APLIT final 1

Literary devices can add a lot to a text when used correctly.

For example, in The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses the following metaphor to describe human struggle: “So we beat on, boats against the current…” The image of boats fighting against the current is a powerful way to express the simple idea that “life is hard.”

LITERARY DEVICES

Provide a definition and literary example for each.

1. Alliteration

  • Repetition of beginning sounds

    • Jenna just jigged a little jig

2. Onomatopoeia

  • Sounds

    • BOOM

3. Foreshadowing

  • The reference or hints given to allude to a future plot event

    • Unless she forgave herself she couldn't forgive him

      • She then forgives himself

4. Hyperbole

  • Exaggeration

    • It was 4 tons!

5. Oxymoron

  • Juxtaposing words next to each other

    • Jumbo Shrimp

6. Flashback

  • Reliving of previous events to provide context

    • Just like that she was back in her old room…

7. Point of View

  • Perspective at which the narration is formed around

    • 1st person

      • I, me, we

8. Euphemism

  • Sugar coating something

    • Kick the bucket

      • death

9. Colloquialism

  • slang

10. Anthropomorphism

  • Characters non human being portrayed as such

    • Micky mouse

    • Teapot

11. Anaphora

  • Repetition of the same phrase

    • I think… i think

12. Anachronism

  • Reference to another time period

    • Everything looked just as i left it a decade ago

13. Malapropism

  • Typo’s or misuse of words

    • Illiterate from memory

      • Instead of Obliterate

14. Imagery

  • Description of surrounding using adjectives

    • The beautiful, pink and blue curtains were loosely draped of over the stove, a simple ghost of what they once were

15. Dramatic Irony

  • When reader n]knows something the character doesn't

    • When we knew chillingworth had a thing on his chest but hester didn't

16. Verbal Irony

  • Saying one thing but meaning another

    • Sarcasm

17. Juxtaposition

  • Contrasting

    • Comparison of hester and pearl’s different interpretations of the scarlet letter

18. Metaphor

  • A comparison without using like or as

    • Heart of gold

19. Simile

  • Comparison using like or as

    • He was like a monster

20. Metonymy

  • Using a different name to describe the same thing

    • Suit or a lawyer

21. Synecdoche

  • A word or phrase used to describe the whole of something

    • Wheels to describe a car

22. Aphorism

  • A saying that disguises a general truth

    • If it aint broke dont fix it

      • Can be applied to many things

23. Rhetorical Question

  • A question meant to be unanswered to get a strong point across

    • How much will we have to lose for you to see the error of your ways

24. Polysyndeton

  • Repetition of conjunction words

    • We need food and napkins and drinks

      • Usually used to convey the feeling of being frantic

25. Consonance

  • Repetition of consonant sounds

    • Alls well that ends well

26. Assonance

  • Repetition of vowel sounds

    • Crying time

27. Chiasmus

  • Things in reverse order

    • Poetry is the record of the best and happiest moments of the happiest and best minds.’.

28. Litotes

  • Making something sound less extreme

    • ‘Could be better’ instead of saying ‘you fing suck’

29. Epigraph

  • Short quote standing alone at the beginning of the piece

    • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: “Lawyers, I suppose, were children once.” —Charles Lamb.

30. Epistrophe

  • Repetition of words or phrases at the end of sentences

    • ….. I'll be there. ……….. I'll be there.