10 Literary Terms for Creating a Special Effect in Your Assignments

Students have been writing assignments for long. But every time they get a new assignment, they just pen down their views and simply write the information they gather from different sources. This ordinary approach towards assignment writing is fine when you are running out of time and want to score satisfactory marks. However, when you have sufficient time on your hands and are aiming to get the highest marks among your peers, you should include some special elements in your work. So, what are those elements? Well, they are creative writing techniques and literary terms. But, we will only discuss about literary terms here. So, let’s get to know about them in detail below.

What Are Literary Terms?

Literary terms are the typical structures that are used emphasis and clarity. They help in conveying an important message to the readers in a comprehensive way. When these terms are employed properly by the writers and authors, it becomes easier for a reader to analyze, interpret, and appreciate the text.

Using literary terms in the assignment has a lot of benefits, such as:

• It helps you reflect the level of dedication and motivation that you have towards your words.
• It makes it easy for you to explain the deep meaning of your text to the readers.
• Literary terms make the work impressive and bring surprise elements for the readers.

Since literary terms make any written work intriguing and comprehensive, you should use them in your assignments to create a special effect that will leave your professor spellbound. Now, that you know what literary terms are and why you should use them in the assignments, it’s time to have a look at some of the most important ones.

Different Literary Terms to Use in the Assignments

Allegory

It is a story, poem or picture that is used to send a message across society related to the current issues. Many renowned authors, such as George Orwell, Edmund Spenser, John Bunyan, etc. have used allegory in their literary works.

Example: Animal Farm, a book written by George Orwell, is an allegory that uses animals on a farm to describe the events preceding the Russian Revolution and the Stalinist era in early 20th century Russia. The writer has tried to expose the greed and corruption of the revolution through the actions of the animals on the farm.

Alliteration

Also known as initial rhyme or head rhyme, alliteration is a stylistic literary device in which words with the same first consonant sound come close together in a series. It is generally used in books, poems, and poetry.

Example: Samuel Taylor Coleridge used alliteration in his poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner:
“The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
The furrow followed free;
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea.”

Allusion

The brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of cultural, literary, historical or political significance is known as alliteration. A writer just makes a passing comment and not describe in detail the person or idea which it refers to.

Example: “Don’t act like a Romeo in front of her.”
In this sentence, “Romeo” is a reference to the character Romeo of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”.

Epigraph

An epigraph is a quotation, poem or a song that a writer adds at the starting of a book or chapter. These quotations or songs are generally written by other authors and the writer uses them in his work to acknowledge them or give an effective start.

Example: “Behind every great fortune there is a crime.”
This is a translated quotation from Honoré de Balzac used in The Godfather, a popular novel by Mario Puzo. The epigraph given in this novel depicts the true picture of a gangster who earns a lot of money and gains control over the lives of others.

Hyperbole

Hyperbole is a literary term that is we use in our day-to-day life. It involves exaggeration of ideas to emphasize the real situation and is often used to bring a dramatic or comedic effect in the written work.

Example: He is trying to solve a million issues these days.
The blacksmith’s hand was harder than the rock.

Euphemism

Euphemism is a polite, indirect expression that is used in place of words and phrases that are considered impolite and rude or seems unpleasant. In other words, it is an idiomatic expression that loses its actual meaning in order to hide its offensiveness.

Example: He is a special child (disabled or learning challenged).
You are becoming a little thin on top (bald).

Paradox

Paradox is an expression or statement that is self-contradictory or silly but in reality, expresses the latent truth. It is often used to express an opinion or statement that is contrary to existing beliefs, expectations or perceived opinions.

Example: “I must be cruel to be kind.” - William Shakespeare
“I can resist anything but temptation.” – Oscar Wilde

Irony

Irony is when a statement is used in such a way that its intended meaning differs from the actual meaning. Irony can be a situation that ends up in a different way than what is anticipated.

Example: The roasted chicken was as tender as a leather boot.
The desert was as cool as a bed of burning coals.

Juxtaposition

Juxtaposition is a technique that is used to compare two or more different ideas, objects or characters that are opposite in nature. By using this literary device, the writer tries to create a clear picture of one idea or an object by comparing it with the other.

Example: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair …"

It is the opening passage from Charles Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities that is considered the most famous examples of juxtaposition.

Metaphor

When ideas, objects or actions are described in non-literal terms, it is known as metaphor. In simple words, metaphor is when the writer compares one thing to another. The two things described are unlike in all the respects but share something in common.

Example: Chaos is the breeding ground of order.
Words are daggers when spoken in anger.

So, these were a few common literary terms that you can employ in your assignments to bind your readers till the end. However, if these literary terms seem complicated to you and you can’t figure out how to use them in the assignments, then leave the task to us. We have been providing custom assignment help to students for over a decade, so we know how to use literary terms and creative writing techniques in any assignment to set it apart from others. You can contact us anytime if you want an assignment with literary terms to score the highest among your peers. We are more than happy to help you!