Question 1
Her eyes were pools of deepest blue.
💡 Her eyes are directly described AS pools — a metaphor, not a comparison using 'like' or 'as'.
Year 7 — Literature
Literary devices
Identify common literary devices (simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration), explain the effect of a device, use a device to support a point of analysis, and compare how two writers use a similar device.
Understand
Literary devices are specific, recognisable techniques writers use to create meaning and effect. This lesson brings together several devices covered earlier in this course — simile, metaphor, personification, and alliteration — as a foundation for confidently identifying and analysing them in any unfamiliar text. Recognising a device is only the first step; the real skill is explaining precisely what effect it creates and why the writer chose it.
“The waves whispered secrets along the shore, soft and silver in the moonlight.”
This sentence combines personification ('whispered secrets') with alliteration ('soft and silver') to create a gentle, almost magical atmosphere. Identifying both devices, and explaining how they work TOGETHER to build this specific mood, is exactly the kind of layered analysis strong exam answers demonstrate.
Spot it
Identify the literary device used in each example.
Question 2
The busy bees buzzed beside the blooming bushes.
💡 The repeated 'b' sound across multiple words is alliteration.
Question 3
The mountains stood like ancient sentinels, guarding the valley below.
💡 'Like ancient sentinels' is a simile; 'guarding' gives the mountains a human action, which is personification — both devices are used together.
Think about it
Why might a writer combine two literary devices in a single sentence (like personification and alliteration together), rather than using just one at a time?
Try it
Identify the device and its effect.
The old clock ticked its way through another lonely night, counting down towards nothing at all.
Question 1
What device is used in describing the clock's night as 'lonely', and what effect does it create?
💡 A clock cannot literally feel lonely — this is a human quality given to an object.
Practise
For each sentence, identify the literary device used.
Question 1
"Her voice was a warm blanket on a cold night." Device?
Question 2
"He ran as fast as a bolt of lightning." Device?
Question 3
"Peter picked the perfect, purple plums." Device?
Question 4
What device gives a non-human thing human qualities or actions?
💡 It's one of the four core devices reviewed in this lesson.
Question 5
"The engine roared to life, hungry for the open road." Device?
Question 6
"The snake slithered silently through the summer grass." Which two devices does this combine?
Apply
Read the passage, then answer the questions below.
The city yawned awake as dawn broke, its streets stretching lazily beneath a sky streaked pink and gold. Delivery vans droned past, and somewhere a bell chimed, bright and clear, calling the first commuters from their beds like a gentle summons none could quite ignore.
Question 1
"The city yawned awake" and "streets stretching lazily" are examples of which device?
💡 The city and streets are given human actions — yawning and stretching.
Question 2
"calling... like a gentle summons" is an example of which device?
💡 Look for the comparison word 'like'.
Question 3
Find the word in the passage that is an example of onomatopoeia, imitating the sound of the delivery vans.
💡 It describes the sound the vans make as they pass by.
Challenge
Explain in two or three sentences how the combination of personification ('the city yawned awake') and simile ('like a gentle summons') work together across the passage to create a consistent, gentle mood, using both devices in your explanation.
Review
A quick mastery check — 3 questions.
Question 1
"The classroom was a zoo." This is an example of...
Question 2
"Silky, silver stars shimmered in the sky." This is an example of...
Question 3
Why should strong analysis explain the EFFECT of a device, not just name it?