Devices

1.       Imagery is used in literature to refer to descriptive language that evokes sensory experience

·         Jimi Hendrix’s “Castles Made Of Sand”; “As she slams the door in his drunken face”

·         Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well”

2.       Hyperbole is a figure in speech in which statements are exaggerated to evoke strong feelings

·         Ray Charles’ “Drown In My Own Tears”; “I’m drowning in my own tears”

·         Beyoncé’s “End of Time”

3.       Allegory is a figurative mode of representation conveying a meaning other than the literal

·         Rush’s “The Trees”; “And they wonder why the maples/Can’t be happy in their shade”

·         Ed Sheeran’s “Lego House”

4.       Alliteration is the repeating of the same consonant sound at the beginning of several words

·         CSNY’s “Helplessly Hoping”; “Heartlessly helping himself to her bad dreams”

·         Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me”

5.       Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds

·         Wu-Tang Clan’s “Iron Flag”; “One boot off he Rudolph”

·         Eminem’s “Lose Yourself”

6.       Consonance is the repetition of the same consonant two or more times in short succession

·         Jack Johnson’s “Sleep Through The Static”; “Because it’s a battle when you dabble in war”

·         Ed Sheeran’s “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You”

7.       Local Color is imagery that focuses on specific features

·         The Byrds’ “Lover of the Bayou”; “I drank the blood from a rusty can”

·         Chris Brown’s “Forever”

8.       Double Entendre is a phrase that could be interpreted two ways

·         Tom Petty’s “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”; “Last dance with Mary Jane/One more time to kill the pain”

·         Kelly Clarkson’s “Because Of You”

9.       Oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines two normally contradicted terms

·         Govt. Mule’s “Beautifully Broken”; “She’s so beautifully broken”

·         Taylor Swift’s “Sad Beautiful Tragic”

10.   Irony is a situation in which there is an incongruity that goes beyond the most evident meaning

·         Soundgarden’s “Burden in My Hand”; “kill everything you love”

·         Ed Sheeran’s “Kiss Me”

11.   Paradox is a statement that leads to a contradiction

·         Ozzy Osbourne’s “I Just Want You”; “There are no identical twins”

·         Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold”

12.   Tone is the underlying attitude of the songwriter

·         Pink Floyd’s “Have a Cigar”; arrogant

·         MKTO’s “Classic” nostalgic

13.   Point of View is determined by who the speaker is talking to

·         Billy Joel’s “Allentown”; First person narrative

·         Chris Brown’s “Should’ve Kissed You” First Person Narrative