Common Literary Devices in Poetry

The following 12 devices apply to both poetry and prose writers, but they appear most often in verse. Learn more about:

• Anaphora
• Conceit
• Apostrophe
• Metonymy/Synecdoche
• Enjambment
• Zeugma
• Repetition
• Rhyme
• Alliteration
• Consonance/Assonance
• Euphony/Cacophony
• Meter

Common Literary Devices in Prose

The following 10 devices show up in verse, but are far more prevalent in prose. Learn more about:

• Parallel Plot
• Foil
• Diction
• Mood
• Foreshadowing
• In Media Res
• Dramatic Irony
• Vignette
• Flashback
• Soliloquy

Repetition Literary Devices

Though they have uncommon names, these common literary devices are all forms of repetition.

• Anadiplosis
• Anaphora (prose)
• Antanaclasis
• Antimetabole
• Antistrophe
• Chiasmus
• Epanalepsis
• Epimone
• Epizeuxis
• Polyptoton
• Symploce

Dialogue Literary Devices

While these literary elements pertain primarily to dialogue, writers use euphemisms, idioms, and neologisms all the time in their work.

• Colloquialism
• Vernacular
• Dialect
• Slang
• Jargon
• Idiom
• Euphemism
• Proverb
• Neologism

Word Play Literary Devices

The following literary devices push language to the limits. Have fun with these!

• Anthimeria
• Double Entendre
• Kenning
• Malapropism
• Metalepsis
• Oxymoron
• Palindrome
• Paraprosdokian
• Portmanteau
• Spoonerism

Parallelism Literary Devices

Parallelism is a stylistic device where a sentence is composed of equally weighted items. In essence, parallel structure allows form to echo content. Learn all about this essential stylistic literary device below.

• Grammatical parallelism
• Rhetorical parallelism
• Synthetic parallelism
• Antithetical parallelism
• Synonymous parallelism

Rhetorical Devices

Rhetorical devices are literary devices intended to persuade the reader of something. You might have heard of ethos, pathos, and logos, but do you know your aposiopesis from your hyperbaton?

Many literary devices can also be considered rhetorical devices. After all, a metaphor can convince you of something just as well as a syllogism. Nonetheless, the following 40 rhetorical/literary devices will sharpen your style, argumentation, and writing abilities.

• Kairos                          
• Ethos
• Logos
• Pathos
• Anacoluthon
• Antithesis
• Asyndeton
• Hypallage
• Hyperbaton
• Hypotaxis
• Parataxis
• Polysyndeton
• Synesis
• Accismus
• Anecdote
• Antanagoge
• Aporia
• Bdelygmia
• Enthymeme
• Hypophora
• Procatalepsis
• Reductio ad Absurdum
• Syllogism
• Adynaton
• Amplification
• Antiphrasis
• Asterismos
• Litotes
• Meiosis
• Metanoia
• Paralipsis
• Overstatement
• Tmesis
• Adnomination
• Aposiopesis
• Circumlocution
• Dysphemism
• Ellipsis
• Isocolon
• Pleonasm