Literature Devices

LITERARY DEVICES

Bruno Betancourt, Crystal Montemayor, Mariana (Winnie) Valdés, Sofía Salum, Fernando Cruz

**The information you are about to read has been recovered from several different sources, these are specified throughout the document below or before each of the different paragraphs.**

Anecdote:

A short account of a particular incident or event.

Example: Napoleon was involved in conversation with a colonel of a Hungarian battalion who had been taken prisoner in Italy. The colonel mentioned he had fought in the army of Maria Theresa. "You must have a few years under your belt!" exclaimed Napoleon. "I'm sure I've lived sixty or seventy years," replied the colonel. "You mean to say," Napoleon continued, "you have not kept track of the years you have lived?"

The colonel promptly replied, "Sir, I always count my money, my shirts, and my horses - but as for my years, I know nobody who wants to steal them, and I shall surely never lose them."

http://www.bizmove.com/inspiration/m9b.htm

Allegory:

 A story in which characters and events are symbols that stand for ideas about human life or for a political or historical situation.

Example: In the Lord of the Flies, the island represents the whole world.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/allegory

Argument:

A discussion involving differing points of view.

Example: This study found that Nigerian teachers have a mix of beliefs regarding early literacy development, some accurate beliefs and other inaccurate beliefs. The teachers sampled in this study were accurate in their agreement about the importance of oral language. Indeed, with the lack of materials often available for early childhood educators in Nigerian classrooms, instruction focused on oral language may be one of the most successful and cost-effective ways of improving early literacy skills. The four instructional strategies previously mentioned - songs, rhymes, and word play; storytelling; circle time; and dramatic play (Roskos et al., 2009) - are relatively easily to implement and require few instructional materials. However, agreeing to the importance of oral language in literacy development is different from having the expertise to effectively teach oral language skills. Additional research needs to be conducted to determine how well early childhood education teachers use instructional strategies that promote oral language in the classroom. Particularly in Africa where high quality reading materials are oftentimes scarce, early childhood teachers need to be well trained in teaching strategies that foster oral language.

 http://korbedpsych.com/R19Ch5.html

Anaphora:

Is the repetition of the first part of the sentence.

Example: My life is my purpuse. My life is my goal. My life is my inspiration.

http://literarydevices.net/anaphora/

Allussion:

An allusion is a figure of speech that makes a reference to a place, person, or    something that happened.

“I was surprised his nose was not growing like Pinocchio’s.”

http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-allusion.html

Archetype:

 A very typical example of a certain person or thing.

“The book is a perfect archetype of the genre”

http://examples.yourdictionary.com/archetype-examples.html

Anthropomorphism:

An interpretation of what is not human or personal in terms of human or personal characteristics.

“The clock in Beauty and the beast”

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anthropomorphism

Alliteration:

The use of words that begin with the same sound near one another.

“Fred´s friends fried”

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alliteration

Cacophony:

Unpleasant loud sounds.

A cacophony of car alarms

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cacaphony

Characterization:

The act of describing the character or qualities of someone or something.

The reporter was criticized for his characterization of the people of the town as poor and uneducated.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/characterization

All of the next has been recovered from: "literarydevices.net"

Conflict:

A conflict is a literary element that involves a struggle between two opposing forces usually a protagonist and an antagonist.

Hamlet’s internal conflict is the main conflict in William Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet”. This internal conflict decides his tragic downfall. He reveals his state of mind in the following lines from Act 3, Scene 1 of the play:

“To be, or not to be–that is the question:

Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles

And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep…”

Didactism:

Didacticism is a term that refers to a particular philosophy in art and literature that emphasizes the idea that different forms of art and literature ought to convey information and instructions along with pleasure and entertainment.

George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” is an allegory or a moral and didactic tale that uses animals on a farm to describe the overthrow of the last of the Russian Tsars, Nicholas-II and exposes the evil of the Communist Revolution of Russia before WWII. Clearly, the actions of the various animals on the farm are used to expose the greed and corruption of the Revolution. It also contains the depiction of how powerful people can alter the ideology of a society. One of the cardinal rules on the farm for the animals is:

“All animals are equal but a few are more equal than others.”

The animals on the farm stand for different sections of the then Russian society occupying Russia after the revolution. For example, “pigs” represents those who became the authority after the revolution, “Mr. Jones” the owner of the farm represents the overthrown Tsar Nicholas II, “Boxer” the horse, represents the laborer class etc. Didacticism in the novel permits Orwell to make his position apparent about the Russian Revolution in order to expose its evils.

Analogy:

An analogy is a comparison in which an idea or a thing is compared to another thing that is quite different from it. It aims at explaining that idea or thing by comparing it to something that is familiar.

The given lines are from Amy Lowell’s poem “Night Clouds”.

“The white mares of the moon rush along the sky

Beating their golden hoofs upon the glass Heavens.”

The poetess constructs the analogy between clouds and mares. She compares the movement of the white clouds in the sky at night with that of the white mares on the ground.

Atmosphere:

A literary technique, atmosphere is a type of feelings that readers get from a narrative based on details such as settings, background, objects and foreshadowing, etc. A mood can serve as a vehicle for establishing atmosphere. In literary works, atmosphere refers to emotions or feelings an author conveys to his readers through description of objects and settings, such as J. K. Rowling in Harry Potter tales, spins a whimsical and enthralling atmosphere. Bear in mind that atmosphere may vary throughout a literary piece.

The woman raised her hands and stared at them; stared through them.

Her voice was soft but tense. “Blood on his hands.” Her own hands were clean and pale.

(The Vision by Dean Koontz)

When we read these lines, they immediately bring to our mind an emotional response and draw our attention. This is what exactly an atmosphere does in a literary work.

Antithesis:

Antithesis, literal meaning opposite, is a rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect.

Antithesis emphasizes the idea of contrast by parallel structures of the contrasted phrases or clauses, the structures of phrases and clauses are similar in order to draw the attention of the listeners or readers.

“Setting foot on the moon may be a small step for a man but a giant step for mankind.”

Anachronism:

Anachronism is derived from a Greek word anachronous which means “against time”. Therefore, an anachronism is an error of chronology or timeline in a literary piece. In other words, anything that is out of time and out of place is an anachronism.

The most famous anachronism example comes from Act 2 Scene 1 of William Shakespeare’s play “Julius Caesar”:

“Brutus: Peace! Count the clock.

Cassius: The clock has stricken three.”

The time this play depicts is a point in history dating back to 44 AD. Mechanical clocks referred to in the above-mentioned dialogue had not been invented at that time but were present in Shakespeare’s time. Thus, the mention of a clock in this play is an anachronism.

Catharsis:

A Catharsis is an emotional discharge through which one can achieve a state of moral or spiritual renewal or achieve a state of liberation from anxiety and stress. Catharsis is a Greek word and it means cleansing.  In literature it is used for the cleansing of emotions of the characters. It can also be any other radical change that leads to emotional rejuvenation of a person.

Originally, the term was used as a metaphor in Poetics by Aristotle to explain the impact of tragedy on the audiences. He believed that catharsis was the ultimate end of a tragic artistic work and it marked its quality. He further said in Poetics:

“Tragedy is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; . . . through pity [eleos] and fear [phobos] effecting the proper purgation [catharsis] of these emotions” (c. 350 BCE, Book 6.2).

Claim:

A statement essentially arguable but used as a primary point to support or prove an argument is called a claim.

In “Animal Farm” by George Orwell, as the majority of the animals were in the process of framing rules, it was understood that although rats and several other animals were not present, that whatsoever had four legs is an animal and therefore, is equal to any other animal. Hence, a general rule was framed that whatever walks on four legs is good. Later on, birds (having two wings and two legs) and other non-four-legged animals were also considered as animals. Therefore, all are equal.

Now this argument clearly shows the judgment given at the end, but it is after evaluation of the whole situation presented in the novel. This is called evaluative claim.

Contrast:

Contrast is a rhetorical device through which writers identify differences between two subjects, places, persons, things or ideas. Simply, it is a type of opposition between two objects highlighted to emphasize their differences.

William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, is about contrasts of love and hate. This tragic play embodies contrast of love and hate in different ways, as we see love of two lovers, Romeo and Juliet, whereas their families are at war and hate each other. However, love of these lovers forbids this war. Characters in this play also contrast each other. Romeo and Juliet, though both are lovers, are different too such as Romeo is impulsive and dependent, while Juliet is organized, brave and practical. Montague’s marriage is successful, while Capulet’s is not. Along with a steady contrast in characters, we notice contrast in mood, theme and action of the play as well.

Antihero:  

A protagonist who lacks the attributes that make a heroic figure, as nobility of mind and spirit, a life or attitude marked by action or purpose, and the like.

Ex. Han solo

Antagonist:

a person who is opposed to, struggles against, orcompetes with another; opponent; adversary or the adversary of the hero or protagonist of adrama or other literary work:

Ex. Iago is the antagonist of Othello.

Assonance: 

resemblance of sounds. Ex “Men sell the wedding bells.”

Anticlimax: 

an event, conclusion, statement, etc., that is farless important, powerful, or striking than expected. exHere thou, great Anna, whom three realms obey,

Dost sometimes counsel take, and sometimes tea….”

Caricature: 

a picture, description, etc., ludicrously exaggerating the peculiarities or defects of persons or things ex.

His caricature of the mayor in this morning's paper is the best he's ever drawn.

Comparison: 

the act of comparing.the state of being compared. a likening; illustration by similitude; comparative estimate or statement.

 Ex. “ the way hitler thought of people is different from how i see them”

 Colloquialism

When you talk, colloquialisms are so common, you might not be aware you are using them. Explaining the meaning of a colloquialism shows just how strange or goofy these expressions really are.

Ex.

a bunch of numpties –  a group of idiots

to bamboozle – to deceive

go bananas – go insane or be very angry

wanna – want to

gonna – going to

y’all – you all

go nuts – go insane or be very angry

look blue -look sad

buzz off – go away

Critique

An article or essay that bases its purpose to criticize a literary work, it has a detailes evaluation and a review

Ex.This was a very in-depth research project, particularly for a journal article. For the most part, it was well written and well organized. There was a definite need for a short review of literature to develop the situation. The article did get a little complicated in the reporting of data due to the complicated statistical procedures used. Overall, it was a very interesting, significant contribution to the field of research.

Climax

It is the most interesting and intense part on the resolution of a problem or a point, which makes a very big turning

Ex.In William Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet”, the story reaches its climax in Act 3. In the first scene of the act, Romeo challenges Tybalt to a duel after he (Tybalt) killed Mercutio:

“And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now!

Now, Tybalt, take the ‘villain’ back again

That late thou gavest me; for Mercutio’s soul

Is but a little way above our heads,”