English 2H Finals Literary Devices and Vocabulary

Doubles

A direct contrast of on element to another:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of time."

Juxtaposition

Placement of two elements side by side to present a comparison or a contrast

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"

Anaphora

Repetition of words/phrases at the beginning of consecutive lines or sentences


"Hunger was pushed out of the tall houses . . . Hunger was patched into them with straw and rag and wood and paper; Hunger was repeated in every fragment of the small modicum of firewood that the man sawed off"

Litote

An ironic understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary

"In England, there was scarcely an amount of order and protection to justify much national boasting"

Anadiplosis

A device in which the last word or phrase of one clause, sentence, or line is repeated at the beginning of the next

“Well! If you could endure to have such a worthless fellow, and a fellow of such indifferent reputation, coming and going at odd times, I should ask that I might be permitted to come and go as a privileged person here”

Repetition of "A fellow"

Asyndeton

A construction in which elements are presented in a series without conjunctions

“[Tellson’s Bank] was an old-fashioned place, moreover, in the moral attribute that the partners in the House were proud of its smallness, proud of its darkness, proud of its ugliness, proud of its incommodiousness”

No usage of conjunctions to connect the lines, no usage of "And"

Chiasmus

A statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed

"I care for no man on earth, and no man cares for me."

Epistrophe

The repetition of a word at the end of successive clauses or sentences

“My friend is dead, my neighbor is dead, my love, the darling of my soul, is dead”

Metonymy

To substitute the name of one object for another object closely associated with it

“[Tellson’s Bank] was an old-fashioned place, moreover, in the moral attribute that the partners in the House were proud of its smallness [...] In this respect the House was much on a par with the Country; ...”

Polysyndeton

A construction in which elements are presented in a series using more conjunctions than necessary or natural

“ It had stained many hands, too, and many faces, and many naked feet, and many wooden shoes”

Synecdoche

The use of one part of an object to represent the entire object

“Seven faces of prisoners, suddenly released by the storm that had burst their tomb, were carried high overhead: all sacred, all lost, all wondering and amazed, as if the Last Day were come, and those who rejoiced around them were lost spirits. Other seven faces there were, carried higher, seven dead faces, whose drooping eyelids and half-seen eyes awaited the Last Day. Impassive faces, yet they suspended–not an abolished–expression on them; faces, rather, in a fearful pause, as having yet to raise the dropped lids of the eyes, and bear witness with the bloodless lips, ‘THOU DIDST IT!’”

Alliteration

Repetition of similar consonant sounds at the beginning of words.

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“But four hours later the fish was **s**till **s**wimming **s**teadily out to **s**ea, towing the **s**kiff, and the old man was **s**till braced **s**olidly with the line across his back." - Ernest Hemmingway, *The Old Man and the Sea"*

Anecdote

A short amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person, often intended to illustrate or support some point.

Allusion

Reference to a person, place or event that is well known in history, literature, religion, etc.

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“This moment was her *golden ticket* (__Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)__”

Apostrophe

A writer or speaker, using apostrophe, speaks directly to someone who is not present or is dead, or speaks to an inanimate object. 

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“O stranger of the future! O inconceivable being!”

“Oh, coffee, my sweet dark coffee. What would I do without you?”

Authorial Intrusion

A narrative technique when the author penning the story, poem or prose steps away from the text and speaks out to the reader.

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Authorial Intrusion establishes a one to one relationship between the writer and the reader where the latter is no longer a secondary player or an indirect audience to the progress of the story but is the main subject of the author’s attention.

Foreshadow

A hint that the author gives about an event that will happen later.

Hyperbole

An exaggerated statement used to add emphasis

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“I’m so hungry I could eat a horse!”

Visual Imagery

Imagery that pertains to sight

Olfactory Imagery

Imagery that Pertains to a scent/smell.

Auditory Imagery

Imagery that pertains to sounds

Gustatory Imagery

Imagery that pertains to taste

Tactile Imagery

Imagery that pertains to a texture or sensation of touch.

Kinesthetic Imagery

Imagery that pertains to movement or action.

Organic Imagery

Imagery that pertains to feelings of the body, including hunger, thirst, and fatigue

Irony

A literary device in which contradictory statements or situations reveal a reality that is different from what appears to be true.

Verbal Irony

Writer/Speaker says one thing, but means something completely different/opposite

In Saying “Nice Day!” as you walk through flood water up to your waist

Situational Irony

An incongruity appears between expectations of something to happen, and what actually happens instead

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In A Firehouse burning down

Dramatic Irony

The audience/reader knows something the characters do no

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A character opens a box that  the audience/reader knows is filled with snakes

Metaphor

A common figure of speech that explicitly compares two things usually considered different ***without*** using “like” or “as.” 

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You are my sunshine

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Love is a Battlefield

Mood

The atmosphere that the writer creates in a story. This is conveyed through the author’s choice of words and details.

Motif

A literary technique that consists of a repeated element that has symbolic significance to a literary work. It can be a recurring image, repeated word, phrase, or topic, a recurring situation or action, a sound or smell, a temperature, even a color.

Paradox

An anomalous juxtaposition of incongruous ideas for the sake of striking exposition or unexpected insight; **A statement that contradicts itself, or that must be both true and untrue at the same time.**

Parody

An imitation of the style and manner of a particular writer. Parody is typically negative in intent: it calls attention to a writer's perceived weaknesses or a school's overused conventions and seeks to ridicule them.

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“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.” - *Pride and Prejudice and Zombies*, Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

Personification

A figure of speech in which something non-human is given human attributes. 

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When the young Dawn with fingertips of rose lit up the world” - Homer, *The Odyssey*

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Omniscient POV

all-knowing.” The person telling the story knows everything about the characters and their problems. An omniscient narrator is not a character in the story. 

First Person POV

One of the characters is the narrator telling the story, using the pronoun *“I.”* Everything the reader knows about the story comes from only this character/perspective.

Third Person Limited

 The narrator plays no part in the story, but focuses on the thoughts and feelings of just one character. With this point of view, we observe action through the eyes and feelings of this one character.

Rhetorical Question

A question asked in order to create a dramatic effect or to make a point rather than to get an answer.

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“Could this question get any more obvious?”

Satire

A genre that uses humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize the weaknesses or bad qualities of a person, government, society, etc. Commonly used in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.

Simile

A common figure of speech that explicitly compares two different things using words “like” or “as.” 

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She is as fierce as a lion.

My love is like a red, red rose.

Symbol

An object with a figurative meaning which provides an entirely different meaning that is much deeper and more significant.

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Fire: a raging fire can symbolize anger, punishment and destruction. Ironically, it can also signify rebirth--as in the myth of the phoenix.

Syntax

The arrangement of words to form a sentence

Declarative syntax

Makes a Statement

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The King is sick.

Imperative Syntax

Gives a command

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Stand Up.

Interrogative Syntax

Asks a question

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Is the king sick?

Exclamatory Syntax

Makes an exclamation

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The King is dead!

Theme

The central topic, subject, or message within a narrative.

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In *The House in the Cerulean Sea* explores themes of belonging and family, as well as asking questions of nature and nurture, institutional overreach, and inclusion and acceptance.

Tone

The attitude the writer takes toward the audience, a subject, or a character. This is conveyed through the author’s choice of words and details.

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“These children aren’t animals. You aren’t on a safari with binoculars, watching them from a distance. How are you supposed to evaluate the children if you don’t even take the time to know them? They’re people” - TJ Klune, *The House/Cerulean Sea*

Bathos

An abrupt and often ludicrous change in style from the elevated to the ordinary.

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“They came, they saw, they conquered.”

Pathetic fallacy

A literary device in which human emotions are attributed to aspects of nature

Onomatopoeia

The formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named

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“Bam! Crack! Sizzle! Pow!”

Pathos

Emotions and ideals of the audience and elicits feelings that already reside in them.