentence structure is reversed. So a typical verb-subject-adjective sentence such as “Are you ready?” becomes a Yoda-esque adjective-verb-subject question: “Ready, are you?” Or a standard adjective-noun pairing like “tall mountain” becomes “mountain tall.” Example:“Deep into that darkness peer...
Chiasmus is when two or more parallel clauses are inverted. “Why would I do that?”you may be wondering. Well, a chiasmus might sound confusing and unnecessary in theory, but it's much more convincing in practice — and in fact, you've likely already come across it before. Example:“Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for you...
Congeries is a fancy literary term for creating a list. The items in your list can be words, ideas, or phrases, and by displaying them this way helps prove or emphasize a point — or even create a sense of irony. Occasionally, it’s also called piling as the words are “piling up.” Example: "Apart from better sanitation and medicine and education and ...
Acumulative sentence(or “loose sentence”) is one that starts with an independent clause, but then has additional or modifying clauses. They’re often used for contextual or clarifying details. This may sound complex, but even, “I ran to the store to buy milk, bread, and toilet paper” is a cumulative sentence, because the first clause, “I ran to the ...
Epistrophe is the opposite of anaphora, with this time a word or phrase being repeated at the endof a sentence. Though its placement in a sentence is different it serves the same purpose—creating emphasis—as an anaphora does. Example: “I’ll be ever’where – wherever you look. Wherever they’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever ...
Erotesis is a close cousin of the rhetorical question. Rather than a question asked without expectation of an answer, this is when the question (and the asker) confidently expects a response that is either negative or affirmative. Example: “Do you then really think that you have committed your follies in order to spare your son them?” — Siddhartha ...
Hyperbaton is the inversion of words, phrases, or clauses in a sentence that differs from how they would normally be arranged. It comes from the Greek hyperbatos, which means “transposed” or “inverted.” While it is similar to anastrophe, it doesn’t have the same specific structure and allows you to rearrange your sentences in whatever order you wan...
If you’re a neat freak who likes thingsjust so, isocolonis the literary device for you. This is when two or more phrases or clauses have similar structure, rhythm, and even length — such that, when stacked up on top of each other, they would line up perfectly. Isocolon often crops up in brand slogans and famous sayings; the quick, balanced rhythm m...
Sep 20, 2024 · Here's a list of 26 narrative techniques for writers to consider: 1. Use the setting. Many writers create settings that reflect a character's mood or circumstances. You can also use a setting to impact a character's decision-making process, making it an active component of a story's conflict.
People also ask
What is the best way to write a story?
What are the three types of storytelling techniques?
What are the different types of writing techniques?
What is a writing technique & how do you use it?
What are narrative techniques?
How do I identify and analyze different literary techniques?
Feb 1, 2012 · Approaches to Storytelling. The author proposes three storytelling techniques: the forward march, the total flashback or the zig zag, where you can go from past to present or vice versa. Each of these literary techniques has advantages and disadvantages. Luckily, Lamb includes both sides for each approach, which help to organize your writing ...
