Literary Devices
Introduction to Literature
Forms of Repetition
• Alliteration
– Repetition of the initial (first) consonant
• Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer…
• Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as
both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no
mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant,
vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation,
stands vivified and has vowed to vanquish these venal and
virulent vermin van guarding vice and vouchsafing the violently
vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is
vengeance: a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value
and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the
virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose,
so let me simply add that it is my very good honor to meet you
and you may call me V.
– V is for Vendetta
Forms of Repetition
• Assonance
– Repetition of a vowel sound
• Row, row, row your boat…
• …dead in the middle of Little Italy; little did we know
/ every riddle's a middleman who didn't do diddly.
– Big Pun, “Twinz (Deep Cover ‘98)”
Forms of Repetition
• Consonance
– Repetition of an internal consonant
• Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way…
• Rap rejects my tape deck, ejects projectile. / Whether
Jew or Gentile / I rank top percentile, / many styles, /
more powerful than gamma rays, / my grammar
pays…
– The Fugees, “Zealots”
Forms of Repetition
• Anaphora
– Repetition of a word or phrase to begin lines of poetry or
prose
• It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was the age of
wisdom. It was the age of foolishness. It was the epoch of belief. It
was the epoch of incredulity. It was the season of Light. It was the
season of Darkness. It was the spring of hope. It was the winter of
despair.
– Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
• And the German won't be able to help themselves but to imagine
the cruelty their brothers endured at our hands, and our boot heels,
and the edge of our knives. And the German will be sickened by us,
and the German will talk about us, and the German will fear us. And
when the German closes their eyes at night and they're tortured by
their subconscious for the evil they have done, it will be with
thoughts of us that they are tortured with.
– Inglourious Basterds
Forms of Chiasmus (Inversion)
• Chiastic Repetition
– Inverting the word order (in a second instance)
without altering the meaning conveyed (in the
first instance)
• Boy, I can’t stand that sonuvabitch. He’s one
sonuvabitch I really can’t stand.”
– The Catcher in the Rye (P. 23)
Boy, I can’t stand
A
B
CHI
(X)
He’s one sonuvabitch
B1
that sonuvabitch
I really can’t stand
A1
Forms of Chiasmus (Inversion)
• Chiastic Antimetabole
– Inverting word order (in the second instance) to change or amend
the meaning conveyed (in the first instance)
• What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight — it's the size
of the fight in the dog.
– President Dwight D. Eisenhower
• “Then you should say what you mean,” the March Hare went on.
• “I do,” Alice hastily replied; "at least--at least I mean what I say--that's the
same thing, you know.”
• “Not the same thing a bit!” said the Hatter. “You might just as well say that
‘I see what I eat’ is the same thing as ‘I eat what I see’!”
• “You might just as well say," added the March Hare, “that ‘I like what I get’
is the same thing as ‘I get what I like’!’
• “You might just as well say,” added the Dormouse, who seemed to be
talking in his sleep, “that ‘I breathe when I sleep’ is the same thing as ‘I
sleep when I breathe’!”
– Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Forms of Chiasmus (Inversion)
• Chiastic Wordplay
– Inverting words, sounds, homophones, and/or
homonyms (in the second instance) to change or
amend the meaning (in the first instance)
• I find Paul appealing and Peale appalling.
– Adlai Stevenson, contrasting Saint Paul with Protestant
Minister Norman Vincent Peale (who opposed President
Kennedy’s bid for office in 1960)
• Unlike my predecessors, I have devoted more of my life
to shunting and hooting than to hunting and shooting.
– Sir Fred Burrows, speech upon his 1847 retirement as the last
governor of the British colony of Bengal
Forms of Chiasmus (Inversion)
• Chiastic Double Entendre
– Inverting the word order (in the second
instance) to evoke a second/double meaning
from its usage (in the first instance).
• We did not cross the border. The border crossed us.
– Immigrants’ Rights Slogan
• First sentence: “Cross” means “move beyond”
• Second sentence: “Cross” means “intersected,”
“openly opposed,” and “betrayed”
Forms of Chiasmus (Inversion)
• Palindrome
– A word or phrase that reads exactly the same
backwards as it does forwards.
• Now, sir, a war is never even; sir, a war is won.
• Campus motto: Bottoms up, Mac!
• Stressed? No Tips? Spit on desserts.
Forms of Chiasmus (Inversion)
•
Narrative Chiasmus
– Chiasmus on the largest scale, where it becomes the structural pattern of a whole
narrative.
A: 1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, AGE
B: the LORD appeared to him
GOD TRAVELS
[a]
C: and said, “I am God Almighty ; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. 2 Then I will make my
covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” THE PLAN
D: 3 Abram fell facedown,
BOWING
E: and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father
LEGACY
of many nations.
F: No longer will you be called Abram[b]; your name will be Abraham,[c] for I have
6
NAME CHANGE made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make
nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7
G: I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and
you and your descendant after you for the generations to come, to be your
ACTIONS &
God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan,
CONSEQUENCES
where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession
to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” Then God
said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your
descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant
with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep:
H: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo
CIRCUMCISION
circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and
you. 12
Forms of Chiasmus (Inversion)
• Narrative Chiasmus (CONTINUED)
H: For the generations to come every male among you who is eight
days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household
CIRCUMCISION
or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your
offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your
money, they must be circumcised.
G: My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14 Any
ACTIONS &
uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off
CONSEQUENCES
from his people; he has broken my covenant.
15
F: God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her
NAME CHANGE
Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her.
E: I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come
LEGACY
from her.”
D: 17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a
BOWING
hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “If
only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”
19
C: Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac.[d] I will
establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 And as for
THE PLAN
Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his
numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But my
covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.”
22
B: When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. GOD TRAVELS
23
A: On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money,
every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when
he was circumcised, 25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen; AGE
Source: Genesis 17:1-25
Forms of Contradiction
• Two-Idea Antithesis
– A parallel syntactical construction used to illustrate
a contrast between two antonyms/opposites (either
words or ideas)
• Serenity now; insanity later.
– Seinfeld
• That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
– Neil Armstrong, upon the first moon landing
• Some men see things as they are and say ‘why’; I dream
things that never were and say ‘why not.’
– President John F. Kennedy
Forms of Contradiction
• One-Idea Antithesis
– A compressed antithesis, where a single subject
expresses two opposing antonyms/opposites
(either words or ideas)
• I'm a bitch, I'm a lover
I'm a child, I'm a mother
I'm a sinner, I'm a saint
I do not feel ashamed.
– Meredith Brooks, “Bitch”
Forms of Contradiction
• Oxymoron
– From Greek: “oxy” (sharp) & “moron” (dull)
– Two words juxtaposed (placed next to one another in contradiction) that
are inherent opposites (i.e. a contradiction in terms).
• "O heavy lightness! Serious vanity!
Misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms!
Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health!“
– William Shakespeare, Romeo & Juliet
– Clichés
• Deafening silence
• Sweet sorrow
– Jokes
• Business ethics
• Civil war
– Commonly Used
• Electric candles
• Virtual reality
Forms of Contradiction
• Literary Paradox
– A statement that seems self-contradictory but expresses a little
known truth.
– Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.
• William Shakespeare, Hamlet
– “Take some more tea,” the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.
– “I’ve had nothing yet,” Alice replied in an offended tone, “so I can’t
take more.”
– “You mean you can’t take less,” said the Hatter. “It’s very easy to
take more than nothing.”
• Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Forms of Contradiction
• Logical Paradox
– A statement that seems (or is) impossible to
resolve.
• I always lie. (The Liar’s Paradox)
– If we read this as true, the statement is invalidated because
nothing the speaker ever says can be understood as honest,
and so the statement, in itself, must be false.
– If we read this as a lie, the statement is invalidated because
the statement, in itself, would end up being honest, and
would contradict the truthful message it sets out to deliver.
Forms of Ambiguity
• Hyperbole
– An obvious exaggeration of a person, thing, or
situation, which is intended for effect.
• “I done something new for this fight. I done wrestled with
an alligator. That's right. I have wrestled with an alligator. I
done tussled with a whale. I done handcuffed lightning,
thrown thunder in jail. That's bad! Only last week I
murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick! I'm
so mean I make medicine sick!“
– Muhammad Ali, Interview before fight with George Foreman
• Infomercial Montage
Forms of Ambiguity
• Litotes
– An obvious understatement of a person, thing, or situation, which is intended
for effect.
• [King Arthur and the Black Knight are fighting. King Arthur severs the Black Knight’s
arm.]
• King Arthur: Now stand aside, worthy adversary.
• Black Knight: ’Tis but a scratch.
• King Arthur: A scratch? Your arm’s off!
• Black Knight: I’ve had worse.
• [They fight again. King Arthur severs the Black Knight’s other arm.]
• King Arthur: You are indeed brave, Sir Knight, but the fight is mine.
• Black Knight: Oh, had enough, eh?
• King Arthur: Look, you stupid b*stard, you’ve got no arms left!
• Black Knight: Yes, I have.
• King Arthur: Look!
• Black Knight: It’s just a flesh wound.
– Monty Python and the Holy Grail
– They can often created by using a double negative or a negation of the
opposite.
• The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day. (Was bad…)
– “Casey at the Bat,” 1888 Baseball Poem
Forms of Ambiguity
• Malapropism
– A statement in which the speaker unknowingly uses an
improper word/term, usually one which sounds similar
to the proper word/term.
• The ironing (irony) is delicious!
– The Simpsons, (Bart, upon finding Lisa in detention)
• No, a moo point. Yeah, it's like a cow's opinion. It just doesn't
matter. It's moo." (moot)
– Friends, (Joey)
• This is definition (defamation) of character!
– My (Callie’s) grandfather, upon being arrested for public intoxication
(or so the story has been told…)
Forms of Ambiguity
• Verbal Irony/Sarcasm
– A statement regarding a person, thing, or situation that
is intended to be interpreted obviously as the opposite.
• [Maude shows the porn video starring Bunny to the Dude]
• Sherry in ‘Logjammin’”: [on video] You must be here to fix the
cable.
• Maude Lebowski: Lord. You can imagine where it goes from
here.
• The Dude: He fixes the cable?
• Maude Lebowski: Don't be fatuous, Jeffrey.
– The Big Lebowski
• I’ll just marry an NFL player. They’re super reliable.
– Glee, Santana
Forms of Ambiguity
• Dramatic Irony
– A form of irony on a larger scale, where a statement regarding a
person, thing, or situation is intended to be interpreted obviously as
the opposite by the audience (and potential some other characters),
but not by the speaker.
– The effect of this is placing the audience one step ahead of the
character.
• Would I ever leave this company? Look, I'm all about loyalty. In fact, I feel
like part of what I'm being paid for here is my loyalty. But if there were
somewhere else that valued loyalty more highly, I'm going wherever they
value loyalty the most.
– The Office, (Dwight)
• Yeah, sir, you might want to send a maintenance man over to that office
across the way. The lights are off, and they must be looking for a fuse box,
'cause them flashlights, they keep me awake.
– Forrest Gump, (Forrest, in the Watergate Hotel, contacting security)
Forms of Ambiguity
• Situational/Cosmic Irony
– Irony on the largest scale, where a person, thing, or situation ends up
undergoing an unexpected and/or tragic reversal in the outcome of events
(usually, different from the outcome the audience would have predicted).
• In 1981, when John Hinckley attempted to assassinate President Reagan, all of his
shots missed the President. However, one ricocheted off of the bullet-proof limousine
and ended up striking the President in the chest.
– The situational irony is that a car intended to protect the President actual caused him to be
shot.
• The Wizard of Oz is filled with situational irony:
– Dorothy spends her dream trying to find the Wizard of Oz so she can return home; she had
the ability to do it the whole time, though, by clicking her heels.
– Everyone in Oz believes the Wizard is all-powerful; however, he ends up being a shriveled,
old man behind a curtain.
– The Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion all accompany Dorothy to acquire a head, heart,
and courage; by the movie’s end, they realize they had these qualities the whole time.
• In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet fakes her death to avoid marrying Paris; however, Romeo
believes she is really dead (because he did not receive the “memo” in exile), so he kills
himself shortly before she wakes up.
Forms of Ambiguity
• Pun
– A play on meanings within a single
word, or words with similar sounds
being substituted to create a double
meaning/humorous effect.
• Thou art Peter [Greek: Petros], and upon
this rock [Greek: petra] I will build my
church.
– Matthew 16:18
• [James Bond has just wrestled an enemy,
who consumes an air capsule, puffs up
like a balloon, and floats away.]
• Solitaire: Where’s Kananga?
• James Bond: Oh, he always did have an
inflated opinion of himself.
– Live and Let Die
Forms of Ambiguity
• Zeugma
– The use of a single verb throughout several
words, clauses, or sentences to evoke multiple
meanings, usually both concrete and abstract.
• [Lieutenant Jimmy Cross] carried a strobe light and
the responsibility for the lives of his men.
– Tim O’Brien, “The Things They Carried”
• My teeth and ambitions are bared—be prepared!
– The Lion King (Scar, “Be Prepared”)
Forms of Imagery
• Simile
– Compares two separate ideas, objects, people,
etc. by using like or as.
• My rhymes are like shot clocks, interstate cops, and
blood clots; / my point is your flow gets stopped.
– Talib Kweli, “Hater Players”
• “The full green hills are round and soft as breasts.”
– John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath
Forms of Imagery
• Metaphor
– Transfers the qualities of one idea, object, person, etc.
to another, relying on an unexpected resemblance to
make it work; in this way, it is similar to a simile, but does
not use like or as.
• Time is money.
– Popular saying
• All the world's a stage, / and all the men and women merely
players; / they have their exits and their entrances.
– William Shakespeare, As You Like It
• The eyes are the nipples of the face.
– The House Bunny
Forms of Imagery
• Slang Metaphor
– Slang words that are coined through their continued
use as metaphors
• We get that bread (money), boy.
– Lil Wayne and Juelz Santana, “Get that Bread”
– From “dough,” which also arose from metaphor: bread is one of
the cheapest (and oldest foods) upon which people have
survived.
• If I wanna floss (show off/flaunt), I got my own.
– Jennifer Lopez, “Love Don’t Cost a Thing”
– Gangsters would show off the grill on their teeth, as though they
were baring their teeth in front of the mirror to floss.
Forms of Imagery
• Part-for-a-Whole Synecdoche
– Occurs when the writer uses one part of
something to stand in for a larger whole.
• Needles: Nice set of wheels (car). Let’s see what she
can do.
– Back to the Future III
• Dark Helmet: I knew it! I’m surrounded by assholes
(men full of crap).
– Spaceballs
Forms of Imagery
• Whole-for-a-Part Synecdoche
– Occurs when the writer uses a larger object, person,
idea, etc. to stand in for a part of it.
– He was quite fond of the drink (alcohol). It was the
drink that killed him. He was hit by a Guinness truck.
• Mrs. Doubtfire
– Look at me now. Look at me now. I’m gettin’ paper
(money).
• Chris Brown, “Look at me now”
Forms of Imagery
• Metonymy
– Substituting one term for another, using an
association to provide the necessary logical link.
• One suit, two suit, three suit, four!
– Entourage, (Billy, commenting on Eric and Ari—
businessmen)
• Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.
– William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar (Mark Antony, asking for
attention)
Forms of Imagery
• Allegory
– A narrative containing a figurative meaning distinct
from and parallel to the explicit (literal) plot.
• Planet of the Apes
– Literal Reading: Astronauts land on a foreign planet in the
distant future. The planet seems desolate, but apes, who have
attained human-like speech and intelligence, run the place, and
humans are mute, wearing animal skins.
– Figurative Reading: People reflect on the state of society, given
the issues war, pollution, racism, evolution vs. creationism, and
portray a bleak future.
Forms of Imagery
• Personification
– Attributing human-like
qualities to inanimate
objects or abstract
concepts.
• The Brave Little Toaster
– A toaster, desk lamp,
electric blanket, radio, and
vacuum cleaner go on a
quest to search for their
original owner.
Constance & Fortitude
Forms of Imagery
• Anthropomorphism
– Attributing human-like qualities to animals or
other non-human living objects.
•
•
•
•
The Jungle Book
The Lion King
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Animal Farm
Forms of Imagery
• Fable
• A story told with animals, plants, inanimate objects,
or forces of nature, intended to convey a moral
lesson that will be perfectly clear by the conclusion
(and may even be spelled out)
• “The Tortoise and the Hare”
– Moral: Slow and steady wins the race.
• Finding Nemo
– Moral: Just keep swimming.
Forms of Imagery
• Parable
– A story told with humans to illustrate a moral lesson,
which may or may not be clear (and is often more
complex than that of a fable)
– Parables can often be religious in nature.
• The Prodigal Son (Luke 15: 11-32)
– A man has two sons, and he gives each an inheritance. The
younger son wastes all of his money in a foreign land. When he
comes home, he repents and asks his father for forgiveness. The
father accepts, and makes a celebration of his son’s return. The
older son, who has worked hard and saved his money, is upset.
The father maintains that celebration is necessary, because his
son, in a sense was dead, and has now come back to life.
Activity
• Literary Devices Bingo