english literature

What is a Literary Device?

Commonly, the term Literary Devices refers to the typical structures used by writers in their works to convey his or her message(s) in a simple manner to his or her readers. In literature, any technique used to help the author achieve his or her purpose is called a literary device. When employed properly, the different literary devices help readers to appreciate, interpret and analyze a literary work. The term rhetorical device has almost exactly the same meaning, but it’s a little broader: whereas literary devices occur in literature, rhetorical devices can occur in any kind of speech or writing. So all literary devices are rhetorical devices, but not all rhetorical devices are literary devices. The specific devices used are almost all the same, though.

What type of Literary Device we see?  

The varieties of literary devices are basically infinite – since the invention of storytelling, people have been honing the craft of literature and have come up with all sorts of tricks. For simplicity’s sake, we can separate the types of literary device based on the scale:
  • Word Level: many literary devices affect individual words or short phrases. For example, a metaphor is when one word stands in for another. So, for example, “The sun was a golden jewel” would be a metaphor and a word-level literary device.
  • Sentence Level: There are also many literary devices that apply to sentences or long phrases. Parallelism is a good example: “I enjoyed the play, but I preferred the intermission.” The two underlined phrases have an identical grammatical structure, so the sentence as a whole demonstrates parallelism.
  • Structural Level: These devices apply to the entire piece, whether it’s a poem, novel, or creative nonfiction. Character development is a good example of a structural literary device: the character begins as one sort of person but learns and grows throughout the story so that by the end she’s someone quite different. This device applies to the story as a whole rather than to a single word or sentence.

Some of the common Literary Elements:

  1. Plot: It is the logical sequence of events that develops a story.
  2. Setting: It refers to the time and place in which a story takes place.
  3. Protagonist: It is the  main character of the story, novel or a play e.g. Hamlet in the play Hamlet
  4. Antagonist: It is the character in conflict with the Protagonist e.g. Claudius in the play Hamlet
  5. Narrator: A person who tells the story.
  6. Narrative method: The manner in which a narrative is presented comprising a plot and setting.
  7. Dialogue: Where characters of a narrative speak to one another.
  8. Conflict. It is n issue in a narrative around which the whole story revolves.
  9. Mood: A general atmosphere of a narrative.
  10. Theme: It is the central idea or concept of a story.

Some of the common Literary Techniques:

1. Imagery: It is the use of figurative language to create visual representations of actions, objects, and ideas in our mind in such a way that they appeal to our physical senses. For example:
  • The room was dark and gloomy. -The words “dark” and “gloomy” are visual images.
  • The river was roaring in the mountains. – The word “roaring” appeals to our sense of hearing.
2. Simile and Metaphor: Both compare two distinct objects and draws a similarity between them. The difference is that Simile uses “as” or “like” and Metaphor does not. For example:
  • “My love is like a red red rose” (Simile)
  • He is an old fox very cunning. (Metaphor)
3. Hyperbole: It is a deliberate exaggeration of actions and ideas for the sake of emphasis. For example:
  • Your bag weighs a ton!
  • I have got a million issues to look after!
4. Personification: It gives a thing, an idea or an animal-human quality. For example:
  • The flowers are dancing beside the lake.
  • Have you see my new car? She is a real beauty!
5. Alliteration: It refers to the same consonant sounds in words coming together. For example:
  • Better butter always makes the batter better.
  • She sells seashells at seashore.
6. Allegory: It is a literary technique in which an abstract idea is given a form of characters, actions or events. For example:
  • “Animal Farm”, written by George Orwell, is an example allegory using the actions of animals on a farm to represent the overthrow of the last of the Russian Tsar Nicholas II and the Communist Revolution of Russia before WW II.  In addition, the actions of the animals on the farm are used to expose the greed and corruption of the Revolution.
7. Irony: It is use of the words in such a way in which the intended meaning is completely opposite to their literal meaning. For example:
  • The bread is soft as a stone.
  • So nice of you to break my new PSP!

Functions of Literary Devices:

In general, the literary devices are a collection of universal artistic structures that are so typical of all works of literature frequently employed by the writers to give meanings and a logical framework to their works through language.  When such works are read by readers, they ultimately recognize and appreciate them. Because of their universality, they also allow the readers to compare a work of one writer to that of the other to determine its worth. They not only beautify the piece of literature but also give deeper meanings to it, testing the very understanding of the readers along with providing them the enjoyment of reading. Besides, they help motivating readers’ imagination to visualize the characters and scenes more clearly.

The Importance of Literary Device:

Literary devices are the author’s whole toolkit: whatever you want to do in your story, you do it with literary devices. That could mean setting an emotional tone, making a poem more relatable, or just stretching your own creative muscles. Literary devices can do it all. Without such devices, we could barely even talk to each other, let alone create great works of literature and philosophy! Because literary devices serve such a broad range of functions, there’s no single overarching “purpose” to literary devices as a whole, other than just to improve the quality of writing.