1 Name the Device
"Time is a thief, stealing moments when we aren’t looking."
Metaphor
The green light in the great Gatsby
Symbolism
a sentence or phrase runs over from one line to the next without a pause or a terminating punctuation mark.
enjambment
this type of sentence construction (or even paragraph construction) contains balanced grammatical structures that provide similar rhetorical value.
parallel structure
ridiculing to show weakness in order to make a point/ teach.
satirical
"The wind whispered secrets to the trees as it drifted through the forest."
Personification
In Romeo and Juliet, the audience knows Juliet is not truly dead, but Romeo does not.
Dramatic Irony
a pause within a line, often marked by punctuation such as a comma or dash
caesura
the pace or speed of a sentence (or group of sentences) that comes through a variety of means, such as length of words, number of words, omission of words or punctuation
narrative pace
serious in purpose and convention (no slang, contractions; no idioms).
formal
A fire station burning down
situational irony
"Oh, great! Another surprise meeting, just what I needed."
verbal irony
A form of poetry that does not adhere to a specific meter or rhyme scheme, allowing for a more natural flow of rhythm and expression.
free verse
the rhythm or "music" of a sentence that come through parallel elements and repetition
cadence
short, to the point
terse
"The pen is mightier than the sword."
motonymy
"That cat sat back"
assonance
A repeated line or group of lines in a poem, often at the end of a stanza, that contributes to the rhythm and can enhance the poem’s thematic focus.
refrain
The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of consecutive sentences or successive clauses.
anaphora
learned, polished, scholarly.
erudite (academic)
"To err is human; to forgive, divine." — Alexander Pope
Antithesis
"All hands on deck!"
synecdoche
A line in verse that contains 10 syllables, every other syllable is stressed creating a ba-DUM, ba-DUM, ba-DUM, ba-DUM, ba-DUM
pentameter
what we call a sentence where the most important idea comes first and the rest of the sentence unfolds easily after that (revealing information not critical to the climax)
loose sentence
instructive; author attempts to educate or instruct the reader.
didactic