Literary Elements/Devices
Different devices of language and story telling writers use to convey meaning and create personal style
Alliteration
- What: repetition of initial consonant sounds in a sentence, paragraph or line of poetry
- Why: used to focus reader’s attention on particular section of text/emphasis, create rhythm/sound and mood
Allusion
- What: Reference to a person, place, event, something in history, artwork or other literary work
- Why: connects the content in the text with the world, calls to mind ideas and emotions associated with a well known event or work, this all contribute to what the author wants to convey
Anachronism
- What: Work that’s not appropriate for its time setting
2. Why: usually unintentional in fiction and can show the writers carelessness and can disinterest the reader
Antithesis
Two opposite idea are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting (different) effect
Used to examine pros/cons on the particular subject discussed and bring forth judgement
Assonance
- Repetition of vowel sounds
2. Used to draw attention to or create rhythm
Denotation
Dictionary meaning of a word/literal meaning
Diction
- Choice of words and style of language used
2. Used to create tone
Euphemism
Inoffensive phrase used to replace a more direct expression. Example: saying someone passed on instead of died
Foreshadowing
Author gives clues to what will happen later in a narrative
Why: adds dramatic tension, anticipation, creates suspense, convey info on what’s to come
Different types of figure of speech
Simile, metaphor, hyperbole, personification, onomatopoeia, irony, oxymoron, metonomy, antithesis, euphemism and idiom
II SHAMPOO ME
Heroic Couplet
Form in poetry with pairs of rhyming lines with 10 syllables per line
Pope, Samuel Johnson (Jackson), John D used it most
Mostly was used to talk about the trials and adventures of the hero
Hyperbole
An illogical exaggerated statement . Example: so thirsty I could drink the ocean dry
Idiom
Mean one thing on their own but when put together they mean something different
Example go fly a kite, last camels straw
Irony
Events or words said are opposite of what’s actually going on.
Verbal: say one thing and mean something
else (sarcasm). Why? Usually used to reveal character flaws
Situational: a situation in reality much different than the character or characters think. Why? Moral lesson
Dramatic: the audience is aware of something the characters don’t know. Why? Stimulate emotions in reader because knows what awaits
Malapropism
A word mistaken for another word with a similar sound. Usually used by a comic character
Onomatopoeia
Words that imitate sound like crash, ring, buzz
Oxymoron
Phrase made up of words that are opposite but still have meaning
Meter
Way of measuring rhythm in formal verse. Example would be Anapestic --/ Dactylic /-- Iambic: -/ Trochaic /-
Present vs present
Metonomy
A word substituted for another word it is somehow linked or closely associated with
2nd POV
Speak to the reader directly so you use the words you and your
3rd POV
Person outside the story is narrator
Uses them, they, she, her, he, him, it
Omniscient
Narrator knows the thoughts of all characters
Plot
- Exposition: setting and characters introduced
- Rising action: main problem or conflict arises
- Climax: peek of the story, tension
- Falling action: problem winds down
- Resolution: resolving of the problem
