Literary resources: what they are and what they are used for

If you like writing your own stories, you must master the use of literary resources. These will allow you to write more fluid and beautiful texts. And the best of all is that you can use them to write books, social media copy, or texts of any kind. So, if you want to know what literary resources are and what they are used for, keep reading this post.

What are literary devices and what are they used for?

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Literary devices are tools that you can find in countless texts. They are used to make the text more enjoyable to read, although they have also been used to reach the reader in many ways. From poetry to prose, we find numerous devices of this type. Although you don’t usually use them in verbal language, you can find them in marketing. Of course, literary works are full of them, since they allow them to embellish the content.

Its use is intentional. The author is aware of each resource he uses, seeking to create an emotion in the recipient of his work. Thanks to these tools, it is easier for you to identify a literary text from one that is not, although this concept is still subjective in the area of philology. Therefore, through literary resources, we manage to create grammatical, semantic, and phonetic peculiarities in a text. To bring you a little closer to these tools, we will show them to you below through examples.

What are literary devices?

We can talk about different types of literary resources, according to the peculiarities we mentioned before. In this way, from the phonetic point of view, we aim to create greater musicality. Through grammar or morphology, we seek to transmit an emotion, conveying the meaning of the words in a specific way. As regards semantics, we play with the lexical meaning, which allows us to display the richness of our language.

In the end, the author, who seeks to emphasize his message, achieves his goal by reaching the reader. The fact of fulfilling this goal makes the text be called literary since the resources have beautifully conveyed a feeling in the receiver. So, let’s see what the literary resources are.

Phonetic resources

Repetitions of sounds, noises that become part of the lexicon, or similarities between words belong to this type of resource. Thus, paronomasia allows games with a similar lexicon, sometimes from the same family. You can “twist the word” or make the “car run”. Without a doubt, this resource rings a bell in the minds of those who read it.

Onomatopoeia refers to sounds that have been transcribed into our language, such as the “woof” of a dog or the “cock-a-doodle-doo” of a rooster. Alliteration is used to repeat a group of very similar consonants or vowels consecutively. There are many examples of tongue twisters, such as “three sad tigers ate wheat in a wheat field.”

Grammar resources

Syntax plays a very important role in this case, as does morphology. Through them, the author allows himself to alter the order of the words, creating structures that demonstrate the richness of Spanish.

Repetition is a resource widely used in poetry. In this sense, anaphora can be found throughout a stanza, to intensify the message. As an example, we have the work of Andrés Eloy Blanco, which says: «Painter born in my land, / with a foreign brush, / painter who follows the path / of so many old painters». The word «painter» corresponds to anaphora.

Anadiplosis refers to the repetition of one or more words at the beginning and end of a verse. We see an example in Antonio Machado’s poem: «Everything passes and everything remains / but our thing is to pass/pass making paths/paths on the sea».

Polysyndeton often “sins” by constantly repeating conjunctions, such as “and” or “or”. In the case of derivation, you can see words with the same root, which the author plays within the text: “ Temprano madrugagó la madrugada” (Miguel Hernández).

Concatenation makes it possible to link verses together, creating a sequence. Again, we return to the previous example of Antonio Machado. You can observe the “passing” that gives rise to the end and the beginning of two different verses.

The epiphora drags one or more words along several verses. You see an example in «De padres ladróns, crinse con ladrón, estudiosan para ladrónes» (Miguel de Cervantes). In the epanadiplosis, you see the repetition of words both at the beginning and at the end of a verse or a phrase. Lorca’s verse «Verde que te quiero verde» is famous.

Lexical resources

In antithesis, opposite meanings are contrasted. An example is «Los niños van por la tierra / y las niñas por el aire» by Goytisolo. The apostrophe tends to personify an object, giving it life («la noche alegre»). The comparison highlights the similarity between objects or perceptions («oscuro como la noche»).

An epithet highlights an obvious peculiarity, such as calling “snow” “white.” Hyperbole is emphasized through exaggeration, as in “to infinity and beyond,” said a character in the movie Toy Story.

Hyperbaton is characterized by an alteration of the syntax, for example in «I am cold» instead of «I am cold». In the metaphor, two similar elements are identified («the pearls of her mouth»).

Metonymy allows us to name an object by another that is related to it. Thus, we can use the brand Danone to designate a yogurt, as has been popularly done. On the other hand, synesthesia attributes to an object a characteristic that is not part of it (“sweet dawn”).

Expand your knowledge in writing and storytelling at Escuela Des Arts

At Escuela Des Arts, you can increase your knowledge of literary writing through a master’s degree in creative writing and narration. In it, you will find the techniques to create professional texts, which you can use in any field, especially if you dedicate yourself to writing your own stories.

Throughout your course, you will learn everything about the origin of writing and linguistics. You will recognize the different literary genres, delving into the rules for creating a correct literary language. In addition, you will learn the different narrative techniques, acquiring, once you have completed the degree, the necessary tools to create a literary work.

Thus, through the contents of this master’s degree, you have the option of improving your writing and enhancing your creativity, leading to writing your first book as a professional author.