Sound Devices
Device
Definition
Example
Alliteration
BEGINNING of several
“I saw a bee busy among
consecutive or neighboring the sweet bilberries.”
words with the same
consonant sound.
Assonance
The repetition of vowel
“a warm glow suffused
sounds in a series of words. both it and the lower steps
of the oak staircase”
Repeated “o”
Effect: mellowness (in this
case only)
Consonance
The repetition of
consonant sounds within
or at the end of a series of
words
“while the rain descends
so, must I lay my head on
the cold, drenched
ground?”
Repetition (Syntax Techniques)
Device
Definition
Example
Repetition
Device in which words,
sounds, and ideas are
used more than once to
enhance rhythm to
create emphasis
THE RAVEN
Anadiplosis
The repetition of the last
word of one clause at the
beginning of the
following clause
“He then said the she was the daughter of
a French opera-danger, Celine Varens,
towards whom he had once cherished hat
he called a ‘grande passion’. This passion
Celine had progressed to return with
even…”
Epanalepsis
The repetition at the end “Breakfast was over, and none had
of a clause of a word that breakfast.”
occurred at the beginning
of the clause
Repetition (Syntax Techniques)
Device
Definition
Example
Anaphora
Repetition of the same
word or group of words
at the beginning of
successive clauses. Helps
to establish rhythm
“What a face he had, now that is was
almost on level with mine! What a great
nose! And what a mouth! And what large
prominent teeth!”
Epistrophe
The repetition of the
same word or group of
words at the ends of
successive clauses. Helps
set up a pronounced
rhythm and gains special
emphasis
“Genius is said to be self-conscious: I
cannot tell whether Miss Ingram was a
genius, but she was self-conscious—
remarkable self conscious indeed.”
Stylistic Devices
Device
Definition
Example
Polysyndeton
several coordinating
conjunctions are used in
succession in order to
achieve an artistic effect
“Let the whitefolks have their money and
power and segregation and sarcasm and big
houses and schools and lawns like carpets,
and books, and mostly–mostly–let them have
their whiteness.” (Maya Angelou, I Know Why
the Caged Bird Sings)
Asyndeton
derived from a Greek
word asyndeton which
means unconnected. It is
a stylistic device used in
literature and poetry to
intentionally eliminate
conjunctions between
the phrases and in the
sentence, yet maintain
the grammatical accuracy
“This is the villain among you who deceived
you, who cheated you, who meant to betray
you completely…….”
(Rhetoric by Aristotle)
The word “and” is not featured in the given
lines, which could have functioned as a
conjunction here. Aristotle believed that
asyndeton could be effective if used in the
ending of the texts. Here he himself
employed this device.