Literary Devices

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Literary Devices

• Allegory- Couplet

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Allegory

• A story in which the characters represent
  abstract qualities a story with two meaningsa
  literal meaning and a symbolic meaning.
• Example 1 Pilgrims Progress by John Bunyan is
  a well-known allegory in English literature in
  which the protagonist, Christian, pursues a godly
  life and meets other characters, such as Hopeful
  and Faithful, along the journey.
• Example 2 A Christmas Carol
• by Charles Dickens

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Alliteration

• The repetition of consonant sounds at the
  beginning of words.
• Example 1 Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled
  peppers.
• Example 2 The vindictive villain of V for
  Vendetta is the vigilant V (see clip).
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vc6Q0dfrbr10feature
  related
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vU97lbv0_A2Ifeature
  related

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Allusion

• Example 1 He was spawned in that slime,/
  Conceived by a pair of those monsters born/ Of
  Cain...
• Example 2 Bro, that party was so Jersey
  Shorewhat was the situation?

• A reference to a historical or fictional person,
  place, or event with which the reader is assumed
  to be familiar. Allusions may also reference pop
  culture, such as TV shows, movies, etc.

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Analogy

• A comparison between two dissimilar things for
  the purpose of clarifying a point or creating an
  image.
• Example School is like the game of football.
  The students are like the players, and the
  teachers are like the coaches. Success in both
  requires motivation, practice, acquiring new
  skills, hard work and discipline.

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Poetry composed between the 7th and 12th
centuries, originally intended to be recited by
scops (poet-singers), and often characterized by
the use of alliteration, caesura (poetic pauses),
and kennings (compound words used as
metaphors).

• Anglo-Saxon Poetry

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Anglo-Saxon Poetry Example
I make this song about me full sadly my
own wayfaring. I a woman tell what griefs
I had since I grew up new or old
never more than now. Ever I know the
dark of my exile. First my lord went out
away from his people over the wave-tumult
I grieved each dawn wondered where my lord
my first on earth might be. Then I went forth
a friendless exile To seek service
in my sorrows need.
caesura
kenning
A l l i t e r a t i o n
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Antagonist

• Example 1
• In the epic poem Beowulf, both Grendel and fate
  can be interpreted as antagonists to the hero,
  Beowulf.

• The character or force against which the main
  character (the protagonist) is pitted.

Example 2 Lex Luther is Supermans antagonist.
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Antithesis

• Antithesis is direct contrast or opposition.
  (Hope is the antithesis of despair.) In
  literature, this term usually refers to a figure
  of speech in which sharply contrasting words,
  phrases, clauses, or ideas are placed together to
  emphasize a point.
• Example Ifthere could be spiritsof a middle
  sort / Too black for heavn, and yet too white
  for hell,
• --John Dryden

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Aphorism

• A brief statement that expresses a general
  observation about life in a witty, pointed way.

Example1 No people can be both ignorant and
free. Thomas Jefferson
Example 2 If a million people say a foolish
thing, it is still a foolish thing. Anatole
France
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Apostrophe

• A figure of speech in which an object, abstract
  quality, or absent or imaginary person is
  addressed directly, as though present and able to
  understand.

• Example Roll on, thou deep and dark blue
  Ocean, roll! Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee
  in vain Man marks the earth with ruin Lord
  George Gordon Byron

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Speech or writing intended to convince an
audience that an idea should be accepted or
rejected. Argumentation usually begins with a
statement of the idea or opinion, followed by
logical evidence as support.
Example Mary Wollstonecrafts A Vindication of
the Rights of Woman argues for the rights of
women and against views that would subjugate
women.

• Argumentation

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Aside
Yo, Macbeth! Lets go! Who you talking to?

• In DRAMA, a remark spoken in an undertone by a
  character directly to the audience (or to another
  character) and not meant to be heard by the other
  characters on stage.

Examples Macbeth (Aside) If chance will have
me King, / why chance may crown me, / Without my
stir.
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Assonance

• The repetition of a vowel sound in two or more
  stressed syllables that do not end with the same
  consonant. Assonance is used to emphasize
  certain words, provide a musical quality, create
  a mood, or unify a text.

• Example When I have fears that I may cease to
  be /Before my pen has gleand my teeming brain.
• --John Keats

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Authors Purpose

• Example A History of the English Church and
  People by the Venerable Bede was written to
  inform and persuade

• An authors purpose may be to entertain, to
  inform, to express opinion, to persuade, or any
  combination of these.

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Autobiography

• A written account of a persons own life.
  Autobiographies offer insight into the writers
  character, attitudes, and motivations as well as
  some understanding of the society in which the
  author lived.

Examples A diary, a journal, a memoir, letters
The Book of Margery Kempe is the earliest known
autobiography in the English language.
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Ballad
Ballads tell stories of the ordinary people.

• Characteristics of Ballads
• Begin abruptly
• Focus on a single event
• Use dialogue
• Use repetition
• Usually suggest more than they actually state.

• A narrative poem, originally intended to be sung,
  written by unknown authors and handed down
  through oral tradition. Ballads usually depict
  ordinary people in the midst of tragic or heroic
  events of love and bravery.

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Ballad Example The song Barbara Allan is one
of the most famous English ballads.
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Biography

• An account of a persons life, written by
  another person. Better biographies are
  comprehensive, accurate, and use a variety of
  information such as letters, journals, interview,
  etc.
• Examples The Life of Samuel Johnson by James
  Boswell Ronald Reagan How an Ordinary Man
  Became an Extraordinary Leader by Dinesh DSouza

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BlankVerse

• Unrhymed poetry written in iambic pentameter (10
  beats per line). Blank verse has been considered
  the most suitable meter for dramatic verse in
  English. Shakespeares plays are written largely
  in blank verse. John Miltons Paradise Lost is
  also written in blank verse.

• Example
• My grave is like to be my wedding bed.
• But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?

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A poetic pause, often shown by a break in the
line especially found in Anglo-Saxon poetry

• Caesura

Example I make this song about me full
sadly my own wayfaring. I a woman tell what
griefs I had since I grew up new or old
never more than now. Ever I know the
dark of my exile. From The Wifes Lament
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Character

• The people who participate in the action of a
  work of literature.
• main characters more prominent
• minor characters - less prominent
• Dynamic Characters Characters who undergo a
  change as the plot unfolds
• Static Characters Characters whose
  personalities remain the same throughout the plot

• Examples Beowulf, Grendel, Hrothgar,
  Frankenstein, Robert Walton, Ebeneezer Scrooge

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Characterization

• Techniques writers use to develop characters.
  Three types
• Physical Characterization The characters
  physical appearance
• Psychological CharacterizationThe characters
  thoughts and feelings
• Social CharacterizationHow the characters relate
  to other characters.
• All of the above can occur through the authors
  use of two methods of characterization
• Direct CharacterizationWhen an author makes a
  direct statement about a characters nature.
• Indirect CharacterizationWhen the author allows
  the reader to draw his or her own conclusions
  about the nature of a character.

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Climax

• Example
• When the three young rioters find the gold and
  draw straws to see who will go to town to get
  food and begin to plot against each other.
• (Pardoners Tale)

• The turning point of the action of the plot in a
  work of literature usually involves an important
  event, decision, or discovery

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Comedy

• A dramatic work that is light and humorous in
  tone comedies usually have fairly realistic and
  believable plot and characters.

Examples A Midsummer Nights Dream Much Ado
About Nothing Alls Well that Ends Well
Pygmalion (My Fair Lady)
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Comic Relief

• A humorous scene included in a drama to bring
  relief to the audience in the midst of an
  emotionally intense scene.
• Examples (1.) In Romeo and Juliet, Juliets
  nurse is a comic character who often delivers
  humorous lines amidst the tension taking place.
  (NURSE "I'll lay fourteen of my teeth-and yet,
  to my teen be it spoken, I have but four-she is
  not fourteen.) (2.) The Drunken Porter in
  Macbeth who pretends to answer the gate of Hell.

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Conceit

• Example Many of the metaphysical poets of the
  Renaissance used conceit, but John Donne was
  known best for his use of this device In John
  Donnes poem The Flea he compares the fleas
  bite of two lovers as being the same as being
  marriedand all that comes with it!

• A long, formal, and usually clever or ingenious
  comparison between two dissimilar things for the
  purpose of emphasis or making a point a type of
  extended metaphor.

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Conflict
Examples Beowulf v. Grendel Frankenstein v.
Fate The three young rioters v. Death

• A struggle between opposing forces that moves the
  plot forward.
• External conflict Man v. Man Man v. Nature Man
  v. Fate Man v. Society
• Internal conflict Man v. Self

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Connotation

• Examples
• The fact that Springtime suggests love,
  happiness, and new beginnings.

• The attitudes and feelings associated with a
  word connotations are especially important in
  poetry and in persuasive speech

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Consonance
T was later when the summer wentThan when the
cricket came,And yet we knew that gentle
clockMeant nought but going home. Emily
Dickinson

• The repetition of consonant sounds within and at
  the ends of words

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Contrast

• When an author uses opposing elements, ideas,
  styles, or structure for the purpose of
  clarification, emphasis, or effect.

Examples The isolated, arctic scenes where the
Creature leads Victor emphasizes the loneliness
of the main characters while the beauty of nature
and Spring restores Victors health.
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Controlling Image

• A single image or comparison that extends
  throughout an entire work of literature and is
  related to the theme.
• Examples The pigs head on a stick in Lord of
  the Flies the flea in John Donnes poem, The
  Flea

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A rhymed pair of lines in a work of
poetry.Example There was a Knight, a most
distinguished man,Who from the day on which he
first beganTo ride abroad had followed
chivalry,Truth, honor, generousness and
courtesy--Chaucers Prologue to The
Canterbury Tales

• Couplet