Red Fox Fur Coat
This literary element can be seen in this line: "and a single word kept bobbing insistently about in her mind: predator."
What is foreshadowing?
This literary device is evident in the following quote: "...watching him with a kind of dazed horror as he went further and further away from her with each word"
What is metaphor?
Even though this is the penultimate line of the story, Farquhar feeling a stunning blow to his neck and seeing a blinding white light represents this structural element, snapping the reader out of his escape fantasy and back to harsh reality.
What is the climax?
When a story skips the chronological beginning and opens right in the middle of the action, it uses this narrative technique. An example of this is the opening of "An Occurrence at Owl Creek."
What is in media res?
Extreme exaggeration used for emphasis or comedic effect that is not meant to be taken literally is called this device.
What is hyperbole?
In The Red Fox Fur Coat, the author compares her wild craving to a creature eating away at her by using this literary device: "a hidden hunger that gnawed at her from inside."
What is metaphor?
In "Lamb to the Slaughter" Mary Maloney is an example of this type of character due to the murder and deliberate cover-up while still eliciting sympathy from the reader.
What is an anti-hero?
The repeated "S" sounds in "Suddenly he heard a sharp report and something struck the water smartly within a few inches of his head, spattering his face with spray" use sibilance to create this sound device.
What is alliteration?
An author uses this character type to contrast sharply with the protagonist in order to highlight specific main character traits.
What is a foil character?
Describing one sensory experience using terms belonging to a completely different sense—like "a sharp taste"—is called this technique.
What is synaesthesia?
We can see onomatopoeia in this quote with this word: "feeling the sand crunch beneath her feet..."
What is crunch?
This physical object shifts from a symbol of domestic innocence into an instrument of death.
What is the leg of lamb?
In the line "...had kindly expression which one would hardly have expected in one whose neck was in the hemp," substituting the word "hemp" for the hangman's rope is an example of this literary device.
What is metonymy?
Unlike a static character, a character who undergoes a major internal change or personal growth throughout a narrative is described as this.
What is a dynamic character?
Giving non-human objects, abstract concepts, or forces of nature human traits or actions is known as this figure of speech.
What is personification?
The author uses this literary device twice in the following description: "brighter, more fiery, like red flames that did not burn, but were soft on her body, like a thick, ample, enfolding skin..."
What is a simile?
Details like drawn curtains, warm lighting, and fresh ice cubes in "Lamb to the Slaughter" establish this narrative element, creating a calm, cozy atmosphere right before the conflict begins.
What is setting?
In the line "The black bodies of the trees formed a straight wall on both sides, terminating on the horizon in a point, like a diagram in a lesson in perspective," the author compares the forest to a geometric drawing using this literary device.
What is a simile?
The central message, authorial insight, or big idea about the broader human experience embedded in a story is called this.
What is the theme?
This device occurs when a specific part of something is used to represent the whole object — such as using the word "wheels" to refer to a car.
What is synecdoche?
The rapidly paced list without conjunctions in "the earth, the bark of trees, plants, leaves..." mimics her overwhelming sensory overload by using this literary device.
What is asyndeton?
When Roald Dahl deliberately leaves out the exact words Patrick uses to break his bad news to Mary, he relies on "off-screen" dialogue to trigger this structural moment that shatters her peaceful life.
What is the inciting incident?
The author uses this literary device to emphasize the overwhelming power of the noise by referencing the roaring water to a famous North American waterfall: "The water roared in his ears like the voice of Niagara..."
What is an allusion?
An interruption in the chronological flow of a narrative to depict an event that occurred at an earlier time is known as this structural device.
What is a Flashback?
Placing two contrasting elements, characters, or settings side by side to emphasize their differences uses this literary technique.
What is juxtaposition?