Lit. Devices

ENGL 282

Word choice

Specific word order the author chooses: “freedom” instead of “release”

denotation

literary'/ dictionary meaning: "home" = place where someone lives

Connotation

Feelings/associations connected to a word: "home" can suggest safety

Imagery

Language appealing to the senses: cold, “gray, wet street"

simile

comparing using like or as

metaphor : “He is acting like a rabbit”

direct comparison “he is a rabbit”

Pardox

Seemingly contradictory idea that reveals meaning: “less is more”

Parellism

Similar grammatical structure, “I came, I saw, I conquered

Personification

Giving a nonhuman character a human quality, “The wind whispered”

Anthropomorphism

Giving human characteristics/behavior to nonhuman beings: The rabbit is wearing clothes, the rabbit is talking, the rabbit is acting like a human

Irony

Difference between expectation and reality/meaning: It really bright out today but its pouring rain

Euphemism

Softer expression for something unpleasant: “laid to rest” instead of killed

Rhyme

Similar sounds, usually at line endings: light and night

repetition

repeating words/phrases/sounds

Poetic persona/speaker

The voice/persona speaking in a poem

Stanza

groups of lines tg

Poetic line

One horizontal line of poetry

Juxtaposition

Placing contrasting things together “rich vs poor”