Literary Devices Unit 3 Notes Literary Devices Example

Literary Devices Unit 3 Notes

Literary Devices

Example: A fireman who starts fires instead of putting them out.

Romeo and Juliet frequently mentions Gods and Goddesses as well as Greek and Roman historic figures.

Hyperbole: Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally. Ex. “If I can not be with him, then I shall surely perish!” - emotionally compromised 14 year old “I am freezing my butt off in Ms. Hickman’s classroom!”

“Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast. ” – Friar Laurence

Idiom • IDIOM It is a commonly used expression that has a meaning that has been established by common usage. “I feel fit as a fiddle. ” – Abraham, The Walking Dead

Personification • PERSONIFICATION This is a figure of speech which is used when the poet or the writer wants to attribute human qualities to an inanimate object or thought. “The trees fluttered and danced in the breeze. Their whispers followed Ashley all the way home. ”

Metaphor/Simile • Metaphor: a rhetorical device that transfers the sense or aspects of one word to another • Example: The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas. — “The Highwayman, ” Alfred Noyes • Simile: a type of metaphor in which the comparison is made with the use of the word like or as – Example: My love is like a red, red rose. — Robert Burns

Repetition consists of repeating a word, phrase, or sentence, and is common in both poetry and prose. It is a rhetorical technique to add emphasis, unity, and/or power. Ex. How the danger sinks and swells, By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells, In the clamor and the clangor of the bells!

Alliteration occurs when a series of words in a row (or close to a row) have the same first consonant sound. Example: Alice’s aunt ate apples and acorns around August.

Mood • Mood is the emotional quality of literature, music, or other expressive arts. Example: As she walked down the shadowed hallway, the boards creaked under her feet. She felt whispers in her ear of the darkness to come. What mood words go with this?

Tone • Tone is an attitude of a writer toward a subject or an audience. The tone can be formal, informal, serious, comic, sarcastic, sad, and cheerful or it may be any other existing attitudes. • Example: Father: “We can’t go on vacation this summer. ” Son: “Ok. Great! That’s what I expected. ”

Antithesis • Antithesis is a figure of speech which refers to the juxtaposition of opposing or contrasting ideas. It involves the bringing out of a contrast in the ideas by an obvious contrast in the words, clauses, or sentences • Example: It’s never too soon, never too late

Symbolism is a literary device that uses an object or action that means something more than its literal meaning; contains several layers of meaning. Example: What is a dove an example of?