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Literary Devices Structure/Syntax Active voice: the subject acts upon the verb. Example: Mr.

Meyers gave us a quiz. Passive voice: the subject is acted upon. Example: The quiz was given out by Mr. Meyers. Anaphora: the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of sentences or clauses. Example: The ice was here, the ice was there, The ice was all around. Epistrophe: repetition at the end of successive phrases. Example: When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. Symploce: the combination of anaphora and epistrophe. Example: We enjoy life when we know ourselves to be free of temptation and sin, but we enjoy life also when we give ourselves completely to temptation and sin. Anastrophe: another word for inversion. Example: Smart you are. (Instead of: You are smart.) Asyndeton: omitting conjunctions from sentences or clauses. Example: We have a government of the people, for the people, by the people. Polysyndeton: the presence of many conjunctions in sentences or clauses. Example: It cracked and growled, and roared and howled. Cataloguing: listing of items. Example: Homer catalogues ships in The Iliad, listing them one by one, line by line. Chiasmus: inverted parallelism; repeating two or more phrases in a different structural way. Example: He knowingly led and we followed blindly. Enjambment: breaking up a phrase at the end of a line and continuing it on the next line. Example: And now the storm-blast came, and he Was tyrannous and strong. Inversion: see Anastrophe. Listing: See cataloguing. Loose sentence: modifying clauses are added after the subject and (sometimes) the verb.

Example: I went to the store, picked up a movie, and visited my friend. Periodic sentence: a sentence that is not grammatically complete until the final clause is added. Example: In the week before their departure to Arrakis, when all the final scurrying about had reached a nearly unbearable frenzy, an old crone came to visit the mother of the boy, Paul. Parallelism: similarity of structure of phrases or clauses. Example: Our transportation crisis will be solved by a bigger plane or a wider road, mental illness with a pill, poverty with a law, slums with a bulldozer, urban conflict with a gas, racism with a goodwill gesture. Anadiplosis: taking the last word or group of words of a sentence or phrase and repeating it near the beginning of the next sentence or phrase. Example: Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. Cunduplicatio: taking an important word from anywhere in one sentence or phrase and repeating it at the beginning of the next sentence or phrase: Example: In life we must always keep aware of the constant ebb and flow. Life is a river, not a face of stone. Parenthesis: the insertion of as aside or additional information into the main flow of writing. Example: And ice, mast-high, came floating by, As green as emerald. Apostrophe: a break from the flow of writing to address the reader or another personified object or idea. Example: The very deep did rot: O Christ! That ever this should be! Zeugma: linking together of unexpected items by a shared word. Example: The runner lost the race and his scholarship. Hyperbaton: unexpected or unusual arrangement of words in a sentence or phrase, similar to inversion. Example: This sort of family argument necessitates a long arbitration, courtroom style. Caesura: a pause in a verse of a poem. Example: Why look'st thou so? With my crossbow I shot the Albatross. Figurative Language Euphemism: a generally harmless word, name, or phrase that substitutes an offensive or suggestive one. Examples: Passed away, deceased, no longer with us = dead.

Hyperbole: using exaggeration to make a strong impression, but not meant literally. Example: I'm so hungry I could eat a horse! Litotes: a form of understatement in which something is implied by denying the opposite. Example: The bloody sun, at noon, Right up above the mast did stand, No bigger than the moon. Metaphor: comparing one subject to another directly, by asserting that they are the same. Example: All the worlds a stage, And all the men and women merely players. Simile: a comparison of two subjects using the words like or as. Example: We stuck, nor breath nor motion; As idle as a painted ship Upon a painted ocean. Metonymy: a subject is referred to by the name of something associated with it. Example: Things are looking bleak on Wall Street. (Wall Street= the stock market) Synecdoche: a subject is referred to by a part of its whole. Example: Eight sets of eyes watched her walk out of the room. (Eyes= people) Oxymoron: a combination of contradicting terms. Examples: Dark light, living dead Personification: attributing personal or humanlike qualities to inanimate objects or abstract ideas. Example: The sun now rose upon the right: Out of the sea came he, Still hid in mist, and on the left Went down into the sea. Understatement: an expression of less strength than expected. Example: In Monty Pythons The Meaning of Life, the Grim Reaper informs a character that he and his dinner guests have died, and he says, Well, that's cast rather a gloom over the evening, hasn't it? Deus Ex Machina: a plot device in which an event happens suddenly without anything leading up to it, and it changes the course of the story. Example: In The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the sudden appearance of the albatross is deus ex machina. Paradox: a statement that contradicts logic, or another statement. Example: I can resist anything except temptation.

Analogy: a similarity between two things on which a comparison is based on. Example: Divine life is in touch with the whole universe on the analogy of the soul's contact with the body. Antithesis: the presentation of contrasting ideas in different parts of a sentence or phrase. Example: Life can be kind and cruel, full of hope and heartache. Hypophora: the technique of asking a question and proceeding to answer it. Example: What then of the future? Let come what may, and we shall meet it without fear. Rhetorical Question: the technique of asking a question to which the answer is not directly stated, but implied. Example: In this age of modernity, can we truly condone such horrific acts? Procatalepsis: dealing with the answer to a certain question or abstract idea without even asking a question. Example: Many experts want to classify Sanskrit as an extinct language, but I do not. Distincto: the elaboration on the definition of a word. Example: That book was extremely worthwhile; it taught me all I needed to know about Russia. Allusion: a reference to a well-known work, event, place, or person. Example: The giant squid are true Leviathans of the underwater world. Eponym: referring to a specific famous person to link his or her attributes with something or someone else. Example: A modern day Moses, he led his nation to a new beginning. Epithet: a short descriptive word or phrase occurring in the place of or along with a name. Example: Romeo and Juliet were star-crossed lovers. Sentenia: another word for a quotation, maxim, or wise saying. Example: As is often said, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Exemplum: providing an example to illustrate an idea. Example: The U.S. government gives its citizens certain freedoms, such as freedom of expression and religion. Aporia: expression of doubt about an idea. Example: I am not really certain how to begin Symbolism: the representation of things or ideas by an object, or symbol. Example: The albatross in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a symbol for guilt.

Imagery: the use of an object or idea, usually sensory material, to add to a scene. Example: The bell tower tolled and the congregation moved into the sanctuary. Sound Devices Meter: the rhythmic structure of verses in a poem. Examples: iambic/trochaic trimester, tetrameter, pentameter Alliteration: the repetition of a sound at the beginning of words in a phrase. Example: Nodding their heads before her goes The merry minstrelsy. Assonance: repetition of vowel sounds in the words in a phrase. Example: Instead of the cross, the Albatross About my neck was hung. Consonance: repetition of consonant sounds in the words in a phrase. Example: The water dripped drop by drop. Internal Rhyme: a rhyme that occurs within a verse of a poem. Example: 'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay Onomatopoeia: a word that imitates a sound it is describing. Example: Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool? Repetition: exactly what it sounds like. (Anaphora/Epistrophe are types of Repetition) Example: Because I do not hope to turn again Because I do not hope Because I do not hope to turn... Rhyme: the repetition of similar sounds at the ends of verses in poetry. Example: It is an ancient Mariner, And he stoppeth one of three. By thy long grey beard and glittering eye, Now wherefore stopp'st thou me? (ABCB rhyme scheme) Cacophony: a harsh, discordant mixture of sounds. Example: 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe. Euphony: a harmonious succession of words having a pleasing sound. Example: Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. Comedic Devices

Irony: a sharp incongruity or discordance from the norm, or a statement to imply the opposite of its meaning. Example: Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room. Exaggeration: representing something in an absurd or excessive manner. Example: Youve got a head the size of a pin Epigram: a brief, interesting, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. Example: I am not young enough to know everything. Absurdity: something ridiculously incongruous or unreasonable. Example: Kafkas Metamorphosis is an absurd short story, Pun: a play on words that exploits multiple meanings of words. Example: Atheism is a non-prophet institution. Mistaken Identity: thinking a person or an object was something or someone else. Example: The ending of The Importance of Being Earnest. Double Entendre: using a word or phrase to convey an alternate meaning, often one that is offensive or suggestive. Example: The name Master Bates in Charles Dickenss Oliver Twist. Euphemism: See previous definition and example. Ambiguity: the ability of a word, phrase, or idea to express more than one interpretation. Example: I promise I'll give you a ring tomorrow. (A ring could either mean a call or an engagement ring.) Surprise: An unexpected revelation or turn of events. Example: We find out that Jack Worthings name is really Ernest at the end of The Importance of Being Earnest.

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