Figurative/Poetry Language Devices

Setting

Where a story takes place (time and place)

Setting

In “the Selfish Giant,” the story takes place in the Giant’s garden

Characterization

Why and how a character acts. STEAL (speech, thoughts, effects on others, actions, looks) and cahracter complexities as well

Characterization

“The grandmother didn’t want to go to Florida. She wanted to visit some of her connections in east Tennessee,” (O’Connor 1).

Simile

A comparison using “like” or “as”

Simile

“Here and there over the grass stood beautiful flowers like stars,” (Wilde 1).

metaphor

A comparison between two or more objects without using “like” or “as”

Metaphor

“But the children are the most beautiful flowers of all,” (Wilde 2).

Imagery

Detailed descriptions used to invoke image (5 senses) in the reader’s mind

Imagery

“In the streets between houses with red roofs and painted walls between old moss-grown gardens and under avenues of trees, past great parks and public buildings, processions moved,” (LeGuin 1).

Hyperbole

Extreme exaggeration

Hyperbole

“You are living [on] a dung heap” (Tolstoy 1).

Personification

Giving human attributes to inanimate objects

Personification

“The trees forgot to blossom” (Wilde 1).

Foreshadowing

An allusion to an event that will happen in the future of the story

Foreshadowing

“They passed a large cotton field with five or six graves fenced in the middle of it,” (O’Connor 3).

Point of view/narration

The perspective of a story. 1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person (limited and omniscient)

Point of view/narration

Most short stories we’ve read are in 3rd person limited

Epiphany

A moment of realization

Epiphany

When the Giant realized he was being selfish for keeping children out of the garden

Symbolism

An object in a story that has a deeper meaning

Symbolism

The Garden in The Selfish Giant represents the Giant’s heart.

Allegory

A scaled-down representation of a real-world issue; can be interpreted literally or figuratively

Allegory

The Selfish Giant is really about human nature, not a Selfish Giant

Theme

A message the story is trying to convey

Theme

The theme in The Selfish Giant is that you receive the care you put into the world

Allusion

A reference to a real world event or another piece of work

Allusion

“Gone With the Wind, said the grandmother,” (O’Connor 3).

Juxtaposition

Two ideas placed next to each other that contrast

Juxtaposition

“It was a lovely scene, only in one corner was it still winter” (Wilde 1).

Paradox

A sentence that contradicts itself

Paradox

“But these are the wounds of Love” (Wilde 2).

Ambiguity

Leaving details for the reader to interpret; uncertainty

Ambiguity

In Omelas, are the ones who walk away good or bad?

Conflict (internal & external)

A disagreement between a character and their thoughts or an outside force (ex: char vs. char/world/nature/tech/fate)

Conflict (internal & external)

The grandmother doesn’t want to go to Florida, but her family does

Motif

Something that repeats itself in a story

Motif

A motif in “How Much Land Does a Man Need” is the desire for more and more land

Diction

Word choice

Diction

Colloquial→informal, everyday

Connotation

An emotional or cultural meaning a word carries beyond its literal definition (a feeling or assosiation a word carries/denotation is dictionary definition (opposites))

Connotation

The garden in the Selfish Giant carries a meaning of empathy and caringness

Tone

The narrator’s, speaker’s, or author’s attitude toward a subject