Literary Devices (copy)

Allegory

a story illustrating an idea or a moral principle in which objects take on symbolic meanings.An allegory is a story whose sole purpose is to represent an abstract concept or idea. As such, allegories are *sometimes* extended allusions, but the two common literary devices have their differences.

For example, George Orwell’s *Animal Farm* is an allegory for the deterioration of Communism during the early establishment of the U.S.S.R. 

in Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy,” Dante, symbolizing mankind, is taken by Virgil the poet on a journey through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise in order to teach him the nature of sin and its punishments, and the way to salvation

Alliteration

used for poetic effect, a repetition of the initial consonant sounds of several words in a group

Allusion

a reference in one literary work to a character or theme found in another literary work

Alienation

Being isolated

Ambiguity

a statement which can contain two or more meanings

Anadiplosis

a Greek word which means “to reduplicate”

refers to the repetition of a word or words in successive clauses in such a way that the second clause starts with the same word which marks the end of the previous clause

She opened a café, a café that ruined her financially.

Analogue

a comparison between two similar things

in literature, a work which resembles another work either fully or in part

if a work resembles another because it is derived from the other, the original work is called the **source**

Anaphora

repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses, sentences, or lines

ex. this royal throne, this sceptered isle, this earth of majesty, this seat of…

Analogy

An analogy is an *argumentative* comparison: it compares two unalike things to advance an argument. Specifically, it argues that two things have equal weight, whether that weight be emotional, philosophical, or even literal. Because analogical literary devices operate on comparison, it can be considered a form of metaphor.

For example:

Making pasta is as easy as one, two, three.

This analogy argues that making pasta and counting upwards are *equally* easy things. This format, “A is as B” or “A is to B”, is a common analogy structure.

Anecdote

a very short tale told by a character in a literary work

in Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales,” “The Miller’s Tale,” and “The Carpenter’s Tale” are examples

Antagonist

a person or force which opposes the protagonist in a literary work

Anthropomorphism

When an inanimate object gains human characteristics, like mickey mouse

Antimetabole

repetition of words, in successive clauses, in reverse grammatical order

sometimes known as chiasmus

ex. when the going gets tough, the tough gets going

Antithesis

literal meaning opposite, is a rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect

Aphorism

a brief statement which expresses an observation on life, usually intended as a wise observation

Benjamin Franklin’s “Poor Richard’s Almanac” contains numerous examples, one of which is *Drive thy business; let it not drive thee*, which means that one should not allow the demands of a business to take control of one’s moral or worldly commitments

Enjambment

It occurs when a line is cut off before its natural stopping point. It is a transition/continuation between lines. E.g. "I went out and / lost my way," where the "/" is a line break. This literary device encourages a reader down to the next following line of a poem, and then the next, quickly.

Apostrophe

a figure of speech wherein the speaker *speaks directly to something nonhuman*

Aside

a device in which a character in a drama makes a short speech which is heard by the audience but not by other characters in the play

Assimilation

How cultures may use their distinct cultural characteristics.

Assonance

the repetition of vowel sounds in a literary work, especially in a poem

the i sound in examples such as *tinkle, sprinkle*, and *twinkle*

Asyndeton

intended omission of conjunctions where they would normally be used

Autobiography

the story of a person’s life written by himself or herself

Ballad

a story in poetic form, often about tragic love and usually sung-ballads were passed down from generation to generation by singers

Bandwagon

Everyone is going something so you must also

Biography

the story of a person’s life written by someone other than the subject of the work

Blank Verse

a poem written in unrhymed iambic pentameter

Cacaphony

an unpleasant combination of sounds

Euphony

a pleasant combination of sounds

Caesura

a pause within a line of poetry which may or may not affect the metrical count

Calque

Word for word translation into another languages, like sky scraper into the word for sky and the word for scraper.

Catastrophe

the scene in a tragedy which includes the death or moral destruction of the protagonist

Characterization

the method writer uses to reveal the personality of a character in a literary work: methods may include (1) by what the character says about himself or herself; (2) by what others reveal about the character; and (3) by the character’s own actions

a. **Static character** does not change throughout the work, and the reader’s knowledge of that character does not grow

b. **Flat character** embodies one or two qualities, ideas, or traits that can be readily described in a brief summary

c. **Round characters** are more fully developed, and therefore are harder to summarize

Chiasmus

two corresponding pairs arranged not in parallels (a-b-a-b) but in inverted order (a-b-b-a)

ex. when the going gets tough, the tough gets going

Classicism

a movement or tendency in art, music, and literature to retain the characteristics found in work originating in classical Greece and Rome

differs from Romanticism in that while Romanticism dwells on the emotional impact of a work, while this concerns itself with form and discipline

Climax

the decisive point in a drama

the turning point of the play to which the rising action leads

the crucial part of the drama, the part which determines the outcome of the conflict

Colloquialism

All parts of an ad are adopted to some local area like oi oi mate tea innit.

Comedy

a literary work which is amusing and ends happily

modern examples tend to be funny, while Shakespearean examples simply end well

Shakespearean examples also contain items such as misunderstandings and mistaken identity to heighten the comic effect

Conceit

a far-fetched simile or metaphor

occurs when the speaker compares two highly dissimilar things

A broken heart is like a damaged clock

Outrageous but a further expanded on connection can be extra meaningful.

Conclusion

also called the “Resolution”

the point in a drama to which the entire play has been leading

the logical outcome of everything that has come before it

Concrete Poetry

a poem that visually resembles something found in the physical world

a poem about a wormy apple written so that the words form the shape of an apple

Conflict

in the plot of a drama, occurs when the protagonist is opposed by some person or force in the play

Connotation

a word’s emotional content

in this sense, the word **wall** can also mean an attitude or action which prevent becoming emotionally close to a person

Denotation

a word’s dictionary definition

the word **wall** therefore, denotes an upright structure which encloses something or serves as a boundary

Deictic Language

In linguistics, deixis is the use of general words and phrases to refer to a specific time, place, or person in context, e.g., the words tomorrow, there, and they. Words are deictic if their semantic meaning is fixed but their denoted meaning varies depending on time and/or place.

Consonance

the repetition of consonant sounds with differing vowel sounds in words near each other in a line or lines of poetry

* Hickory dickory dock.
* Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
* She sells seashells by the seashore.

Couplet

a stanza of two lines, usually rhyming

the following by Andrew Marvell is an example: Had we but world enough and time,/This coyness, lady, were no crime

Dialogue

in drama, a conversation between characters

Diction

an author’s choice of words

since words have specific meanings, and since one’s choice of words can affect feelings, a writer’s choice of words can have great impact in a literary work

the writer, therefore, must choose his words carefully

Dichotomy

the separation that exists between two groups or things that are completely opposite to and different from each other

Dramatic Monologue

in literature generally, a major work dealing with an important topic

Elegy

a lyric poem lamenting death

Elliptical Writing

Contracts language to leave information implcit.

Epic

in literature generally, a major work dealing with an important theme

“Gone with the Wind,” a film set in the antebellum (pre-Civil War) and Civil War South, is considered an example because of its war theme and length

Ekphrasis

it refers to a poem or story that is directly inspired by another piece of art. It often describes another piece of art

Epigraph

a brief quotation which appears at the beginning of a literary work

Epithet

in literature, a word or phrase preceding or following a name which serves to describe the character

Euphemism

a mild word or phrase which substitutes for another which would be undesirable because it is too direct, unpleasant, or offensive

the word “joint” is another word for prison

”W.C.” is a word for bathroom

Equivocation

Hambuger better than nothimg. Nothing better than good health. A hamburger is better than nothing.

Exposition

the beginning of a short story, novel, or play

Fable

a brief tale designed to illustrate a moral lesson

often the characters are animals as in *Animal Farm*

Falling Action

the series of events which take place after the climax

Farce

a type of comedy based on a humorous situation such as a bank robber who mistakenly wanders into a police station to hide

Figurative Language

in literature, a way of saying one thing and meaning something else

same as figure of speech

Figure of Speech

states something is not literally true in order to create an effect

similes, metaphors, and personification are based on comparison

metonymy, synecdoche, synesthesia, apostrophe, oxymoron, and hyperbole are other examples

Flashback

a reference to an event which took place prior to the beginning of a story or play

Foil

a character in a play who sets off the main character or other characters by comparison, a foil character

Foreshadowing

in drama, a method used to build suspense by providing hints of what is to come

Free Verse

unrhymed poetry with lines of varying lengths, and containing no specific metrical pattern

Glittering Generality

It is a propaganda statement that is designed to connect with audience members by speaking to the beliefs and/or values that are dear to them. The intent of this kind of statement is to create a favorable impression in the minds of message recipients. The goal is for those who receive the message to identify with the statement and whatever idea, product, service, or political candidate it is designed to promote.

Genre

a literary type or form

Demand Gaze

Direct eye contact between character and viewer

Hook

Catchy thing at the start for many a reason

Homogenisation

To generalise a lot of people as one idea.

Haiku

a Japanese poetic form which originated in the sixteenth century

consists of three lines: five syllables in the first and third lines, and seven syllables in the second line

Hyperbole

a figure of speech in which an overstatement or exaggeration occurs

Hypophora

Ask question then immediately answers it.

\
Could be use to get people thinking then emphasises something.

Hypallage

1. a transposition of the natural relations of two elements in a proposition, for example in the sentence ‘ *Melissa shook her doubtful curls* ’.

Infantalising

\n treat (someone) as a child or in a way which denies their maturity in age or experience.

Idiom

a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deductible from those of the individual words (e.g., *rain cats and dogs, see the light*)

Indexical

In the philosophy of language, an indexical is any expression whose content varies from one context of use to another. The standard list of indexicals includes pronouns such as “I”, “you”, “he”, “she”, “it”, “this”, “that”, plus adverbs such as “now”, “then”, “today”, “yesterday”, “here”, and “actually”.

Imperative

The imperative mood is a grammatical mood that forms a command or request.

Imagery

a word or group of words in a literary work which appeal to one or more of the senses: sight, taste, touch, hearing, and smell

the use of images serves to intensify the impact of the work

Inference

a judgement based on reasoning rather than on direct or explicit statement

a conclusion based on facts or circumstances

Irony of Situation

the result of an action is the reverse of what the actor expected

Macbeth murders his king hoping that in becoming king he will achieve great happiness

actually, Macbeth never knows another moment of peace, and is finally beheaded for his murderous act

Juxtaposition

It refers to the placement of contrasting ideas next to each other, often to produce an ironic or thought-provoking effect. Writers use juxtaposition in both poetry and prose, though this common literary device looks slightly different within each realm of literature.

In poetry, juxtaposition is used to build tension or highlight an important contrast. Consider the poem “A Juxtaposition” by Kenneth Burke, which juxtaposes nation & individual, treble & bass, and loudness & silence. The result is a poem that, although short, condemns the paradox of a citizen trapped in their own nation.

Dramatic Irony

the audience knows something that the characters in the drama do not

for example, the identity of the murderer in a crime thriller may be known to the audience long before the mystery is solved

Verbal Irony

the contrast is between the literal meaning of what is said and what is meant

a character may refer to a plan as brilliant, while actually meaning that (s)he thinks the plan is foolish

sarcasm is a form of this irony

Litote(s)

a special type of understatement in which a thing is affirmed by stating the negative of its opposite

to say “She was not unmindful” when one means that “She gave careful attention to” is an example

when you say something is “good” by saying it is “not bad”, not too shabby, not terrible etc. This can be shown like in conversation some type of power dynamic or some need to like prove someth.

Eulogy

\n a speech or piece of writing that says good things about somebody/something usually someone who has died like a funeral speech.

Local Color

a detailed setting forth of the characteristics of a particular locality, enabling the reader to “see” the setting

Lyric Poem

a short poem wherein the poet expresses an emotion or illuminates some life principle

m dash

Used to qualify or expand something.

Motif

A significant word or phrase throughout the text.

Metaphor

a figure of speech wherein a comparison is made between two unlike quantities without the use of the words “like” or “as”

He used fire asa metaphor for hatred.

Meter

a regular pattern of unstressed and stressed syllables in a line or lines of poetry

Metonymy

a figure of speech in which a word represents something else which it suggests

for example, in a herd of fifty cows, the herd might be referred to a fifty **head** of cattle-the word “head” is the word representing the herd

Modal verb

an auxiliary verb that expresses necessity or possibility. English modal verbs include *must*, *shall*, *will*, *should*, *would*, *can*, *could*, *may*, and *might*.

Auxiliary verbs (also called helping verbs) are used along with a main verb to express tense, mood, or voice. For example, in the statement “it is raining,” “is” functions as an auxiliary verb indicating that the action of the main verb (“raining”) is ongoing.

Mood

the atmosphere or feeling created by a literary work, partly by a description of the objects or by the style of the descriptions

a work may contain a mood of horror, mystery, holiness, or childlike simplicity, to name a few, depending on the author’s treatment of the work

Myth

an unverifiable story based on religious belief

the characters are gods and goddesses, or the offspring of the mating of gods or goddesses and humans

Narrative Poem

a poem which tells a story

usually a long poem, sometimes even book length, the narrative may take the form of a plot less dialogue