Literary Devices
Something that stands for or suggests something larger and more complex than what it actually is.
What is a symbol?
Believed that a work of art should be valued for its beauty, sophistication, refinement, and the pleasure derived from its design and composition
Aestheticism
It is a far, far
better thing that I do than
I have ever done
What is A Tale of Two Cities?
God of wine; Sydney's namesake
What is Dionysus?
Means “God from the machine;” resolution of plot by use of a highly improbable chance or coincidence
What is deus ex machina?
An indirect reference to a person, event, statement, theme or work made to enrich meaning through the connotations they carry.
What is an allusion?
yet, humans define themselves by the moral decisions they make and the courage to act on them.
What is existentialism?
I flunked out again.
Crumby prep schools. Bunch of dopes.
Boy, I’m not kidding.
What is The Catcher in the Rye?
The spinner, the measurer, the cutter
(Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos)
Who are The Fates?
“In the midst of things;” beginning of narrative plunges into a crucial situation; exposition is bypassed and filled in gradually
What is in medias res?
Harsh, unpleasant, or discordant sounds.
What is cacophony?
A 19th-century (1800 to 1860) literary movement emphasizing emotion and imagination, rather than logic and scientific thought in response to the Enlightenment.
What is Romanticism?
Self-made man seeks love.
Riches bring no happiness.
Jazz age tragedy!
What is The Great Gatsby?
Very handsome, but he rejected all suitors, including the nymph Echo. His cold indifference brought forth the vengeance of the gods. He was made to fall in love with his own reflection in the waters of a spring; as a result, he either pined away or drowned.
Who is Narcissus?
A unit of meter within a line of poetry.
What is a foot?
A 20th century literary genre that often involves supernatural phenomena or fantastic events in an otherwise real-world or mundane setting.
What is magical realism?
Sells soul to devil
For a pretty, youthful face
Poor Basil, Alan, Sybil
What is The Picture of Dorian Gray?
He was best known for defying the Olympian gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, knowledge, and more generally, civilization. In some versions of the myth, he is also credited with the creation of humanity from clay.
Who is Prometheus?
Petrarchan and Shakespearean.
What are the two most famous types of sonnets?
Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
What are doppelgangers?
A novelist whose parents were well-known political philosophers and feminist activists.
Who is Mary Shelley?
Did he go or not?
Story truth, happening truth
War impacts us all.
What is The Things They Carried?
Deceived by Delilah. Strength in hair. The wood sawyer
Who is Samson?
When an author shows a character in action, compelling us to infer what the character is like from what is said or done by the character
What is indirect presentation?