Cosmic Irony: Fate's Whimsical Hand

1. Figurative Language

2. Metaphor • a figure of speech which makes a direct comparison of two unlike objects by identification or substitution. • Metaphors are composed of two parts: • Thevehicle is the thing being named and replacing the subject or tenor • Thetenoris the idea expressed by the metaphor For example: in “All the world's a stage” (William Shakespeare, As You Like It) Vehicle = stage Tenor = world

3. Simile • a direct comparison of two unlike objects, often using like, than, or as. The holy time is quiet as a nun (William Wordsworth, "On the Beach at Calais") And like a thunderbolt he falls (Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "The Eagle")

4. Conceit • an extended metaphor comparing two unlike objects with powerful effect. (It owes its roots to elaborate analogies in Petrarch and to the Metaphysical poets, particularly Donne.) If they be two, they are two so As stiff twin compasses are two; Thy soul, the fix'd foot, makes no show To move, but doth, if th' other do. (John Donne, "Valediction Forbidding Mourning")

5. Personification • figure of speech in which objects and animals have human qualities. Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of Hell. • (Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "The Charge of the Light Brigade")

6. Apostrophe • addressing a person or personified object not present. • Little Lamb, who made thee? • (William Blake, "The Lamb") • O loss of sight, of thee I most complain! • (John Milton, "Samson Agonistes")

7. Anthropomorphism • Ascribing human forms, emotions, and characteristics to animals or inanimate objects • The Greek gods • Animal Farm • Cheshire Cat, Mickey Mouse, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Winnie the Pooh, etc.

8. Metonymy • the substitution of a word which relates to the object or person to be named, in place of the name itself • the crown • Man of the cloth • ”I think a man working outdoors feels more like a man if he can have a bottle of suds.” --Shawshank Redemption

9. Synecdoche • figure of speech in which a part represents the whole object or idea. Not a hair perished. [person] • (William Shakespeare, The Tempest ) And all mankind that haunted nigh Had sought their household fire [homes] • (Thomas Hardy, "The Darkling Thrush")

10. Hyperbole • gross exaggeration for effect; overstatement. Love you ten years before the Flood, • (Andrew Marvell, "To His Coy Mistress")

11. Litotes • understatement for effect. But she is in her grave, and, oh, The difference to me! • (William Wordsworth, "She Dwelt Among Untrodden Ways") • [Wordsworth deeply loved the woman, and therefore felt deep sorrow not hinted at in these casual lines.]

12. Irony • the contrast between actual meaning and the suggestion of another meaning. • The three most common categories of irony are: • Verbal irony • Situational irony • Dramatic irony

13. Verbal Irony • meaning one thing and saying another. “It is a truth universally acknowledged , that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” -- (Jane Austen, Pride and prejudice)

14. SARCASM VS. VERBAL IRONY • Sarcasm: A caustic and bitter expression of strong disapproval. • More personal, jeering, and intended to hurt • Example: “You will have a charming mother-in-law, indeed; and, of course, she will always be at Pemberley with you.” (Miss Bingley to Darcy upon learning of his admiration for Elizabeth) • Verbal Irony: The actual intent is expressed in words that carry the opposite meaning • Usually less harsh than sarcasm • Example: “There is a mixture of servility and self-importance in his letter which promises well. I am impatient to see him.” (Mr. Bennet after reading the letter from Mr. Collins)

15. Situational Irony • when the reality of a situation differs from the anticipated or intended effect; when something unexpected occurs. What rough beast, its hour come round at last Slouches toward Bethlehem to be born? • (William Butler Yeats, "The Second Coming") • [The second coming of Christ is intended, but a rough beast will come instead.]

16. Dramatic Irony • When the audience has information that a character(s) does not. It serves to heighten the audience’s level of engagement; it creates suspense. • “For whoso slew that king might have a mind To strike me too with his assassin hand.” -- Oedipus

17. Dramatic Irony

18. Cosmic Irony • A.k.a. irony of fate or incorrectly as karma, cosmic irony is a type of situational irony dealing with the perception that gods or fate toys with aspirations and deeds • The Titanic was toted as unsinkable • In 1982 the Reagan administration cut funding to metrification programs – in 1998 the Mars Climate Orbiter missed the orbit and burned up in the atmosphere, costing $193 million because of an English/metric error.

19. Symbolism • the use of one object to suggest another, hidden object or idea. Unlike metaphors, symbols operate in both the literal and the figurative. • In Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken," the fork in the road represents a major decision in life, each road a separate way of life.

20. Imagery • the use of words to represent things, actions, or ideas by sensory description. He clasps the crag with crooked hands; Close to the sun in lonely lands, Ringed with the azure world, he stands. The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls; He watches from his mountain walls, And like a thunderbolt he falls. • (Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "The Eagle")

21. Paradox • a statement which appears self-contradictory, but underlines a basis of truth. Elected silence, sing to me. • (Gerard Manley Hopkins, "The Habit of Perfection") Were her first years the Golden Age; that's true, But now she's gold oft-tried and ever-new. • (John Donne, "The Autumnal")

22. Oxymoron • contradictory terms brought together to express a paradox for strong effect. Beautiful tyrant! fiend angelical! Dove-feathered raven! wolvish-ravening lamb! • (William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet )

23. Allusion • a reference to an outside fact, event, or other source. World-famous golden-thighed Pythagoras Fingered upon a fiddle-stick or strings What a star sang and careless Muses heard • (William Butler Yeats, "Among School Children" • [Pythagoras--Greek mathematician; Muses---mythological goddesses of beauty and music]

24. Characterization

25. Direct vs. indirect characterization Indirect Characterization Direct Characterization • Explicit presentation by the author of the character through direct exposition, either in an introductory block or piecemeal throughout the work. • The presentation of the character in action, with little or no explicit comment by the author, in the expectation that the reader can deduce the attributes of the actor from the actions.

26. Which is indirect characterization? • Mr. Bennet was so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice, that the experience of three-and-twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character. • “People who suffer as much as I do from nervous complaints can have no great inclination for talking. Nobody can tell what I suffer! But it is always so. Those who do not complain are never pitied!" (Spoken by Mrs. Bennet)

27. Round vs. flat characters Flat Characters Round Characters • Also called three-dimensional characters • Multifaceted, human being • Capable of inconsistencies • Subject to growth • Example: Elizabeth • Also called two-dimensional characters • More a type than a human being • Usually not subject to growth • Example: Jane

28. Caricature • Writing that exaggerates certain individual qualities of a person and produces a ridiculous effect.

29. Dynamic vs. static characters Dynamic Character Static Character • Changes little if at all • Things happen to a character without things happening within. • Modified by the actions and experiences • One objective of the work is to reveal the consequences of these actions

30. Foil • Literally a leaf of bright metal placed under a jewel to increase its brilliance • In literature, the term is applied to any person who through contrast underscores the distinctive characteristics of another.

31. Focalization • The perspective through which a narrative is presented. By presenting the narrative through the eyes and words of various characters, the narrator is less removed from the story and the reader is more intimate with the characters (more in their heads). Austen does this in a variety of ways such as epistles and indirect speech, in which the language and thoughts of the characters mix with the voice of the narrator.

32. Example: • “Mrs John Dashwood did not at all approve of what her husband intended to do for his sisters. To take three thousand pounds from the fortune of their dear little boy, would be impoverishing him to the most dreadful degree. She begged him to think again on the subject. How could he answer it to himself to rob his child, and his only child too, of so large a sum?”