Stylistic device

In literature and writing, stylistic elements are the use of any of a variety of techniques to give an meaning, idea, or feeling to the literal or written.

A figure of speech is any way of saying something other than the ordinary way. Figurative language is language using figures of speech.

The easiest stylistic device to identify is a simile, signaled by use of the words "like" or "as". A simile is a comparison used to attract the reader's attention and describe something in descriptive terms.

A metaphor is a comparison which does not use the words "like" or "as". Metaphors can span over multiple sentences.

Example: "That boy is as fast as a car." is a simile but "That boy is a car!" is a metaphor.

Synecdoche occurs when a part of something is used to refer to the whole. Many examples of synecdoche are idioms, common to the language.

Metonymy is similar to synecdoche, but instead of a part representing the whole, a related object or part of a related object is used to represent the whole. Often it is used to represent the whole of an abstract idea.

Giving human or animal characteristics to inanimate objects.

Similar to 'personification' but direct. The speaker addresses someone absent or dead, or addresses an inanimate or abstract object as if it were human.

This is when the name of a character has a symbolic meaning. For example, in Dickens' Great Expectations, Miss Havisham has a sham, or lives a life full of pretense. In Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Rev. Dimmesdale metaphorically fades away (dims) as the novel progresses, while Chillingworth has a cold (chilled) heart.

A symbol may be an object, a person, a situation, an action, a word, or an idea that has literal meaning in the story as well as an alternative identity that represents something else. It is used as an expressive way to depict an idea. The symbol generally conveys an emotional response far beyond what the word, idea, or image itself dictates.

An allegory is a story that has a second meaning, usually by endowing characters, objects or events with symbolic significance. The entire story functions symbolically; often a pattern relates each literal item to a corresponding abstract idea or principle. Although the surface story may have its own interest, the author's major interest is in the ulterior meaning.

This is when the author invokes sensory details. Often, this is simply to draw a reader more deeply into a story by helping the reader visualize what is being described. However, imagery may also symbolize important ideas in a story.

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