Lit Device Review 2

Definitions 1

100

Placing in immediately succeeding order of two or more coordinate elements, the latter of which is an explanation, qualification, or modification of the first (often set off by a colon)

Apposition

200

Device of repetition, in which the same expression (single word or phrase) is repeated at the end of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences

Epistrophe

300

Complications in conflict and situations (may introduce new ones as well)

Rising action

400

A reoccurring image, word, phrase, action, idea, object, or situation used throughout a work (or in several works by one author), unifying the work be tying the current situation to previous ones, or new ideas to the theme 

Motif 

500

A word or phrase in everyday use in conversation and informal writing but is inappropriate for formal situations

Colloquiallism 

Examples 1

100

• His smile is like kryptonite to me. (Superman’s weakness)
• She felt like she had a golden ticket. (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
• If I’m not home by midnight, my car might turn into a pumpkin. (Cinderella)

Allusion

200

When elections were held he was appointed president. 

The platapus was frusterated when he slipped off the rock into the waterfall. 

As the stars collided, we watched in awe. 

Hypotactic 

300

• Yesterday is but today’s memory, and tomorrow is today’s dream. [Khalil Gibran]
• The simplest questions are the hardest to answer. [Northrop Frye]
• Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind. [Rudyard Kipling]

Aphorism

400

• “Beloved is mine; she is Beloved.” --Beloved, Toni Morrison
• “He is noticeable for nothing in the world except for the markedness by which he is noticeable for nothing.” --“The Literati of New York City,” Godey’s Lady’s Book, as quoted from Edgar Allen Poe

Epanelepsis

500

• “You stood up for America, now America must stand up for you.” – Barack Obama, December 14, 2011.
• “He who questions training only trains himself at asking questions.” – The Sphinx, Mystery Men (1999)

Antimetabole

This or That?

100

Commas used without conjunction to separate a series of words, thus emphasizing the parts equally: instead of X, Y, and Z... the writer uses X,Y,Z....  see polysyndeton. 

"I came, I saw, I conquered"

Polysendention or Asyndenton?

Asyndenton

200

The repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds especially in words that are together

“His tender heir might bear his memory" - William Shakespeare's Sonnet 1

Alliteration or Assonance?

Assonance

300

Story or poem in which characters, settings, and events stand for other people or events or for abstract ideas or qualities. Uses symbols to convey a broader meaning.

Animal Farm = the Russian Revolution, Lord of the Flies = how the desire for civilization conflicts with the desire for power

Symbol or Allegory

Allegory

400

A figure of speech in which a person, place, or thing, is referred to by something closely associated with it. We requested from the crown support for our petition.”  The crown is used to represent the monarch. It is a change of name. 

“Bob’s new ride was expensive” Ride is used to represent a vehicle/car.

Metonymy or Synecdoche

Metonymy

500

Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row.  This is a deliberate form of repetition and helps make the writer’s point more coherent. 

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” - Charles Dickens

Anaphora or Epistrophe

Anaphora

Definitions 2

100

One of four major forms of discourse, in which something is explained or "set forth" 

Exposition

200

Poetic and rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas, words or phrases are places next to one another, creating an effect of surprise and wit 

Juxtaposition

300

Does not state explicitly the two terms of comparison

Implied metaphor 

400

A relatively short story that teaches a moral, or lesson about how to lead a good life

Parable

500

A quotation or aphorism at the beginning of a literary work suggestive of the theme 

Epigraph

Examples 2

100

Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy.
Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.
Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.
Now is the time to make justice a reality. --"I Have A Dream," Martin Luther King Jr. 

Anaphora 

200

"'What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.'" - Romeo and Juliet, Shakesphere 

"If not me, who? If not now, when?..." - "Gender equality is your issue too," Emma Watson 

Rhetorical Question

300

‘The silver screen’ - the world of film. 

The press’ – for newspapers or media

Metonymy

400

**in poetry!**

“But many that are first

Shall be last, 

And many that are last

Shall be first” -- Matthew 19:30

"She went to church, but to the bar went he."

“Beauty is truth, truth beauty” -- “Ode on a Grecian Urn," John Keats

Chiasmus

500

The fire alarm went off, making a loud clanging noise, startling everyone, and causing some people to knock over their chairs.

“I knew I had found a friend in the woman, who herself was a lonely soul, never having known the love of man or child.” (Emma Goldman) 

“We must be wary of conclusions drawn from the ways of the social insects, since their evolutionary track lies so far from ours.” (Robert Ardrey)

Loose sentence