Literacy Devices

Allusion: A reference to another work of literature, whether implied or explicit. In Arthur Miller's play, many characters make allusions to the Bible.

For example, Reverend Hale alludes to the Bible in response to John Proctor's assertion that Martha Corey would never murder a child: Man, remember, until an hour before the devil fell, God thought him beautiful in Heaven (68).

Metaphor: An implied analogy in which one thing is compared to a second thing.

For example, when John Proctor is unable to recite one of the Ten Commandments, John Hale uses a metaphor by comparing a person's faith to a fortress: Theology, sir, is a fortress; no crack in a fortress may be accounted small (64).

Simile: A metaphor in which the comparison is made explicit through the use of words such as like, as, similar to, or resembles.

Example: Abigail brings the other girls into the court, and where she walks the crowd will part like the sea for Israel (39). Oz I tint we'll se the green fields soon. It's warm as blood beneath the clods (48). Or. I told you the proof. It's hard proof, hard as rock, the judges said (55).

Metonym: A reference to a person, place, or idea using the word for something that is closely related to it, as when the king is referred to by using the wards the crown, or when a businessman is referred to as the suit. Metonymy is also used in truism, The pen is mightier than the sword. What arena or activity does the word pen stand in for? What does the word sword stand in for?

Symbol: A concrete object, place, or person that represents an abstract quality or idea. To the Puritans, the wilderness was thought to be inhabited by the devil and therefore symbolized evil and depravity: The Salem fold believed that the virgin forest was the Devil's last preserve (5). Whereas an image is literal, and whereas a metaphor is figurative, a symbol has both a literal and figurative significance. In The Crucible, the forest that surrounds Salem is understood to be a literal forest; but it also represents something more than itself.

Personification: The attribution of human qualities to an object, animal, or concept.

An example of personification can be found when John Proctor asserts, I'll tell you what's walking in Salem- vengeance is walking in Salem (73).

Hyperbole: Rhetorical exaggeration or overstatement.

Example: This farm is a continent when you go by foot by droppin' seeds in it (48).

Understatement: A figure of speech in which one says less than one really means.

When Mrs. Putnam describes her seven newborn children as having "wither[ed];" she uses understatement because she wishes to avoid using a harsh word like "died": Believe me, sir, you never saw more hearty babies born. And yet, each would wither in my arms the very night of their birth (14).

Synesthesia: The use of one sensory register describe an impression from one of the other five senses.

For example, in The Divine Comedy, Dante uses synesthesia when he describes descending into hell: Back to the region where the sun is silent. Although the sun is typically associated with the sense of vision, Dante associates it with the sense of hearing by describing the sun as "silent."

Alliteration: The repetition of consonant or vowel sounds at the beginning of two words in close proximity.

Example: The parlor's packed with people (9).