Devices

• Abstract - Not related to the concrete properties of an object; pertaining to ideas, concepts, or qualities, as opposed to physical attributes

• Active Voice - The subject of the sentence preforms the action. Typically, this is a more direct and preferred style of writing

• Allusion - A figure of speech which makes a brief, even casual reference to historical or literary figure, even, or object to create resonance in the reader or to apply a symbolic meaning to the character or object of which the allusion consist. For example, in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the surname of the protagonist, George Milton, is an allusion to John Milton, author of Paradise Lost, since by the end of the novel, George has lost her set dream of having a little ranch of his to share with friend Lennie.

• Ambiguity - The use of language in which multiple meanings are possible. Ambiguity can be unintentional through insufficient focus on the part of the writer; in good writing, ambiguity is frequently international in the form of multiple connotative meanings or situations in which either the connotative or the denotive can be valid in a reading

• Anecdote - A brief recounting of a relevant episode. Anecdotes are often inserted into fictional or non-fictional texts as a way of developing a point or injecting humor

  Appeals to … Authority - Rhetorical arguments in which the speaker either to be an expert or relies on information provided by experts; emotion attempts to affect the listener’s personal feelings; logic attempts to persuade the listener through the use of reason

• Asyndeton - The practice of omitting conjunctions between words, phrases, or clause. In a list, it creates a more extemporaneous effect and suggest the list may be incomplete. For example, “He was brave, fearless, afraid of nothing.” Asyndeton often quickens the pace and encourage the reader to analyze the relationship between the elements in the list. Asyndeton is the is the opposite of polysyndeton

• Devices - A particular word pattern or combination of words in a literary work to evoke a desired effect or arouse a desired action in the reader

• Diction - Word choice, particularly as an element of style. Different types if words have significant effect on meaning. An essay written in academic diction would be much less colorful, but perhaps more precise than street slang. You should be able to describe an author’s diction. You SHOULD NOT write your thesis, “The author uses diction …”. This is essentially saying, “The author uses words to write.” (Duh.) Instead, describe the type of diction (for example, formal or informal, ornate or plain)

• Colloquial - Ordinary or familiar type of conversation. A “colloquialism” is a common or familiar type of saying, similar to an adage or an aphorism

• Connotation - Rather than the dictionary definition (denotation), the associations suggested by a word

• Denotation - The dictionary definition; the direct and specific meaning without its connotations

• Deductive - The reasoning process by which a conclusion is drawn from a set of premises and contains no more facts than premises

• Didactic - A term used to describe fiction, nonfiction or poetry that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking

• Epigraph - A quote set at the beginning of literary work or at its divisions to set the tone or suggest a theme

• Euphemism - A more agreeable or less offensive substitute for generally unpleasant words or concepts

• Figurative Language - Writing that is not meant to be taken literally

• Analogy - Comparison of two things that are alike in some respects. Metaphors and similes are both types of analogies

• Hyperbole - Overstatement characterized by exaggerated language. “My mother will kill me if I am late.”

• Idiom - A common, often used expression that doesn’t make sense if you take it literally. “I got chewed out by my coach.”

• Metaphor - Making an implied comparison, not using “like”, “as,” or other such words. “My feet are popsicles.”

• Personification - Giving human-like qualities to something that is not human

• Simile - Using words such as “like” and “as” to make a direct comparison between two very different things

• Formal Language - Language that is lofty, dignified, or impersonal

• Genre - The major category into which a literary work fits

• Imagery - sensory details in a work; the use of figurative language to evoke a feeling, call to mind an idea, or describe an object. Imagery involves any or all of the sense

• Inductive - Conclusion or type of reasoning whereby observation or information about a part of a class is applied to the class as a whole. contrast with deductive

• Irony - A situation or statement characterized by a significant difference between what is expected or understood and what actually happens or its meant

• Verbal Irony - When you say something and mean the opposite/something different. For example, if your gym teacher wants you to run a mile in eight minutes or faster, but calls it a “walk in the park” it would be verbal irony. If your voice tone is bitter, it’s called sarcasm

• Situational Irony - An incongruity in the plot between what the audience expects to happen and what actually happens

• Juxtaposition - Placing things side by side for the purposes of comparison. Authors often use juxtaposition of ideas or examples in order to make a point

• Motif - A recurring idea in a piece of literature

• Oxymoron - A figure of speech that combines two apparently contradictory terms, as in “wise fool,” “eloquent silence,” “jumbo shrimp”

• Paradox - A seemingly contradictory situation or statement that is actually true

• Parallelism - Recurrent syntactical similarity where several parts of a sentence or several sentences are expressed alike to show that the ideas in the parts or the sentences are equal in importance

• Anaphora - Regular, deliberate repetition of a word or phrases at the beginning of successive phrases or clauses

• Antithesis - The juxtaposition of sharply contrasting ideas or word in balance or parallel phrases or clauses

• Chiasmus - A parallel structure in which the order of the terms in the first of two parallel phrases or clauses is reversed in the second

• Zeugma - Grammatically correct linkage of one subject with two or more verbs or a verb with two or more direct objects

• Polysyndeton - The practice of including a conjunction between each item in a list

• Repetition - repeating as word

• Rhetorical Question - Question not asked for information but for effect

• Sentence - A sentence is group of words that includes a subject and verb and expresses a complete thought

• Balanced Sentence - A sentence in which two parallel elements are set off against each other like equal weights on a scale

• Cumulative Sentence - When the writer begins with an independent clause, then adds subordinate elements.

• Periodic Sentence - A sentence that withholds its main idea until the end. The writer begins with subordinate elements and postpones the main clause

• Style - The choices in diction, tone, and syntax that a writer makes. Style may be conscious or unconscious

• Syntax - Grammatical arrangement of words. This is perhaps one of the most difficult concepts to master

• Thesis - Focus statement of an essay; premise statement upon which the point of view or discussion in the essay is based

• Tone - The attitude a literary work takes towards its subject and theme. It reflects the narrator’s attitude

• Transition Words - Words that bring unity and coherence to a piece of writing. For example: however, in addition, and on the other hand

• Understatement - Way of speaking or writing that minimizes the significance of something. When using understatement, a speaker or writer often employs restraint in describing the situation at hand and uses an expression with less emphasis or strength than would be expected

• Voice - The acknowledged or unacknowledged source of words of the story; the speaker, a “person” telling the story or poem