Literary Devices & Genres: Definitions and Examples

Posted on Jul 6, 2025 in Modern Philology. English

Understanding Literary Devices and Genres

Common Literary Devices

  • Alliteration: Combines certain sounds repeatedly along a line.
  • Autology: Explanation of thinking using the same thinking.
  • Anaphora: Repeats one or more words at the beginning of each verse.
  • Anadiplosis: Repeats the word that ended a verse at the beginning of the next.
  • Asyndeton: Suppression of conjunctions or links.
  • Antithesis: Contrasts two opposite ideas or thoughts.
  • Apostrophe: An exclamation or question addressed with vehemence to an inanimate object, or to an animate being (present, absent, real, or imagined).
  • Comparison (Simile): Establishes similarity between two ideas, often using ‘as’ or ‘like’.
  • Concatenation: Repeating words in a series.
  • Derivation: Uses words from the same root.
  • Epithet: An adjective or descriptive phrase expressing a quality characteristic of the person or thing mentioned.
  • Epanadiplosis: Repeats a word at the beginning and end of a phrase or verse.
  • Ellipsis: Elimination of some elements from a verse or phrase without changing its understanding.
  • Epiphora: Repeating a word at the end of a verse or stanza. Example: “They sound voices, Spain. Spain!”
  • Enumeration: A rapid, full description of an object or series of items.
  • Hyperbole: Exaggeration.
  • Hyperbaton: Syntactic disruption of a sentence.
  • Rhetorical Question: An interrogation asked without expecting an answer.
  • Irony: Saying the opposite of what is meant.
  • Metaphor: A figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things without using ‘as’ or ‘like’, based on the identification of two realities so that one can be applied to the other.
  • Metonymy: Replacing a term by another that bears a causal relationship with it (e.g., a part for the whole).
  • Onomatopoeia: Words that imitate the sound they represent.
  • Oxymoron: Unites two contradictory realities.
  • Pleonasm: Adding words that are grammatically superfluous but sometimes used for emphasis. Example: “I saw it with my own eyes.”
  • Polysyndeton: Use of unnecessary copulative conjunctions. Example: “and… and… and…”
  • Paronomasia: Placing two phonetically similar words with different meanings next to each other.
  • Paradox: A statement apparently opposite to reality, yet often true.
  • Chiasmus: Repeating two words or phrases in a cross-like or inverted order.
  • Aposiopesis (Reluctance): A sentence is left unfinished because the idea is implied.
  • Synecdoche: Involves the substitution of a part for the whole, or the whole for a part.
  • Synonymy: Accumulation of synonyms to convey a concept.

Literary Genres

Lyric Poetry Genres

  • Major Genres:
    • Ode: Expresses feelings or ideas.
    • Hymn: A solemn composition intended for singing.
    • Elegy: Expresses sorrow or lament.
    • Song (Canción): Expresses feelings, often of love.
    • Epistle: A letter, often addressing philosophical or moral issues.
    • Eclogue: Deals with pastoral life, often expressing feelings of love and the excitement of nature.
  • Minor Genres: Sonnet, Epigram, Madrigal, and others.

Epic and Narrative Genres

  • Major Genres:
    • Epic (in verse): Grandiose and memorable facts, often heroic exploits of a national hero.
    • Novel (in prose): Tells a complete story with characters facing reality.
    • Short Story (Cuento): A linear structure with a surprising, impactful ending.
  • Sub-genres:
    • Romance: Often refers to octosyllabic verses in traditional Spanish poetry.
    • Apologue: A brief narrative with a didactic or moral purpose.
    • Fable: An apologue with animal protagonists.

Dramatic Genres

  • Major Genres:
    • Tragedy: Presents conflicts, often leading to a disastrous or sorrowful conclusion.
    • Comedy: Presents conflicts or customs of daily life with humor.
    • Drama: Serious and emotional action, often with an unhappy or unfortunate ending.
  • Sub-genres: Vaudeville, Farce, and others.