Literary & Rhetorical Devices
Powerpoint
Presentation by: Serena Vannoy
Literary Devices
Simile & Personification
• “I have dreamt in my life, dreams that have
stayed with me forever after, and changed my
ideas; they have gone through and through me,
like wine through water, and altered the color of
my mind.
• Like wine through water is a simile because it
uses the word like to compare wine and water.
• Color of my mind is a personification because it is
giving a non-human thing (mind) a human like
characteristic (color).
• This quote is important because it gives the
readers a feel of how significant these dreams are
to the story.
Foreshadowing
• “Wuthering Heights is the name of Mr.
Heathcliff’s dwelling. ‘Wuthering’ being a
significant provincial adjective.”
• By Lockwood defining Wuthering, it suggests
to the readers it’s significance to the story.
• This is foreshadowing because Lockwood
makes it apparent that Wuthering Heights will
be important throughout the story.
Simile
• “Catherine’s face was just like the
landscape…”
• This is a simile because it compares
Catherine’s face to the landscape using like.
• This is important to the story because Mrs.
Dean is describing her happiness to the
readers. It gives us a feel of Catherine’s
personality.
Paradox
• “It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so
he shall never know how I love him: and that, not
because he’s handsome, Nelly, but because he’s
more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are
made of, his and mine are the same; and Linton’s
is as different as a moonbeam from lightening, or
frost from fire.”
• This is a paradox because proper love is described
by Catherine as opposite (moonbeam from
lightening, frost from fire).
• This is important because Catherine realizes she
cannot marry Heathcliff.
Symbolism
• “I know ghosts have wandered on Earth. Be
with me always- take any form- drive me
mad!”
• This is symbolism because the ghosts in
Wuthering Heights are symbols for something
else.
• They symbolize closure from love.
• This quote shows Heathcliff’s wish that ghosts
were real, because if they are Catherine would
still be with him.
Foreshadowing
• “…shadows and sunshine flitting over it in
rapid succession; but the shadows rested
longer and the sunshine was more transient;
and her poor little heart reproached itself for
even that passing forgetfulness of its care.”
• This is foreshadowing because Mrs. Dean is
hinting that because the shadows are resting
on Catherine’s face longer, the happy and alive
time of her life is coming to an end.
• It’s important because the readers realize
something is going to happen to Catherine.
Personification, Symbolism, Repetition
• “…one may guess the power of the North wind
blowing over the edge, by the excessive slant of a
few stunted firs at the end of the house, and by a
range of gaunt thorns all stretching their limbs
one way, as if craving alms of the sun.”
• This is a personification because thorns (which
are not human) can not stretch their limbs (like
humans can).
• This is symbolism because in the book, the wind
represents change in the book. It is also present
during many other events in the book,(Mr.
Earnshaw’s death, Heathcliff leaving Wuthering
Heights, Heathcliff’s death).
• It is repetition because the wind is repeated
throughout the book.
Personification
• “Heaven did not seem to be my home; and I
broke my heart with weeping to come back to
Earth.”
• This is a personification because a heart can
not physically break with weeping, therefore
this quote is giving something not human,
humanlike characteristics (making it a
personification).
• This is important to the book because
Catherine missed Heathcliff while she was in
was in heaven and he was on Earth, which is
why her ghost comes back to visit him.
Imagery
• “The moment her regard ceased, I could have
torn his heart out, and drunk his blood!”
• This is imagery because it is very detailed and
creates a scene of violence in your
imagination.
• This quote is important because it shows the
disgust, anger, and sadness Heathcliff had
towards Linton.
Personification
• “…listened to the soft wind breathing through
the grass…”
• This is a personification because grass can not
breathe.
• This is important to the story because it is at
the end of the book when Mrs. Dean is
looking at Mr. Heathcliffs bare headstone, and
realizes the happiness they will have now that
they are all free to wander for eternity.
Simile
• “Whatever our souls are made of his and mine
are the same and Linton’s is as different as a
moonbeam from lightening or frost from fire.”
• This quote is a simile because it compares
moonbeam and lightening and frost and fire
using the word as.
• Catherine uses this quote to describe how
different her and Linton are, and how alike her
and Heathcliff are, (which is why she loves
Heathcliff and not Linton).
Rhetorical Devices
Ethos
“…because he’s more myself than I am.”
• This quote is ethos because it shows why
Heathcliff would have credibility to speak about
Catherine… because if he knows her better than
she knows herself, he would be able to tell other
people about her as well as she would be able
too.
• This is important to the story because the readers
start to see Catherine’s and Heathcliff’s
connection, which leads to other major events in
the story.
Pathos
• “If he loved you with all the power of his soul
for a whole lifetime, he couldn’t love you as
much as I do in a single day.”
• This is pathos because the quote shows
outrageous love, which makes the readers
have emotion when reading it. It makes you
feel good.
• This is important because the readers see
Heathcliff’s love for Catherine.
Ethos
• “Whatever our souls are made out of, his and
mine are the same.”
• This is also ethos because it lets the readers know
how alike Catherine and Heathcliff are. It shows
how credible Heathcliff is to speak of Catherine,
because she refers to them as“the same”.
• This quote is important because it shows the
moment that Catherine realizes she can not
marry Heathcliff, because her love is to become
one with him, not to marry him.
Logos
• “It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now.”
• This is logos because Catherine is doing the
logical thing of this time by not marrying
Heathcliff.
• Catherine knows that although she loves
Healthcliff, she can’t marry him because she is
aware that society would degrade her because he
doesn’t have a family name.
• In this time period, marrying a man without
money when you had money was unacceptable.
• So by not marrying Healthcliff, she is doing the
logical thing in this time period.
Ethos
• “You loved me- then what right had you to leave
me?”
• This is ethos because Heathcliff has the credibility
to question Catherine’s decision to leave him.
• He believed he was loved by Catherine, and when
you are loved by someone, you have the right to
ask them questions.
• This is important to the story because it is the
moment Heathcliff confronts Catherine.
Pathos
• “…you know as well as I do that for every
thought she spends on Linton, she spends a
thousand on me…”
• This is pathos because it makes the readers
happy knowing that Catherine is inlove with
Heathcliff and that he knows it. The readers
want the two to be together.
• It’s important because it shows that Heathcliff
is confident in his and her love, which shows
throughout the rest of the book.
Logos
• “…I know by instinct, his reserve springs from
an aversion to showy displays of feeling, to
manifestations of mutual kindness. He’ll love
and hate equally undercover…”
• This quotes reveals significant information
about Heathcliff, it can be concluded that he is
a mysterious figure. It also shows that because
he “loves and hates equally undercover” he
has a troubled life.
• However, those conclusions were left for the
readers to logically understand and infer
about Heathcliff.
Pathos
• “…as he pulled at it, into an uncontrollable
passion of tears. ‘Come in! Come in! he
sobbed. ‘Cathy, do come. Oh do- once more!
Oh! My heart’s darling! Hear me this time,
Catherine, at last!”
• This is pathos because you feel sorry for Mr.
Heathcliff, because he is so terribly upset.
• This is important because the readers learns
that Heathcliff’s love, Catherine, is dead.
Logos
• “Why did you betray your own heart, Cathy?”
• In this quote, Heathcliff is asking Catherine
why she married Linton when she loved him.
• He explains that she betrayed her own heart…
• Marrying someone when you love someone
else is not logical, so Heathcliff’s logic was to
ask her why she did it.
• It was logical of Heathcliff to wonder because
he thought they were in love.
Pathos
• “…I discovered my candle wick reclining one of
the antique volumes and perfuming the place
with an odor of roasted calf-skin.”
• This is pathos because it creates fear in the
reader’s, because it shows ghosts, which
enable fear in people.
• This is important because it is a scene in the
book when ghosts are present. Ghosts will
reoccur on many occasions throughout the
book. So it shows the readers what to expect.
THE END!