Elements of Poetry and Fiction
Virginia Grasso
Prof: Mariana Mussetta
English Literature II
Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa
Universidad Tecnológica de Villa María
23/02/2013
1
• “Poem: A peace of writing arranged in
patterns of lines and of sounds which often
RHYME, expressing thoughts, emotions, and
experiences in words that excite your
imagination”*.
• “Poetry: The art of writing poems (beauty,
grace, deep feelings)*.
*(Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
1084)
2
The poem
•
•
•
•
It gives pleasure.
It has unique value to the fully realized life.
It has spiritual value.
It says more and says it more intensely than
does ordinary language.
• It creates new and significant experiences for
the reader.
• It is an aid and a mean of living.
• It has extra dimensions than does ordinary
language.
3
Allegory
• The word “allegory” is from the Greek word
«allegoria» which means “speaking otherwise”.
• Allegory is a story in verse or prose with a double
meaning a primary or surface meaning, and
a secondary or under-the surface
meaning.
• Since it represents one thing in the guise of
another.
4
Allegory
• An abstraction in that of a concrete image, it
can be read, understood and interpreted at
two levels literal level
and
political
ethical
religious
level
5
Allegory
• Allegories are effective in teaching, explaining or
illustrating some abstract idea or a moral
principle.
• It is an essence a figurative representation of
some abstract truth by the use of symbolic
language (Eg: the fable and the parable can
reflect the nature of human beings, they are
figurative ways of telling stories about fictional
characters and events).
6
Allegory
• An allegory also appeals to the imagination
more than a metaphor, which tends to have a
more rational basis.
7
Allegory Example:
Once upon a time, there was a little girl who wanted to explore the world, so, one day she
packed up her things and set out on a journey. She walked through the woods that
surrounded her hut until she reached a road. Standing on the other side of the road was
another traveler, a little boy. When asked, he suggested that she go north, for that was where
the big towns and more interesting sights were. So she walked along the road northward
until she reached a large town. She spent several days exploring the town and meeting all
kinds of strange people. Finally she grew bored, and found a new road along which to travel.
Standing at the edge of town was a young woman. When asked, she suggested that the little
girl go east, for that was where the small cities and most interesting sights were. So the little
girl walked eastward along the road until she came to a small city. She wandered through the
city for a few weeks and saw all manner of new inventions. Finally she had seen everything,
so she left and found a new road along which to travel. Waiting at an intersection was a man,
who, when asked, suggested that the little girl go south, for that was where the big cities
were. So the little girl walked along the road going south for quite some time, until she came
to a large city. There she talked with people from different countries who spoke different
languages and had entirely different cultures. She learned a lot during her stay, but finally she
had had enough of the city, so she found another road along which to travel. Resting in a
nearby park was an old woman, who, when asked if she could recommend any particular
direction for the little girl to travel, exclaimed, “Oh, there is a lovely forest west of here. I love
to wander through the trees and enjoy the peace and quiet.” So the little girl went west and
after a while, found the very forest in which she lived. She skipped through the trees to her
hut, glad to be home.
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Alliteration
• It occurs when the initial sounds of a word,
beginning with a consonant or a vowel are
repeated in close succession.
Eg: The soft surge of the sea.
• It accentuates the beauty of language in a given
context and it unites words or concepts through
a kind of repetition.
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Alliteration Examples:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Athena and Apollo.
He hopped about happily.
Nate never knows.
People who pen poetry.
Sometimes snakes slithered past.
Lovely lady.
10
Assonance
• If alliteration occurs at the beginning of a
word and the rhyme at the end, assonance
takes the middle territory.
Assonance occurs when the vowel sound within
a word matches the same sound in a nearby
word, but the surrounding consonant sounds
are different,
Eg: “Tune” and “June” are rhymes
“Tune” and “food” are assonant
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Assonance
• It serves to give a sense of continuity or
fluidity to the verse.
• It is effective when the rhyme is absent:
It gives the poem more flexibility.
• Like alliteration it is more ornamental.
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Denotation
It is when you mean what you say, literally.
That is, the dictionary meaning or meanings of
the word.
Eg: greasy (like car engines, need to be greasy)
home (means only the place where one lives)
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Connotation
• It is created when you mean something else,
something that might be initially hidden.
• It is based on implication, or shared emotional
association with a word.
• It is important in poetry because poets use them
to further develop or complicate a poem’s
meaning.
• It is very important for it is one of the means by
which he can concentrate or enrich his meaning.
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Connotation examples:
• Greasy is a completely innocent word.
• Greasy contains negative associations for
most people if they are talking about food or
people.
• Home suggests security, love, comfort, and
family.
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Diction
It refers to the choice and the order of words.
• It has been split into vocabulary and syntax.
Vocabulary
simple
complex
Syntax
ordinary
unusual
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Diction
• It is possible to use “plain” language in a
complicated way (poetry).
• It is equally possible to use complicated
language in a simple way.
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Diction
• Diction is a web rather than a level:
There is something deeper than a surface
meaning to consider, so poetic diction is
complex.
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Diction examples:
• A) She took an apple from under the tree.
• First, let’s alter the order, or syntax:
1) From under the tree she took an apple.
it brings the rhyme (she/tree) close together
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Diction examples:
2) She, from under the tree, took an apple.
It plays on our notion of suspense
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Diction examples:
3) From under the tree, an apple she took.
It sounds like it belongs in a ballad or some
other form where the “took” at the end of the
sentence either for emphasis or
to set up rhyme (crook: steal)
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• Second, let’s alter the vocabulary:
1) She picked up a fruit from the ground, where
it lay.
2) She pilfered an apple that had fallen from its
tree.
3) The lovely woman stooped and grabbed the
fallen apple.
basic elements a woman
an apple but different emphasis
a tree
22
Diction exercises:
• They watched a pretty red sunset.
• Then, without warning, a knock come at the
door.
• I wash awash in memories, reliving the
innocence of time past.
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Irony
•
•
•
•
As a figure of speech
Verbal irony: saying the opposite of what one
means.
It refers to a difference between the way
something appears and what is actually true.
It is indirect.
It refuses to state something simply as the
way it is.
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Irony
• It allows us to say something but to mean
something else, whether we are being
sarcastic, exaggerating, or understating.
• Irony is more restrained than sarcasm.
• Irony is easier to communicate in speech than
in writing.
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Irony example:
• A child is playing violin and his aunt says, «he
is obviously not ready for the youth
orchestra» Is the aunt speaking ironically or
not?
Is he playing poorly? The tone is straight
Is he playing perfectly? The tone is ironic
It depends on the way the aunt pronounces
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Sarcasm
• It implies ridicule on the colloquial level.
• Sarcasm is simply bitter or cutting speech,
intended to wound the feelings.
• Greek: to tear flesh.
• It is cruel, and means to hurt.
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Satire
• It is a more formal term, usually applied to
written literature rather than to speech (on
the literary level).
• It implies higher motive: it is ridicule (either
bitter or gentle) of human folly or vice, with
the purpose of bringing about reform or at
least of keeping other people from falling into
similar folly or vice.
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Metaphor
• It compares two different things by speaking
of one in terms of the other.
• It asserts that one thing is another thing, not
just that one is like another.
• It is evoked by the to be verb or not.
• It makes abstract
unknown
concrete
familiar
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Metaphor
• It enlivens by touching the reader’s imagination.
• It gives connection in the unity between alien
things.
• It identifies one object or idea with another, in
one or more aspects.
• Is a figure of speech that involves an implied
comparison between two relatively unlike things.
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Metaphor
• It seems comparisons between two seemingly
dissimilar things.
• It expands the sense.
• It clarifies the meaning of something.
• It is one of the chief elements that distinguishes
poetry from less lofty forms of communication.
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Metaphor examples:
• The road was a ribbon of moonlight.
• the ship ploughs the sea.
• Julie is a gem.
• Rain falls in teardrops from the sky.
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Simile
In simile the comparison is expressed by the use
of some word or phrase such as:
•
•
•
•
•
Like
As
Than
Similar to
Resembles
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Simile
• It is comparison between two different things
that resemble each other in at least one way.
• In formal prose it is a device both art
explanation
• It compares an unfamiliar thing to some familiar
thing object
event
known to the reader
process
34
Simile examples:
Compare a noun to a noun is introduced by like
• I see men, but they look like trees, walking.
When a verb or phrase is compared to a verb or
phrase, as is used
• They remained constantly attentive to their goal,
as a sunflower always turns and stays focused on
the sun.
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Simile examples:
But a simile can sometimes be implied, or as it
is often called, submerged. In such cases no
comparative word is needed.
• “When I think of the English final exam, I think
of dungeons and chains and racks and primal
screams”.
36
Simile
• The word like signifies a direct comparison
between two things that are alike in a certain
way.
• Usually one of the elements of a simile is
concrete and the other abstract.
37
Meter
• It is a kind of rhythm we can tap our foot to
mark the intervals.
• In language that is metrical the accents are so
arranged as to occur as intervals of time
(equal or not)
• Metrical language is called VERSE.
Non-metrical language is PROSE.
38
Meter
• It is a rhythm established by the poem.
• It is dependent on
the number of syllables in the line/foot/stanza
the way those syllables are accented
• It is often described as a pattern of stressed
and unstressed syllables.
• the rhythmic unit is often described as a foot.
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Rhythm
• The term rhythm refers to any wavelike
recurrence of motion or sound.
• In speech it is the natural rise and fall of
language.
40
Rhyme
• It is two words that sound alike.
• The vowel sound of two words is the
same, but the initial consonant sound is
different.
• It is the most recognizable convention of
poetry.
• It helps to unify the poem.
41
Rhyme
Rhyme is the repetition of a stressed sound,
usually the final syllable.
• It repeats a sound that links one concept to
another, helping to determine the structure of a
poem.
• Rhyme for its own sake is really just decorative.
• It contributes to the poem’s meaning or unity.
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Rhyme examples:
• Internal rhyme: functions within a line of
poetry.
His aim was to blame the dame.
43
Parallelism
• Parallelism is recurrent syntactical similarity.
• Several parts of a sentence or several
sentences are expressed similarly to show
that the ideas in the parts or sentences are
equal in importance.
• It adds balance, rhythm, and clarity to the
sentence.
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Parallelism examples:
• Parallel subject with parallel modifiers:
Ferocious dragons breathing fire and wicked
sorcerers casting their spells do their harm by
night in the forest of Darkness.
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Parallelism examples:
• Parallel verbs and adverbs:
I have always sought but seldom obtained a
parking space near the door.
Quickly and happily he walked around the
corner to buy the book.
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Parallelism examples:
• Parallel verbs and direct objects:
He liked to eat watermelon and to avoid
grapefruit.
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Parallelism examples:
• Or just the objects:
This Arab owns three pastel Cadillacs, two gold
Rolls Royces, and ten assorted Mercedes.
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Parallelism examples:
• Or parallel prepositional phrases:
He found it difficult to vote for an ideal truth
but against his own self interest.
The pilot walked down the aisle, through the
door, and into the cockpit, singing “Up, Up, and
Away”.
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Antithesis
• It establishes a clear, contrasting relationship
between two ideas by joining them together
or juxtaposing them, often in parallel
structure.
• It creates a definite and systematic
relationship between ideas.
Eg: To err is human; to forgive, divine. - A. Pope
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Antithesis examples:
• Antithesis can convey some sense of
complexity in a person or idea by admitting
opposite or nearly opposite truth.
Eg: Though surprising, it is true; though
frightening at first, it is really harmless.
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Anaphora
It is the repetition of the same word or words
at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses,
or sentences, commonly in conjunction with
climax and with parallelism.
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Anaphora examples:
To think on death it is a misery,/ To think on life
it is a vanity;/To think on the world verily it
is,/To think that here man had no perfect bliss.
Peacham
In books I find the death as if they were alive;
in books I foresee things to come; in books
warlike affairs are set forth; from books come
forth the laws of peace. – Richard de Bury
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Rhetorical question
• It is not answered by the writer, because the
answer is obvious or obviously desired, and
usually just yes or no.
• It is used for effect, emphasis, or provocation,
or for drawing a concluding statement from
the facts at hand.
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Rhetorical question examples:
• For if we lose the ability to perceive our faults,
what is the good of living on? -Marcus Aurelius
• It leads to further discussion:
Is justice then to be considered merely a word?
Or is it whatever results from the bartering
between attorneys?
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Synecdoche
• It is a type of metaphor in which the part stands
for the whole, the whole for the part,
the genus for the species, the species for the
genus.
• The material for the thing made, or any portion,
section, or main quality for the whole or the
thing itself.
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Synecdoche examples:
• Farmer Jones has two hundred head of cattle
and three hired hands.
• It is sure hard to earn a dollar these days.
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Metonymy
• It is another form of metaphor.
• It is very similar to synecdoche.
• Some do not distinguish between them.
• The thing chosen for the metaphorical image
is closely associated with the subject with
which it is to be compared.
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Metonymy examples:
• The orders come directly from the White
House.
• You can’t fight city hall.
• This land belongs to the crown.
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Personification
• It represents an
animal
inanimate object
ideas
abstractions
• as having human attributes of
form
character
feelings
behavior
• It functions as a device of art to clarify ideas.
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Personification example:
The ship began to creak and protest as it
struggled against the rising sea.
Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the
ground. – Genesis 4:10b
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Hyperbole
• It deliberately exaggerates conditions for
emphasis or effect.
• It is not used to mislead the reader.
• It is the counterpart of understatement.
Eg: There are a thousand of reasons why more
research is needed on solar energy.
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Hyperbole example:
• It is used to exaggerate one thing to show how
really different it is from something
supposedly similar to which it is being
compared.
• This stuff is used motor oil compared to
the coffee you make, my love.
• She’s said so a million times.
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Oxymoron
• It is a paradox reduced to two words, usually
an:
adjective-noun “eloquent silence”
adverb-adjective “inertly strong”
• It is used for
effect
complexity
emphasis
wit
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Oxymoron
• It shows the complexity of a situation where
two apparently opposite things are true
simultaneously
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Oxymoron examples:
scandalously nice
sublimely bad
darkness visible
cheerful pessimist
sad joy
wise fool
tender cruelty
despairing hope
freezing fire
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Epithet
• It is an adjective or adjective phrase
appropriate qualifying a subject (noun) by
naming a key or important characteristic of
the subject.
• A transferred epithet is an adjective
modifying a noun which it does not normally
modify, but which makes a figurative sense.
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Epithet example:
• At length I heard a ragged noise and mirth of
thieves and murders. George Herbert
• Blind mouths! That scarce themselves know
how to hold/A sheep hook. John Milton
• In an age of pressurized happiness, we
sometimes grow insensitive to subtle joys.
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Hyperbaton
• It includes several rhetorical devices involving
departure from normal word order.
For example:
She had a personality indescribable.
His was a countenance sad.
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Onomatopoeia
• It is the use of words whose pronunciation
imitates the sound the word describes.
«Buzz», for example, when spoken is intended
to resemble the sound of a flying insect.
For example:
The flies buzzing and whizzing around their
ears kept them from finishing the experiment
at the swamp.
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Apostrophe
• It interrupts the discussion or discourse and
address directly a person or personified thing,
either present or absent.
• Its most common purpose in prose is to give
vent or display intense emotion, which can no
longer be held back.
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Apostrophe example:
• O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the
prophets and stones those sent to her! How
often I wanted to gather your children
together, just as a hen gathers her brood
under her wings, and you would not have it!
Luke 13:34
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Climax
• It consists of arranging words, clauses, or
sentences in the order of increasing
importance, weight, or emphasis.
• Parallelism usually forms a part of the
arrangement, because it offers a sense of
continuity, order, and movement-up the
ladder of importance.
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Climax example:
To have faults is not good, but faults are human.
Worse is to have them and not see them. Yet
beyond that is to have faults, to see them, and
to do nothing about them. But even that seems
mild compared to him who knows his faults, and
who parades them about and encourages them
as though they were virtues.
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Analogy
• It compares two different things by identifying
points of similarity.
• It is created for the purpose of conceptual
clarity.
• An example is comparing the physical details
and functioning of the human heart to a
mechanical pump.
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Periphrasis
• It is substituting a descriptive phrase made up
of a concrete adjective and abstract noun , for
a precise word, such as «fringed curtains of
thine eye» for eyelashes.
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Allusion
• It is an indirect reference outside the current
literary work. The reference may be to
something in literature, history, modern
culture, or another area.
Eg: He was a veritable Hercules.
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Elements of fiction
A fiction writer uses
formal elements
To create artistic
effects
plot
character
setting
point of view
style
tone
theme
imagery
symbol
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Fiction
•
•
•
•
The formal elements divide the story into parts.
This elements blend to create a whole.
They are necessary for most critical discussion.
They provide a basic vocabulary and set of
critical tools that can be used in conjunction
with many other critical approach.
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Plot
• It refers to a series of events that give a story
its meaning and effect.
• In most stories, these events arise out of
conflict experienced (main character).
• Conflict external overbearing mother
internal jealousy,
lost of identity
overconfidence
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Plot
The sequence of events is called the narrative order:
• Chronological: The events are told in the order they
happen.
• Flashback: An event that took place before the
current time of the story.
• Flashforward: The opposite effect.
• Timelapse: Occurs when the story skips a period of
time.
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Plot
• Conflict: The basic tension, challenge that
propels a story’s plot.
• Complications: Plot events that plunge the
protagonist into conflict.
• Rising action: The part of the plot in which
the drama intensifies, rising towards the
climax.
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Plot
• Climax: The most dramatic moment, the
turning point of the story.
• Falling action: When the conflict is resolved,
and leads quickly to the story’s end.
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Character
• In fiction character refers to a textual
representation of a human being or another
creature.
• It is the key element in the story’s creation.
• It is the central agent in generating its plot.
• Authors achieve characterization with many
techniques: using the narrative voice to
describe the character (showing actions,
thoughts, dialogue, etc).
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Character
• Protagonist: A story’s main character (person,
animal, or personified object).
• Antagonist: The character or force in conflict
with the protagonist (society, nature, fate,
another person).
• Round character: A complex, fully developed.
• Flat character: It is not central to the story.
• Characterization: The author presents and
develops a fictional character.
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Setting
Setting includes the place, the time period in
which the story takes place.
It has:
• Simple attributes
climate
wall decor
• Complex dimensions historical moment
social context
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Setting
• Places and times have their own personality
emotional essence
• It is often developed with narrative description
action
dialogue
character’s thoughts
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Setting
• Social context: The significant cultural issues
affecting a story’s setting or authorship.
• Mood: The underlying feeling or atmosphere
produced by a story.
• Setting can clarify conflict, illuminate character,
affect the mood, and act as a symbol.
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Point of view
Every story is told by a narrator, who is created by
the author. The narrator controls the story by talking
from a particular point of view and how much he or
she knows
• First person: uses I – A character is telling the
story.
• Second person: uses you- the authors speaks
directly to the reader.
• Third person: uses he, she or it.
89
Point of view
• Point of view in fiction refers to the source
and scope of the narrative voice.
• First person uses the pronoun “I” does the
narration, and may be a major character and
is often its protagonist.
• A first person narrator may also be a minor
character, no centrally involved.
90
Point of view
• Narrative voice: The voice of the narrator
telling the story.
• Point of view character: The character
focused on most closely by the narrator; in
first person.
• Point of view: The narrator himself.
91
Point of view
• The author’s choice of point of view has a
significant effect on the story’s voice and on
the type of information given to the reader.
• In first person narration what can be shown is
limited to the character’s observation and
thoughts, and skewed perception in the
narrator will be passed on the reader.
92
Point of view
• Third person point of view when the narrator
does not take part in the story.
• Third –person three types:
1) Omniscient: the narrative voice can render
information from anywhere, thoughts,
feelings of the characters.
2) Limited: called sympathetic, the narrative
voice relate what is in the minds of only few
characters, often only one.
93
Point of view
3) Objective or dramatic: the narrator renders
explicit details and does not have access to the
internal thoughts, or background information
about the setting or situation. His thoughts are
inferred only by what is expressed openly, in
actions or in words.
94
Style
In fiction refers to the language conventions
used to construct the story.
A fiction writer can manipulate:
• Diction: the author’s choice of words
• Sentence structure,
• Phrasing,
• Dialogue,
• and other aspects of language to create style
95
Style
A story style could be described as:
• Richly detailed
• Flowing
• Barely controlled
• or sparing and minimalist to reflect the simple
sentence structures and low range of vocabulary
96
Style
• Predominant styles change through time.
• Time period in which fiction was written often
influences it style.
• The story voice is the communicative effect
created by the author’s style.
97
Style
The communicative effect created by the author’s
style can be referred to as the story’s voice.
The story’s voice may be:
serious and straightforward
rambunctiously comic
dramatic tense
98
Tone
• Tone: It refers to the attitude that the story
creates toward its subject matter.
• A story’s style
and voice
contributed to its tone
99
Tone
• It is the author’s attitude toward what he or
she writes, but it may be easier to understand
if you think of it as the attitude that you (the
reader) get from the author’s words.
• The easiest tone to recognize is humor.
100
Describing Tone, use adjectives
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
humorous
mysterious
creepy
straight-forward
exciting
boring
depressing
exhilarating
Serious,
dramatic way.
101
Tone
• The tone of a poem is roughly equivalent to
the mood it creates in the reader.
• It depends on the interpretation, the poem
gives clues about how to feel about it.
• It may be based on a number of other
conventions that the poem uses (meter or
repetition).
102
Tone
A story may convey:
• Earnest and sincere tone (characters, events).
• Humor or sarcasm (created through subtle
language and content manipulation).
103
Theme
Theme is the meaning or concept we are left
with after reading a piece of fiction.
What did you learn from this?
• It may be unmistakable
or more elusive
Theme is an important element of story
construction, providing the basis for many
valuable discussions.
104
Imagery
• It is the representation through language of
sense experience.
• Poetry appeals directly to our sense, through
its music and rhythm, which we actually hear
when it is read aloud.
105
Imagery
• Literal images appeal to our sense of realistic
perception.
• Figurative images also appeal to our
imagination.
• A poetic imagery alters or shapes the way we
see what the poem is describing.
106
Imagery
• Visual imagery: imagery of sight
• Aural imagery: imagery of sound
• Olfactory imagery: imagery of smell
• Tactile imagery: imagery of touch
• Gustatory imagery: imagery of taste
107
Imagery examples:
• A city seen from the airplane.
• A feather floating on a pond.
• A red balloon, bobbing uncertainly.
108
Symbol
A symbol is an image in a story that is used
repeatedly and carry multiple layers of meaning.
Symbols are often objects
toy windmill
rose
landscape (river)
water (cleansing)
109
Symbol
• A symbol is something-a person, object,
situation, or action- which operates on two
levels, the literal and the symbolic.
• Metaphors are comparisons between two
seemingly dissimilar things.
110
Symbol
• A symbol works two ways: something itself
suggest something deeper.
• Symbols associate two things, but their
meaning is both
literal
figurative
111
Symbol
• Some symbols have widespread, commonly
accepted values.
• No symbols have absolute meanings, all of
them depend on the culture and time.
112
Symbol examples:
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•
•
•
•
•
•
A dove
A river
A bird
An owl
A sea
A raven
A fruit
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Imagery and symbol
• A normal image is generally used once to
complete a scene or passage.
• A symbol is often referred to repeatedly and
carries meanings essential to the story.
• Some symbols are universal but others are
more culturally.
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Work cited
Summers, Della. Longman Dictionary of
Contemporary English. Printed in Spain by
Cayfosa, Barcelona. 2001. Print.
115
Work consulted
Elements of poetry
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/poetr
y/elements.html
Elements of fiction
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/fictio
n/elements.asp
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Work consulted
Mc Guigan, Brendan. Rhetorical Devices: A
Handbook and Activities for Student Writers.
Prestwick House, Inc. Printed in United
States of America. 2008. Print.
English Rhetoric. Tsinghua University Press.
Japan. 2005. Print.
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