Literary Devices

1. Allegory- Couplet Literary Devices

2. Allegory A story in which the characters represent abstract qualities; a story with two meanings—a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning. Example #1: Pilgrim’s 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

4. 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?v=c6Q0dfrbr10&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U97lbv0_A2I&feature=related Alliteration

6. 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. 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 Shore—what was the situation? Allusion

7. 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. Analogy

8. 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

9. 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 sorrow’s need. caesura kenning A l l i t e r a t i o n

10. The character or force against which the main character (the protagonist) is pitted. Example #1: In the epic poem Beowulf, both Grendel and fate can be interpreted as antagonists to the hero, Beowulf. Antagonist Example #2: Lex Luther is Superman’santagonist.

11. 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: “If…there could be spiritsof a middle sort / Too black for heav’n, and yet too white for hell,…” --John Dryden Antithesis

12. A brief statement that expresses a general observation about life in a witty, pointed way. Example#1: “No people can be both ignorant and free.” –Thomas Jefferson Aphorism Example #2: “If a million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.” —Anatole France

13. 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. Apostrophe 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

14. 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 Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman argues for the rights of women and against views that would subjugate women. Argumentation

15. Yo, Macbeth! Let’s 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. Aside Examples: Macbeth: (Aside) If chance will have me King, / why chance may crown me, / Without my stir.

16. 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. Assonance Example: “When I have fears that I may cease to be /Before my pen has glean’d my teeming brain.” --John Keats

17. An author’s purpose may be to entertain, to inform, to express opinion, to persuade, or any combination of these. Example: A History of the English Church and People by the Venerable Bede was written to inform and persuade Author’s Purpose

18. A written account of a person’s own life. Autobiographies offer insight into the writer’s character, attitudes, and motivations as well as some understanding of the society in which the author lived. Autobiography Examples: A diary, a journal, a memoir, letters; The Book of Margery Kempe is the earliest known autobiography in the English language.

19. Ballads tell stories of the ordinary people. 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. Characteristics of Ballads: • Begin abruptly • Focus on a single event • Use dialogue • Use repetition • Usually suggest more than they actually state. Ballad

20. Ballad Example: The song “Barbara Allan” is one of the most famous English ballads.

21. An account of a person’s 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 D’Souza Biography

22. Unrhymed poetry written in iambic pentameter (10 beats per line). Blank verse has been considered the most suitable meter for dramatic verse in English. Shakespeare’s plays are written largely in blank verse. John Milton’s Paradise Lost is also written in blank verse. BlankVerse Example: My grave is like to be my wedding bed. But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?

23. A poetic pause, often shown by a break in the line; especially found in 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. —From “The Wife’s Lament” Caesura

24. 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 Character Examples: Beowulf, Grendel, Hrothgar, Frankenstein, Robert Walton, Ebeneezer Scrooge

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

26. The turning point of the action of the plot in a work of literature; usually involves an important event, decision, or discovery 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. (“Pardoner’s Tale”) Climax

27. Examples: A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Much Ado About Nothing; All’s Well that Ends Well; Pygmalion (My Fair Lady) A dramatic work that is light and humorous in tone; comedies usually have fairly realistic and believable plot and characters. Comedy

28. 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, Juliet’s 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. Comic Relief

29. 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. 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 Donne’s poem “The Flea” he compares the flea’s bite of two lovers as being the same as being married…and all that comes with it! Conceit

30. 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 Conflict

31. The attitudes and feelings associated with a word; connotations are especially important in poetry and in persuasive speech Examples: The fact that Springtime suggests love, happiness, and new beginnings. Connotation

32. ’T was later when the summer wentThan when the cricketcame,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 Consonance

33. When an author uses opposing elements, ideas, styles, or structure for the purpose of clarification, emphasis, or effect. Contrast 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 Victor’s health.

34. A single image or comparison that extends throughout an entire work of literature and is related to the theme. Examples: The pig’s head on a stick in Lord of the Flies; the flea in John Donne’s poem, “The Flea” Controlling Image

35. 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--Chaucer’s “Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales Couplet