Literary Devices

Diction

Diction is an author's choice of words to convey the most effectiveness and clarity

tetrameter

4 metrical feet {a} Tetrameter: "I wandered, lonely as a cloud"

pentameter

5 metrical feet {b} Pentameter: "If music be the food of love, play on"

hexameter

6 metrical feet {c} Hexameter: "Pleasantly rose next morn the sun on the village of Grand-Pré"

Synecdoche

A figure of speech in which a concrete item is substituted for another object or idea, in other words it is not symbolic "The western wave was all a-flame/The day was well was nigh done!/Almost/upon the western wave/Rested the broad bright Sun" Highlighting this synecdoche allows Coleridge to embed a methodical process the sun requires in order to "rest" for the night until the next day begins which is much more beautiful through his individualized use of diction

Pathetic Fallacy

A figure of speech that gives human qualitiesu and emotions to inanimate objects which allows the departing of humanly emotions to the item; personifies an aspect of nature "But when the melancholy fit shall fall/Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud/That fosters the droop-headed flowers all/And hides the green hills in an April shroud" (Keats 11-14). This pathetic fallacy ultimately achieves the action of highlighting the dreary melancholy feeling in this poem in order to give the reader a better sense of what the main character is emotionally fighting against.

Apostrophe

A figure of speech where a character is speaking directly to someone who is dead, not present, or an inanimate object "Twinkle, twinkle, little star,/How I wonder what you are!/Up above the world/so high,/Like a diamond in the sky" Jane Taylor's poem describing her appreciation for her friends in the sky who guide her way in the midst of a dark night exemplify the very definition of an apostrophe.

Personification

A figure of speech where an animal or idea is given humanly traits in order to highlight the portrayal of humanly actions "She sweeps with many-colored brooms,/And leaves the shreds behind;/Oh, housewife in the evening west,/Come back, and dust the pond!" (Dickenson 1-4). With the connection the poet draws between the housewife and "sweeps with many-colored brooms", Dickenson succeeds in giving the sun, which is an inanimate object, a human like characteristic in the form of a housewife's responsibilities in a household

Symbol

A literary device that has several layers of meaning, is not obvious on first glance, and is representative of other aspects that pertains to the object or action in literature "'My dear... you have the Grim... The giant, spectral dog that haunts churchyards... it is an omen of death!'" This example of symbol, where the Grim represents more than a strange assortment of wet tea leaves, is important enough to include at the very beginning of the book because it sets up the rest of the story and the challenges that Harry must overcome in order to avoid death.

Imagery

A literary device where an author uses words and phrases to create a visual image for the reader which helps the writer to emphasize visualization through diction in literature "It was nearly midnight, and he was lying on his stomach in bed, the blankets drawn right over his head like a tent, a flashlight in one hand and a leather-bound book" Rowling specifically uses this form of imagery to represent the secrecy that Harry must undergo in completing his wizardry summer homework to prevent them from becoming angry and unpleasant in the dead of night.

Consonance

A literary technique where repetitive sounds are produced by consonants with a phrase or sentence; in addition, this repetition takes place in quick succession (literarydevice.net). 'T was later when the summer went/Than when the cricket came,/And Yet we knew that gentle clock/Meant nought but going home./'T was Sooner when the cricket went/Than when the winter came,/Yet that Pathetic pendulum/Keeps esoteric time" (Dickenson 1-6) The repetition of this consonance technique Dickinson uses in both of the areas is meant to demonstrate the connection between both lines showing that something came, but the difference in what came correlates with Dickinson's view of a season passing and another season beginning.

Assonance

A literary technique where two or more words that are in close proximity to each other repeat the same vowel sound but start with different consonant sounds (literarydevices.net). He gives his harness bells a shake/To ask if there is some mistake./The only other sound's the sweep/Of easy wind and downy flake./The woods are lovely, dar and deep./But I have promises to keep,/And miles to go before I sleep,/And miles to go before I sleep" (Frost 9-16). Assonance, in the expanse of this poem by Robert Frost, serves a technical skill that causes the words of the poem to roll of one's tongue. Take for example the first line that states, "He gives his harness bells a shake" (Frost 9).

Free verse

A piece of poetry that is free from the limitations of regular meter or rhythm and does not rhyme with fixed forms "Straight ahead,/Without let or omission,/Just any little rhyme/In any little time/That runs in my head;/Because, I've said, My rhymes no longer shall stand arrayed" this poem demonstrates free verse because the endings do not rhyme; moreover, the author goes further than the technique to show the valuable skill of a poet to vary his poetry writing through free verse writing

Caesura

A rhythmical pause in a sentence or a line whether in poetry or literature "Dead! One of them shot by the sea in the east,/And one of them shot in the west by the sea./Dead! both my boys ! When you sit at the feast /And are wanting a great song for Italy free,/Let none look at me" Overall the caesura adds depth to this poem by providing a written pause for every overwhelming breath this mother takes as she contemplates her motherless circumstances.

Alliteration

A stylic device that uses words in close proximity together to possess the same consonant sound at the beginning of the word(s) "'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door—/ Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;—/ This it is and nothing more" In the poem "The Raven", Edgar Allen Poe entreates the reader to feel the anticipation his main character feels as he is awaiting the visitor at his door. In the specific scene, Poe uses an alliteration in "entreating entrance" by emphasizing the consonant sound of "e" in two words right next to each other (Poe 16)

Blank Verse

A type of poetry where it is written in an un-rhyming set of verses written in iambic pentameter and has a constant meter with 10 syllables in each line to emphasize verse drama "Of Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit/Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal taste/Brought Death into the World, and all our woe,/With loss of Eden, till one greater Man/Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat" Iambic Pentameter provides the dramatic emphasis and organization for this poem to show the seriousness of sin brought about by the temptation in Eden, and the solution God provides for Jesus to "Restore us"

Onomontapoeia

A word that imitates the natural sounds of certain objects; essentially, it makes the description of the object much more visual and expressive "Hear the sledges with the bells-/ Silver bells!/What a world of merriment their melody foretells!/How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, /In the icy air of night!" This only makes the description of a beautiful landscape that much more interesting and increases its ability to captivate the reader.

Dramatic Irony

All literature, where in speeches or situation in a drama or literature, the audience or readers understand something the characters do not "'He's in love with you. That's what I mean. There isn't a soul in this town that doesn't know it. . .I see the way he looks at you when you're not aware, and I see the way you look at him. You love him, Abra. What are you going to do about it?'" (Rivers 428). This factor plays a very important part later on in the story, but the heart-wrenching dramatic irony that Francine Rivers in this portion of the book exemplifies just how much Abra is oblivious to how many people love her and want the very best for her.

Cosmic Irony

Fate, destiny, or the gods control and toy with human hopes and expectations "The goddess smiled. 'In time Percy Jackson, if you succeed here at camp. You've done well today, which is a good start. Perhaps there is hope for you yet'" (Riordan 28). This is the perfect example of cosmic irony because this specific goddess is toying with Percy Jackson's hope that his memories will return and he will know his identity again; however, Juno is not allowing him this privilege because she desires to warp his destiny and save all of her precious demigods, both the Greek and the Roman.

Novel of incident

Main focus on the protagonist's thoughts, feelings, motives, and character development " I was sick. I loved my time with Blake. But I felt I should hate it, now that I'd learned it have been with the Old Man playing with me. I was torn. I wanted to keep those memories. . . I wanted to torch them to ashes" (Price 326-327). Starters is a dystopian style book detailing the idea of elderly possessing the ability to occupy a young child's body for a certain period of time. Callie, the main character, discovers the courage and tenacity she has to protect those she loves dearly. This unique relationship leads to Callie finding her true identity and develops maturity through overcoming difficult experiences. This book is a great example of Novel of Character because the unfolding of this entire story is about Callie's thoughts and incentives to explain why she takes a certain course of action

Lyric Poetry

Poetry in which the poet expresses what he or she feels, perceives or thinks; most common of all poetry "No coward soul is mine/No trembler in the world's storm-troubled sphere/I see Heaven's glories shine/And Faith shines equal arming me from Fear" With this understanding, Brontё utilizes lyric poetry to convey her worldview and passionate faith in the form of a well-written poem.

Meter

The recurring pattern of sounds in a poem which are shown through the number of syllables in a line of poetry: {a} Iambic Pentameter (unstressed stressed), {b} Trochaic (stressed unstressed), {c} Anapestic (unstressed unstressed stressed), and {d} Dactylic (stressed unstressed unstressed) {a} "If music be the food of love, play on" {b} "Should you ask me, whence these stories?" {c} "The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold" {d} "Just for a handful of silver he left us" All these different types of meter create a beat for the poem that dictates how well the words work together and the level of organization a poet has in her poetry because of the varying number of syllables in a single line.

Metaphor

The figure of speech that compares two unlike items or people without using the words "like" or "as" Yet harry's grief for Dobby seemed to diminish it, so that it became a distant storm that reached Harry from across a vast, silent ocean" The metaphor, in this context, serves to show the love he has for Dobby surpasses Voldemort's rage in his head by comparing the rage to a distant storm that does not affect his grief in the likeness of a vast, silent ocean

Denotation

The literal or dictionary meaning of a word in comparison to its meanings that associate themselves with the same word "Put simply, a pronoun is an understudy for a noun" The denotation of 'understudy' literally means that a pronoun is useful for taking the place of a noun in order to make a sentence simpler for the reader to comprehend.

Rhythm

The number of metrical feet in a line of poetry {a} Tetrameter: "I wandered, lonely as a cloud" {b} Pentameter: "If music be the food of love, play on" {c} Hexameter: "Pleasantly rose next morn the sun on the village of Grand-Pré" Although these are all examples of iambic meter, each line expresses a different rhythm according to the metrical feet in each line shown above. The purpose of rhythm is to provide sections that make up the parts of each poetic line. There are three types of rhythm: tetrameter, which is 4 metrical feet, pentameter, which is five metrical feet, and hexameter which is six metrical feet. All of these are factors that play into how the poet desires to organize his poetic work.

Dramatic Poetry

The poetry in which the poet creates the voice of an invented character or characters "Lift the song that mortals hate!/Tell what rights are ours on earth/Over all of human birth" This poem is a great example of dramatic poetry because the author creates a point of view that does not come from himself, but from the characters (fates) he creates in his mind to assume a taunting tone and belief that no human being is capable of escaping their tight grasp.

Formal Diction

The situation in writing that requires formal words to dictate formal circumstances such as press conferences and presentations

Figurative language

the use of words in figures of speech to convey meanings that are separate from the actual meaning of a word "When all the world goes one road, I go t'other" The purpose of this brief statement is to provide a metaphor using figurative language that compares the originality of following what society dictates against choosing to "walk" down a different avenue that separates an individual from his companions.

Elegy

This is a form of literature that appears as a song or poem that is written in order to honor someone who no longer lives "My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;/My father does not feel/my arm, he has no pulse nor will;/The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;/From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won" This poem specifically fulfills the definition of an elegy because not only is it a tribute to the captain who leads the ship back to it final destination before passing away, but it also includes elegiac meter that is unique to the elegy genre

Allegory

This type of literacy work portrays a story that describes abstract ideas and themes in terms of characters and events "'He's gone to her, to the White Witch. He has betrayed us all'" However, just as Jesus reconciles sinners to himself, Aslan reunites Edmund with his family despite his crime against them. In the entirety of the story, C.S. Lewis reiterates again and again the theme of renewal and salvation no matter the sins one commits over a lifetime.

Metonymy

a figure of speech in which a closely related item, in other words an abstract source, is substituted for another object or idea "As he swung toward them holding up the hand/Half in appeal, but half as if to keep/The life from spilling" The metonymy of the abstract idea of life in place for blood accomplishes its purpose of drawing the reader's attention to the dire situation the boy finds himself in both physically but also mentally and emotionally.

Ballad

a form of poetry that uses alternating lines of three or four metrical feet, organized in quatrains, and a includes a rhyming pattern of AB, AB "It was many and many a year ago,/In a kingdom by the sea,/That a maiden there lived whom you may know/By the name of Annabel Lee;/And this maiden she lived with no other thought/Than to love and be loved by me" Molding ballad into this poem ultimately allows Edgar Allen Poe to paint a picture full of drama and optimism for the ending of his character Annabel.

Farce

a light humorous play where the plot relies on a "skillfully exploited situation" instead of the development of the character (dictionary.com). "How you can sit there, calmly eating muffins when we are in this horrible trouble, I can't make out. You seem to me to be perfectly heartless."/"Well, I can't eat muffins in an agitated manner. The butter would probably get on my cuffs. One should always eat muffins quite calmly. It is the only way to eat them."/"I say it's perfectly heartless your eating muffins at all, under the circumstances" (Wilde Ⅱ 808-815) Throughout this entire exchange, there is no character development that is undergone. Instead, this situation shows the exploitation of Algernon's character in not taking the circumstances he and Jack are currently in with a serious manner. Therefore, Wilde achieves the purpose of a farce because the plot in this experience relies on the revealing of a character's shallow approach to life rather than understanding more of his character identity.

Dramatic Monologue

a literary technique that demonstrates the ability of a character to poetically address a silent auditor in a critical moment of the play which accumulates in a revealing the character or someone other than himself (www.dictionary.com). "Love can transpose to form and dignity./Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,/And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind./Nor hath Love's mind of any judgment taste;/Wings, and no eyes, figure unheedy haste./And therefore is Love said to be a child,/Because in choice he is so oft beguiled" (Shakespeare I 233-239). It is obvious from the interpersonal emotion in this quote that the speaker does not intend for an audience to hear her thoughts but rather say them aloud for the purpose of hearing them. This inner turmoil that reveals not only Helena's deepest longing but also her eloquent poetry that towards a silent receiver that depicts the very essence of her desperate affection. Overall Helena's dramatic monologue contributes understanding towards the big picture that Shakespeare attempts to portray.

Dramatic Aside

a literary technique that identifies the moment when a character is talking directly to the audience, and the other characters do not hear what this character directly speaks to the audience (https://www.ldoceonline.com). "Time thou anticipat'st my dread exploits./The flighty purpose never is o'ertook/Unless the deed go with it. From this moment/The very firstlings of my heart shall be/The firstlings of my hand" (Shakespeare Ⅳ 64). However during this portion of the play where this quote is from, Macbeth experiences a feeling of remorse over his plan to kill the King. As shown in this excerpt, Macbeth questions his motives of wanting to demolish the King and through this whole event, Macbeth makes it clear that he is talking to no one apart from an unknown audience about his personal thoughts in this endeavor. This not only allows Macbeth in the play to contemplate the consequences of his choice but also permits the audience to understand the resolve Macbeth feels in the end to go through with the murder.

Parable

a literary technique that is shown as a short story but contains a hidden meaning throughout the storyline in order to provide the reader with a better understanding of foundational morality (literarydevices.net). "'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found'" (English Standard Version, Luke 15. 31-32). Function: This famous story concerning the prodigal son is an excellent example of a parable. This parable is reflective of Christ's love towards the sinners of the world. Although we all commit treason against God the Father, he still welcomes us into his arms because he loves us with an unimaginable devotion. This is the hidden meaning or purpose behind the story: to portray the overwhelming love of God towards a rebellious humanity.

Flashback

a literary technique utilizes an interruption of chronological events in order to provide the reader with background on a specific character as well as to demonstrate insight of the character's sources of motivation (literarydevices.net). "So was I once myself a swinger of birches./And so I dream of going back to be. It's when I'm weary of considerations,/And life is too much like a pathless wood Where your face burns and tickles with the cobwebs/Broken across it, and one eye is weeping/From a twig's having lashed across it open./I'd like to get away from earth awhile/And then come back to it and begin over" (Frost 41-49). In this poem, Robert Frost considers the circumstances of the present as well as the memories he has of the past. Robert Frost demonstrates the character's yearnings to begin again by showing the freedom of his youth and how he is able to be a "swinger of birches" (Frost 41). However, his life has become very difficult and it seems from the passage that this character is needing to recuperate the vivid pictures of his past in order to provide the incentive to keep moving forward despite the trials this character faces. Overall, this flashback serves to give the reader a better understanding of the character and the character's reasoning for wanting a more suitable life.

Motif

a motif is a literary technique shown as an image, sound, action or another object that is symbolic and reoccurs throughout the entire literary work "Boo was about six and a half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands were bloodstained −if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off" This motif contributes to the overall theme of the story because it shows that people should not categorize other people simply off of how they think they would hypothetically behave. Until one individual truly understands another for who he is, no assumptions should occur about the individual in question.

Theme

a theme is a literary technique that exemplifies the central message or main idea of a literary work "Then I can see them together. Sophie all grown − soft and pretty and with a lovely glow about her. And him bowing deeply to her, cherishing her with all his heart, and nurturing her into the beautiful flower she was always meant to be" In this entire story the theme of wrong accusation and love trumping all is consistent. With this historical literary work, the theme is shown so that the reader can evaluate where the U.S. makes a potential mistake in their segregation of Japanese-Americans during this time.

Analogy

a type of literary technique that emphasizes a comparison between an idea or object that are quite different from each other in order to explain what the item, in essence, is "The white mares of the moon rush along the sky/Beating their golden hoofs upon the glass Heavens" Placing this analogy in the spotlight of his poem, Lowell succeeds in activating the imagination of the reader as they picture the pure white horses running through the sky while "beating their golden hoofs" on the doorsteps of heaven

Allusion

a type of literature device that is a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, object, or cultural/historical/literature significance to the literate work "So Eden sank to grief,/So dawn goes down to day./Nothing gold can stay" This allusion serves its purpose to emphasize the grief that falls upon the world when winter arrives just as grief falls upon the world when Eden no longer exemplifies all purity and joy.

Hyperbole

a type of literature device that uses exaggeration of ideas in order to place emphasis on a character or object the author intends to direct the reader's attention to "I'll love you, dear, I'll love you/Till China and Africa meet,/And the river jumps over the mountain" This shows that the hyperbole Auden utilizes points to an eternal time period of the love connecting the lovers together. It is safe to assume then that the extreme exaggeration is successful in overemphasizing a point Auden desires to make.

Aphorism

an aphorism is a literary device that resembles a statement of truth or opinion that is shown in a succinct and witty appearance. It is often used in correspondence with literary and moral principles in works of literature (literarydevices.net). "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it" (Lee 39). In an effort to explain this concept to his daughter and what he is attempting to portray to the community in defending this man that they look down on, Scout's father relates to the idea of empathy in the above quote. By connecting this idea, Lee chooses the oppritune spot to place an aphorism which is shown through the statement of opinion according to Scout's father. In this very brief phrase, Scout's father expresses a deep belief in a witty interpretation in order to convey to his daughter the importance of seeing the world through another's eyes.

Euphemism

an euphemism is a literary device that refers to polite indirect expressions that replace any word or phrase that is considered uncensored or inappropriate for the circumstances that could suggest something grotesque (literarydevices.net). "She laughed. 'Rob said he's never seen his father blush and told him he already know about the birds and the bees'" (Rivers 435). Penny later learns that her future husband also experiences a similar instance, but he spares his father the problem of explaining to his son the sexual union on the night of his wedding. The euphemism River places here serves the intention of transforming the topic of sex on a wedding night into a more friendly and appropriate title.

Syntax

defines how an author organizes words to form clauses and phrases

Trochaic meter

stressed unstressed {b} "Should you ask me, whence these stories?"

Dactylic meter

stressed unstressed unstressed {d} "Just for a handful of silver he left us"

Heroic Couplet

style of poetry often used in epic poetry and consists of rhyming pairs of lines of Iambic Pentameter "Soft is the Strain when Zephyr gently blows,/And the smooth Stream in smoother Numbers flows;/But when loud Surges lash the sounding Shore, /The hoarse, rough Verse shou'd like the Torrent roar" Overall, Pope is able to portray this ideal poem in such a light because he is able to use syntax, diction, and poetic techniques, especially heroic couplet, in order to describe the changing of emotions a good poem should inflict upon the reader.

Simile

the figure of speech that compares two unlike items or people using the words "like" or "as" It was like sinking into an old nightmare... the elf had gone where he could not call him back" The purpose of the simile in the depressing moment Harry Potter experiences is to show Harry's constant fear that his closest friends could die at any given moment because of him; it is for this reason that Rowling compares Dobby's death to an old nightmare due to Harry's fear.

Connotation

the meaning a certain word implies apart from its explicit/literal definition "'I am afraid those who go dewy-eyed over Dumbledore's spectacular victory must brace themselves for a bombshell'" Opposite to its literal meaning as a form of weaponry, bombshell in this context implies a devastating realization.

Sarcasm

the type of comedy that is known to "tear flesh" and is sharp, sheering remarks from one person to another (Majeski the Majestic). "Now you tell your father not to teach you any more. It's best to begin reading with a fresh mind. You tell him I'll take over from here and try to undo the damage--" (Lee 23). The technicality behind this subtle sarcasm is within the quote itself. Although it is not explicit, Lee's inserts sarcasm in this portion of the book through the Teacher's slightly caustic dialogue by highlighting the seriousness of the mistake, as the teacher believes, of Jem's father imparting his love of literature to her.

Satire

the type of comedy that is the most critical, and least comfortable, generates mocking laughter that may be generous or furious but no matter what will be scornful (Martin the Magnificent). "But, the most hateful sight of all was the lice crawling on their clothes. I could see distinctly the limbs of these vermin with my naked eyes. . . and their snouts with which they rooted like swine" (Swift 151-152). Jonathan Swift possess a high amount of skill in using the incorporation of satire into his writing in order to broach a certain topic with his reader. In Gulliver's Travels, Swift is able to justify many flaws that he sees within society in a critical fashion. In any case, Swift makes it evident that he desire for his society to not only be aware of the flaws they possess but also to uproot the core of the flaws themselves. In this way, Swift's message is a urgent call to action for his community which he does with the assistance of satire.

Parody

the type of comedy that uses mockery by imitation (Majeski the Magnificent). "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;/Coral is far more red than her lips red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;/If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head./I have seen roses damasked, red and white,/But no such roses see I in her cheeks..." (Shakespeare 1-6). Overall Shakespeare achieves parody in this poem because he successfully mocks this woman by imitating the common poems of his day that highlight the loveliness of the women which his woman does not appear to be.

Colloquial Diction

the type of writing that uses informal language to communicate common everyday speech such as talking to a friend "Well, the night of November twenty-one I was comin' in from the woods with a load o' kindlin' and just as I got to the fence I heard Mayella screamin' like a stuck hog inside the house" Lee uses a different character to shaw how uneducated and unrefined he is in the terms of the time in which he existed (1960's)

Literal Language

the use of words solely based on their actual meaning and denotation instead of the meanings they obtain over the history of the english language "His normal urbanity had fallen away from him. From the beginning he struck me as a man who had seen so many things in life that nothing would disturb his serenity..." This sentence is an example of a mere observation. It means exactly what the combination of all these words put together is meant to convey.

Sonnet

this type of poetry includes iambic pentameter, fourteen lines, and literally means small or little song "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?/Thou art more lovely and more temperate:/Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,/And summer's lease hath all too short a date:/Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,/And often is his gold complexion dimmed,/And every fair from fair sometime declines" A sonnet demonstrates the lyrical technique of a poet, and Shakespeare certainly makes this relevant to this sonnet as he serenades a mysterious lover. He compares her to a "summer's day" which brings out the expression of love between two people

Iambic meter

unstressed stressed {a} "If music be the food of love, play on"

Anapestic meter

unstressed unstressed stressed {c} "The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold"

Verbal Irony

{where what is expressed is opposite of what is actually meant} a. Satire~a type of verbal irony; fine railery or corrective ridicule "Think not, when woman's transient breath is fled,/That all her vanities at once are dead;/Succeeding vanities she still regards,/And tho' she plays no more, o'erlooks the cards" (Pope 51-54). Both of these important aspects in Pope's poem utilize satire in order to explicitly point out society's flaws. Society is meant to internalize what Pope is attempting to communicate and make the change that needs to occur. b. Sardonic~ scornful cynical, derisive comment c. Parody~ mockery by imitation d. Sarcasm~ "to tear flesh", sharp, sneering remark e. Epithet~ name calling or "harm invective", insulting abusive or highly critical language