Literary Devices

1. Literary Devices Period 6 AP Language and Composition Mrs. Dolhon

2. Metaphor • “Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the negro people a bad check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds.’” • King Jr., Marin Luther. Speech. I Have a Dream. March on Washington. Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C. 28 Aug. 1963 • It helps to convey a point by relating to the audience with a familiar circumstance. This type of situation may have been encountered by many of the members of the Civil Rights Movement, therefore adding more passion to their argument for equal rights.

3. AllusionA literary reference to a familiar person, place, thing, or event. • “But to him, I was just an Evita or a Maria: merely a character in his cartoon-populated universe.” • Cofer, Judith Ortiz. “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria.” 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology Ed. Samuel Cohen. Boston; Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004. • This emphasizes the effect of stereotypes on minority populations. It also shows the limited knowledge of non-Hispanics in regard to Hispanic culture and lifestyles.

4. “…her eyes bulging nearly out of her head.” Hyperbole is used to exaggerate how scared she is to exemplify how he is seen he by women. Hyperbole: A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect. Staples, Brent. “Just Walk On By: Black Men and Public Space.”: MS Essays: A Portable Anthology. Boston: Cohen, 2004.

5. Anaphora: The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses, clauses, or paragraph “Go back to Mississippi. Go back to Alabama. Go back to South Carolina. Go back to Georgia. Go back to Louisiana.” Anaphoras are used in “I Have A Dream” to provide emphasis and empowerment to the speech. King Jr., Martin Luther. “I Have A Dream.” Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C 28 August 1963

6. Connotation - “All I knew was that I was stuck between my hatred of the empire I served and my rage against the evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make my job impossible.” Orwell, George. “Shooting an Elephant.” 50 Essays. Ed. Samuels. Cohen. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007. 302-309 The excerpt from Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” connotes the literal, the speaker’s difficulty working with the Burman natives, with the “coloring” or associated emotions - his anger and hostility towards both the native population and his county’s imperialism. “Stuck” connotes that Orwell is placed between two “evils” that he equally loathes.  “Little beasts” connotes his bitterness towards the Burmans and the inhuman view that Englishmen had of the natives.

7. Parallelism “With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.” King Jr., Martin Luther. “I Have A Dream.” Lincoln Memorial. Washington D.C. 28 August. 1963 Martin Luther King, Jr. uses a collection of infinitives to create a balanced sentence that emphasizes the actions different races will take together.

8. Anecdotes and Ethos A Presentation by Core, Carl, Melissa, and Kyle

9. Anecdotes An anecdote is a short tale narrating an interesting or entertaining biographical incident. George Orwell’s piece, “Shooting an Elephant”, is one giant anecdote. Ex: “ In Moulmein, in Lower Burma, I was hated by large numbers of people. I was sub-divisional police officer of the town…” Anecdotes serve to illustrate one of the author’s personal experiences.

10. Ethos • Ethos is a Latin term meaning moral. • This is a rhetorical strategy that is used to establish credibility with the reader. • In Brent Staples piece “ Just Walk on By”, he established credibility by establishing his education and position. • “ A graduate student newly arrived at the University of Chicago”, and “ I worked as a journalist in Chicago.” • This is important, as Staples needs this credibility.

11. Bibliography Orwell, George. "Shooting an Elephant." 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology. (2004): 277-283. Print. Staples, Brent. "Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space." MS. 1994: Print.

12. Thanks for banning my book! Sarcasm Sarcasm- a sharply ironical taunt “The publisher of Vamos a Cuba should send a bottle of champagne to Frank Bolanos, the Miami-Dade School Board member who led the push to ban the harmless little travel tome from the county’s public schools.” Carl Hiaasen adds some humor to his article when he uses sarcasm in his writing. He lightens the mood of the legal issue and shows how ridiculous the ban is in his opinion. Hiaasen, Carl. “This Column Banned in Miami Schools”. Miami Herald. 2006.

13. Diction Hey girl! • Diction- style of speaking or writing as dependent upon choice of words • “You mustn’t speak to wharf-rat-boys, not even give directions. • When speaking to a little girl, using a word like rat (something gross and frightening) would scare her away from these types of boys. “Wharf-rat-boys” creates a stronger effect than if Kincaid would have used “grimy” “irresponsible” or “dirty.” Kincaid, Jamaica. “Girl”. At the Bottom of the River. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. 1983

14. BY: Brittney Lane, Danielle Johnson, Nadia Kapossy, Alexis Galamay, Guillermo Giannattasio

15. Metaphor • “Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the negro people a bad check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds.’” • King Jr., Marin Luther. Speech. I Have a Dream. March on Washington. Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C. 28 Aug. 1963 • It helps to convey a point by relating to the audience with a familiar circumstance. This type of situation may have been encountered by many of the members of the Civil Rights Movement, therefore adding more passion to their argument for equal rights.

16. AllusionA literary reference to a familiar person, place, thing, or event. • “But to him, I was just an Evita or a Maria: merely a character in his cartoon-populated universe.” • Cofer, Judith Ortiz. “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria.” 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology Ed. Samuel Cohen. Boston; Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004. • This emphasizes the effect of stereotypes on minority populations. It also shows the limited knowledge of non-Hispanics in regard to Hispanic culture and lifestyles.

17. Alliteration Definition- repetition of initial sounds in successive or neighboring words “This sweltering summer of the negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.” Since “I Have A Dream” is a speech given to a large crowd with different educational levels the use of sweltering summer is an example of alliteration. Its use helps to catch the listener’s attention, and direct their focus to his point. This alliteration creates a lasting impression in the listeners’ mind. “Sweltering summer” also allows the reader to understand the oppression and discomfort that the African American community endures. King Martin Luther Jr. “I Have A Dream”. Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C. August 28, 1963

18. Colloquialism • Definition – informal words or expressions not usually acceptable in formal writing • “On Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming;” • The use of slut in “Girl” is an example of colloquialism because it is a word not typically accepted in formal writing. • When Jamaica Kincaid uses slut it grabs the readers attention her daughter. • It demonstrates the mothers sense of urgency and exemplifies her purpose for the piece. Kincaid Jamaica. “Girl”. At the Bottom of the River. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. 1983.