Literary Devices and Definitions

Paradox

a self-contradictory, not necessarily true statement, but is often insightful Ex. "We know too much for one man to know." "She makes the black night bright by smiling into it."

Cacophonic vs. Euphonic

harsh, dissonant sounds created by the use of consonants/soft, pleasing sounds created by the use of vowels

Personification

the act of giving human qualities to inanimate objects or animals. These objects or animals can usually act and speak like humans. Ex. My car whines in pain as it climbs up steep hills; Earth felt the salt in her wound.

Anadiplosis

the repetition of a word or words in successive clauses in such a way that the second clause starts with the same word which marks the end of the previous clause Ex. "When I give, I give myself. & This public school has a record of extraordinary reliability, a reliability that every other school is jealous of in the city."

Irony

the use of a word to convey an opposite meaning of the literal definition. The new meaning is usually contradictory to the literal. Ex. "For Brutus is an honorable man; So are they all, honorable men."

Oxymoron

the use of two words whose meanings are contradictory to convey one meaning Ex. rational hysteria; thundering silence; jumbo shrimp

Rhetorical Question

to ask a question to differ or to assert something, but not expect an answer. They are usually stated to make a point, to imply the answer in the minds of the audience. Ex. How can we understand our racial problems when we can't even understand each other?

Aphorism

a brief pithy saying, usually characterized by striking logic and/or imagery. Often confused with proverbs and maxims, which embody common observations and traditional wisdom, the aphorism originates as a fresh expression of a particular speaker's unconventional insights. Oft-repeated aphorisms can in time become the wisdom shared by their author's followers. Ex. "Life is short, art is long, opportunity fleeting, experimenting dangerous, reasoning difficult." "Ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country."

Proclees

a command as a direct order; a vigorous call to action Ex. "If thou canst give me answer, prepare thy self and stand before me, here Elihu provoketh Job without accusation."

Simile

a comparison between two dissimilar things by using the words "like" or "as." In contrast to a metaphor, a simile is more explicit in comparison. Ex. The small brook is like a grand river during a heavy storm.

Metaphor

a comparison between two unlike objects that does not use "like" or "as." It can also be considered an assertion of identity. Ex. She was a rose among the thorns. My sister is toast for putting a frog in my sleeping bag.

Chiasmus

a figure of speech by which the order of the rems in the first of two parallel clauses is reversed in the second. This may involve a repetition of the same or just a reverses parallel between two corresponding pairs of ideas Ex. "It's not the men in my life, it's the life in my men." Why do we drive of a parkway and park of a driveway?"

Antithesis

a figure of speech characterized by strongly contrasting words, clauses, sentences, or ideas; a balancing of one term against another for impressiveness and emphasis; true ______________ structure demands not only opposition of idea, but also similar grammatical structure" Ex. "Man proposes; God disposes."

Zeugma

a figure of speech in which a word, usually a verb or an adjective, applies to more than one noun, blending together grammatically and logically different ideas Ex. John lost his coat and his temper.

Inversion

a literary technique in which the normal order of words is reversed in order to achieve a particular effect of emphasis or meter (Yoda talk) Ex. "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit."

Antimetabole

a literary term or device that involves repeating a phrase in reverse order Ex. "Eat to live, not live to eat." "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."

Pun

a play on words that takes many different forms; they sometimes connect two unlike objects in a humorous way Ex. "Let's make like a bakery truck and move our buns our of here!"

Onomatopoeia

a process of making words sound like their meaning Ex. Hiss; bang; liquid; or any other word that sounds like what it represents

Polyptoton

a rhetorical repetition of the same root word, however, each time the word is repeated in a different way. Ex. "I dreamed a dream in time gone by, when life was high and life worth living."

Metonymy

a type of metaphor in which something closely associated with a subject is substituted for it. Ex. The "silver screen" to mean motion pictures, "the crown" to stand for the king, "the White House" to stand for the activities of the POTUS

Apostrophe

an _______________ is addressing a person who is not there or addressing an abstraction such as death or a tree as seen in the following examples Ex. "O eloquent, just and mighty Death!" "O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree..." "Out, damned spot!"

Hyperbole

an exaggeration used for emphasis; it is not to be interpreted literally. Ex. I told you a thousand times not to exaggerate. When it rains that students pack on the bus like sardines. I wouldn't give him the time of day.

Cliché

an idea or expression that has become tired and trite from overuse, its freshness and clarity having worn off. Clichés often anesthetize readers, and are usually a sign of weak writing. Ex. "Her lips were as red as roses; her hair as black as midnight."

Polysyndeton

figure of addition and emphasis which intentionally employs a series of conjunctions (and, or, but, for, nor, yet, so) not normally found in successive words, phrases, or clauses; the deliberate and excessive use of conjunctions in successive words or clauses Ex. "In years gone by, there were in every community men and women who spoke the language of duty and morality and loyalty and obligation."

Synaesthesia

mixing one type of sensory input with another in an impossible way, such as speaking of how a color sounds, or how a smell looks Ex. "The scent of the rose rang like a bell through the garden." "I caressed the darkness with cool fingers."

Synecdoche

occurs when a part of something represents the whole Ex. "All hands were summoned to the quarter-deck," where "hands" is used to describe sailors

Anaphora

repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses sentences, or lines Ex. "Five years have passed; Five summers, with the length of Five long winters! and again I hear these waters..."

Meiosis

understatement: a kind of irony where stating something in terms that make it seem less important enhances the quality of what was said. It also expresses thoughts by denying the contradictory statement. The opposite of a hyperbole. Ex. "It isn't very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain."

Parallelism or Parallel Structure

when the writer establishes similar patterns of grammatical structure and length. Especially strong when used at the beginnings of a sequence of sentences or phrases. Ex. "King Alfred tried to make the law clear, precise, and equitable." (The precious sentence has parallel structure in use of adjectives. However, the following sentence does not use parallelism: "King Alfred tried to make clear laws that had precision and were equitable,"); "That government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth."