Literary Devices: Alliteration, Onomatopoeia, Metaphor & More

Literary Devices Explored

Alliteration occurs when repeating a phoneme or group of phonemes (e.g., "...shady and spacious shelter...").

Onomatopoeia is a type of alliteration mimicking real sounds.

Anaphora is the repetition of a word or words at the beginning of phrases or verses.

Paronomasia involves associating two words with similar signifiers but different meanings.

Polysyndeton uses abundant and repeated conjunctions to coordinate language elements.

Epithet adds adjectives to characterize a noun for praise or blame (e.g., "O sweet treasures...").

Asyndeton is the opposite of polysyndeton, omitting conjunctions where they might appear.

Ellipsis involves removing terms understood from context.

Hyperbaton alters usual word order.

Parallelism divides sentences into similar syntactic structures (e.g., "...rich strength, faith, and rich...").

Simile or Comparison relates a real term to an imaginary one using words like "cual" or "como."

Metaphor transfers meaning between a real and an imaginary word (e.g., "golden hair," "fires of heaven").

Hyperbole exaggerates reality (e.g., "Once upon a time a man stuck a nose...").

Express Irony conveys the opposite of what is meant.

Paradox joins two irreconcilable ideas, revealing a deeper truth.

Antithesis contrasts antonyms in speech (e.g., "...the sweet, bitter, true story...").

Personification attributes human properties to natural realities.

Spanish Romance

Romance is a Spanish metric combination of indefinite lines. Even lines have assonant rhyme, and odd lines are usually octosyllabic, but can be hexasyllabic or Alexandrine. Short romances (romancillo) have fewer than eight syllables. They range from 10 to 16 verses and 1350 verses. Epics are briefer, and los juglarescos are more extensive. They can be epic (from chanson de geste) or lyric (from Provençal pastorela) and are found in broadsides, books, songs, or ballads.