DIDLS
DICTION
WORD CHOICE
IMAGERY
APPEALS TO
SENSES
LANGUAGE
DETAIL
SUPPORTS
ATTITUDE AND
TONE
SYNTAX
FIGURES OF SPEECH
SOUND DEVICES
LITERARY
TECHNIQUES
STYLE
TONE
WRITER’S MANNER
OF EMPLOYING
LANGUAGE
WRITER’S
ATTITUDE
TOWARD SUBJECT
SENTENCE
STRUCTURE
Figures of Speech

Words or phrases that describe one thing in
terms of something else. They always involve
some imaginative comparison between
seemingly unlike things.

Not meant to be taken literally, figurative
language is used to produce images in a
reader’s mind and to express ideas in fresh,
vivid, and imaginative ways. The most common
examples of figurative language, or figures of
speech, used both in prose and poetry are
simile, metaphor, and personification.
Apostrophe

A form of personification in which the
absent or dead are spoken to as if
present and the inanimate, as if animate.
 Antony. O judgment, thou art fled to
brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason! (III,
ii, 106-107)
Julius Caesar
Shakespeare addresses an inanimate
noun as though it has human
understanding and empathy.

A comparison of two unlike things not using
like or as.
 “You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I
ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may
not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been. “
Frankenstein
The quote enhances the readers’
understanding of the character’s emotions
and perspective of the past.
Metaphor
Metonymy

A form of metaphor, the name of one
thing is applied to another thing with
which it is closely associated.
“When they called you crybaby
Or poor or fatty or crazy
And made you drink their acid
And concealed it.”
“Courage”
In these lines, the taunts of others hurt a
person’s feelings. The speaker calls the taunts
acid, an appropriate term because they do sting
or burn a person emotionally.
A
form of paradox that combines
a pair of opposite terms into a
single unusual expression
◦ “sweet sorrow”
◦ “cold fire”
◦ “bitter sweet”
◦ “jumbo shrimp”
◦ “baby grand”
Oxymoron
Paradox

Elements of a statement contradict each
other. Although the statement may appear
illogical, impossible, or absurd, it turns out to
have a coherent meaning that reveals a
hidden truth.

“To attain peace, we must prepare for war.”

Although peace and war are opposites, they
can be considered two sides of the same
coin, ying and yang: without one, you cannot
know or have the other.
Ancient Roman Proverb
Personification

A metaphor that gives inanimate objects
or abstract ideas human characteristics.
◦ “But when he entered, misery and despair
alone welcomed him.”
 The comparison of his companions to misery and
despair suggests the depth of his unhappiness.
◦ “The very winds whispered in soothing
accents, and maternal nature bade me weep
no more.” Frankenstein
 The character compares nature to a mother soothing
her son, suggesting the depth of his love of nature.
Pun

A play on words that are identical or similar
in sound but have sharply diverse meanings.
Puns can have serious as well as humorous
uses.
 “Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave
man.” Romeo and Juliet
 Grave means serious and also means he will be in
the grave.
 “I know not, gentlemen, what you intend,
Who else must be let blood, who else is rank.
Julius Caesar
◦ Rank means what level one holds in the hierarchy and
something that smells bad. Caesar is high ranking, and
will stink once he is dead.

A comparison of two different things or
ideas through the use of like or as.
◦ “The saintly soul of Elizabeth shone like a
shrine-dedicated lamp in our peaceful home.
 Elizabeth’s “saintly soul” is compared to a “shrinededicated lamp,” indicating the purity and loyalty
of her soul.
Simile
Synecdoche

A form of metaphor where part of
something is used to signify the whole.
◦ “All hands on deck.”
 The captain says hands, but he really wants the
sailors in their entirety.
◦ “Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your
ears” (III, ii, 75). Julius Caesar
 Marc Antony asks the Roman citizens for their ears,
but he is really asking for their attention,
consideration, and understanding.
Sound Devices
 Stylistic
techniques that convey
meaning through sound
 Alliteration
 Assonance
 Consonance
 Onomatopoeia
 Rhyme

Beginning several consecutive or
neighboring words with the same sound.
 “Thus strangely are our souls constructed, and by
such slight ligaments are we bound to prosperity
or ruin.”
◦ The repeated “s” emphasizes the
strangeness and seriousness of the
statement.
Alliteration
Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds in a series
of words
◦ “But I was doomed to live: and, in two months, found myself as
awaking, from a dream, in a prison, stretched on a wretched
bed, surrounded by gaolers’ turnkeys, bolts, …”
 The repeated “e” sound and the “etch”
emphasizes the hideousness of the situation, like
it might make you “retch”.

Repetition of a consonant sound within a
series of words to produce a harmonious
effect.
◦ “But sleep did not afford me respite from
thought and misery; my dreams presented a
thousand objects that scared me.”
◦ The repeated “d’s” mimic the sound of dread.
The repeated “s” sounds string together to
make an evil hiss noise.
Consonance
The use of words that mimic the
sounds they describe.
HISS
BUZZ
BANG
Onomatopoeia

Repetition of sounds in two or more words
or phrases that appear close to each
other.
◦ End rhyme occurs at the end of lines.
◦ Rhyme scheme is the pattern of end rhymes
(in poetry).
◦ Internal rhyme occurs within a line.
 “I lay down on the grass, and was
overpowered by a deep sleep.”
Rhyme
LITERARY
TECHNIQUES
Allusion

A reference to a mythological, literary,
historical or religious person place or
thing.
◦ Historical
 “I heard of the slothful Asiatics; of the stupendous
genius and mental activity of the Grecians; of the
early Romans – of their subsequent degenerating
– of the decline of that mighty empire . . . .
Frankenstein
◦ The allusion to the Asiatics, Grecians, and Romans refers
to the ultimate decline of Asian, Greek, and Roman
societies and empires, just as the monster thinks the
society of his time is declining.
Mythological Allusion
◦ “Induced by these feelings, I was of course led to
admire peaceable lawgivers, Numa, Solon, and
Lycurgus, in preference to Romulus and Theseus.”
 The allusion to the mythological characters Romulus
(Roman) and Theseus (Greek) leads the reader to
understand why he thought Numa, Solon, and
Lycurgus were more peaceful.
Allusion (cont.)
 Religious
Allusion
◦ “Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be
thy Adam; but I am rather the fallen angel. . . .”
 The allusion to the Biblical Adam and the
comparison of the monster to the fallen angel
(devil) lets the reader know the monster’s selfperception.
Allusion (cont)

Literary Allusion
◦ “I am going to unexplored regions, to “the land
of mist and snow;” but I shall kill no albatross,
therefore do not be alarmed for my safety, or if
I should come back to you as worn and woeful
as the “Ancient Mariner.”
Frankenstein
 The author compares Robert Walton to the
“Ancient Mariner,” a poem written by Coleridge.
Allusion (cont)
Hyperbole

Deliberate, extravagant, and often
outrageous exaggeration. It may be
used for either serious or comic effect.
◦ “A million times, thank you.”
◦ “I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse.”
Irony

Irony occurs when a author creates a
discrepancy between what a reader expects and
what is done or said in a work.

Verbal irony occurs when a speaker or narrator says
something that contradicts what the speaker believes
should or would be said.
◦ “The yellow star? Oh, well, what of it? You won’t die of a
yellow star.” Chlomo Wiesel in Night
 The reader, knowing that Jews bound for concentration
camps were forced to wear yellow stars, would not expect
the character to say this. The reader know that the star
leads to death.

Situational irony occurs when a situation turns out
differently from what one would normally expect.
◦ A deep sea diver drowning in the bathtub
Irony

Dramatic irony occurs when a character or
speaker says or does something that has
different meanings from what he thinks it means,
though the audience and other characters
understand the full implications of the speech or
action.
◦ Oedipus curses the murderer of Laius, not
realizing that he is himself the murderer and so
is cursing himself.
A
pattern or strand of locations,
objects, or events significant to
the meaning of a work.
◦ Dreams recur throughout Bless Me, Ultima.
◦ Nature recurs throughout Frankenstein.
Motif
 The
use of verbal irony in which a
person appears to be praising
something but is actually insulting it.
◦ “As I fell down the stairs headfirst, I heard her
say, ‘Look at that coordination!’”
Sarcasm

The use of humorous devices like irony,
understatement, and exaggeration to
highlight a human folly or a societal
problem. The purpose is to bring the
flaw to the attention of the reader in
order that it may be addressed,
remedied, or eradicated.
◦ In his work “A Modest Proposal,” Jonathan Swift
suggests hunting/eating children as a solution to
the poverty, starvation, and child abuse running
rampant in 1700’s Ireland.
Satire
Symbolism

The use of any object, person, place, or
action that both has a meaning in itself
and one that stands for something larger
than itself, such as quality, attitude, belief,
or value.
◦ Universal symbolism is common to all mankind
(red symbolizes love, power, etc.)
◦ Contextual symbolism is used in a particular
way by an individual author.

A.K.A. Meiosis, litotes
◦ The opposite of hyperbole.
◦ An irony that deliberately represents something
as being much less than it really is
 “I could probably live on two million dollars a
year.
 “ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch…”
◦ Mercutio says this when he is mortally wounded in
Hamlet
Understatement
 The
study of sound and rhythm in
poetry.
◦ While you may claim to not like writing or
reading poetry, you need to develop an
appreciation for the elements of language that
a poet must master in order to master his
craft.
Prosody