Core of Writing and Literary Devices

World's First Poem

Adam describing Eve.

Figurative Language

Artful deviation from literal speech or normal word order.

Imaginative Comparisons

Devices that draw out reader's emotion, add depth, provide symmetry, and communicate info.

Allegory

A complex extended metaphor.

"A Bird Came Down the Walk"

Uses personification well to catch the reader's interest.

Thesis of "The Spider and Wasp"

Insect and spider parents show seemingly rational as well as instinctual actions.

Informational Literature & Comparisons

Informational literature generally does not use many imaginative comparisons.

"The Nightingale and the Glowworm"

A fable, personification, and allegory of beauty and wisdom, where light equals wisdom.

What does Twain use Personification for in "What Stumped the Bluejays"

He uses personification to create humor.

Apostrophe

Addressing an absent person, abstraction, or inanimate object.

How does Twain use Dialect in "What Stumped the Bluejays"

He used it for humor and irony (e.g., claiming bluejays speak perfect grammar).

What does the author use in "The Return of the Rangers" (Major Rogers)

Uses parallelism for a matter-of-fact approach and personification to show the dangers of nature.

What is the crisis in "The Return of the Rangers"

The journey over the falls, shown by a slower pace, sensory details, and imaginative comparisons.

What metaphor types that were used in "Mother to Son"

Both an implied metaphor (unstated tenor) and an extended metaphor (developed beyond a single sentence).

What did the use of dialect do in "Mother to Son"

Helps create sympathy with the speaker and reinforces the theme not to quit.

What was the primary comparison in "Mother to Son"

Life is not a crystal stair, emphasizing hardships while keeping going.

"The Soul's Dark Cottage"

Uses paradox about the gains and losses that come with age.

What is conceit in "The Window"

A comparison using a striking parallel between two seemingly dissimilar things.

Anneal

To heat glass in order to color it.

What was the primary comparison in "The Window"

Is that the preacher is compared to a stained-glass window; though weak, God lets His light shine through him.

What literary elements was in John 1

Elements like metaphors, paradox, and synecdoche help us better understand God's Word.

What were the metaphors for Christ in John 1

Word, Light, and Lamb.

Synecdoche

Using a part of something to stand for the whole.

What does Jacob's Ladder stand for in John 1

A connection or bridge between heaven and earth.

Christ as Word, Light, and Lamb

Word = qualified bridge; Light = shows way to salvation; Lamb = sacrificed for our sake.

Tenor

In a metaphor, the original subject being described.

Vehicle

The image the tenor is being compared to.

Implied Metaphor

A metaphor where the tenor is unstated and shown indirectly.

Euphony

The use of words that are pleasant and musical to the ear.

Cacophony

The use of words that are harsh or dissonant in sound.

Metonymy

An expression in which a related thing stands for the thing itself.