FOIL Literary Rhetorical Device Presentation By Zachary Quaglia
FOIL Literary/ Rhetorical Device Presentation By: Zachary Quaglia
DEFINITION-WHAT IS A FOIL? “In literature, a foil is a character that shows qualities that are in contrast with the qualities of another character with the objective to highlight the traits of the other character. The term foil, though generally being applied for a contrasting character, may also be used for any comparison that is drawn to portray a difference between two things. ” (literarydevices. net/foil/)
EXAMPLE- WHAT ARE EXAMPLES OF A FOIL? I. In the Harry Potter Series, Harry and Voldemort are foils of each other. Harry represents good and Voldemort represents evil; both contain qualities that are opposite of each other and therefore enhance each other’s characteristics of good and evil. * In To Kill a Mockingbird, Aunt Alexandra (Atticus’ sister) is a foil for Atticus; she contrasts his parenting methods, favoring “traditional parenting rather than his “frank discussions” with his children. She also is a foil for Scout, representing a traditional southern woman in society, rather than Scout’s “tomboyish ways”.
FOIL VS. ANTAGONIST The foil in a story does not have to be (and many times is not) the antagonist of the story. The foil can even be working with the protagonist. As described on literarydevices. com, the main difference is that “…the antagonist’s actions oppose the protagonist while the foil’s character is in opposition to the protagonist. ”
SOURCES CITED Foil, www. literarydevices. com/foil/ Foil, www. literarydevices. net/foil/ Foil Examples, www. softschools. com/examples/grammar/foil_examples/218/
- Slides: 5