Too often in writing we employ literary mechanisms without even realizing. Having a better understanding of these techniques will further expand your literary tool chest. These are only a few beginners definitions but periodically I will cover more advanced and in depth terminology.

Onomatopoeia is a word that imitates the sound it represents.
also imitative harmony
Example:
splash, wow, gush, kerplunk.

Juxtaposition In literature, it's when one theme or idea or person or whatever is paralleled to another.
Example:
Superman and Lex Luther.

Hyperbole is exaggeration or overstatement.
Example:
She's as big as a house.

Alliteration is the repetition of initial sounds in neighboring words.
Example:
Robert Frost's "The Death of the Hired Man" begins:
“Mary sat musing on the lamp-flame at the table
Waiting for Warren. When she heard his step. . . “

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