are big-picture literary devices that extend throughout the entire work, such as setting, theme, mood, and allegory, are the literary devices that deal with individual words and sentences, such as euphemisms and alliteration, How to identify literary devices when youre reading, You dont necessarily need to understand literary devices to enjoy a, . , but motifs are specific objects or events, while themes are abstract ideas. A cacophony is a combination of words that sound harsh or unpleasant together, usually because they pack a lot of Sprinkled sparsely, yet precisely through the straightforward narrative are language patterns that enhance thought and emotion. An allusion is an indirect reference to another figure, event, place, or work of art that exists outside the story. (read full understatement explanation with examples) Tragic heroes typically have heroic traits that earn them the sympathy of the audience, but also have flaws or https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/15/t-magazine/myanmar-george-orwell.html, While the novel mostly records the insidious effect of Orwells job as a policeman in Burma on his life, it also demonstrates his sensitivity to the local culture and lifestyle. By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University). Flashback. A paradox is a figure of speech that seems to contradict itself, but which, upon further examination, contains some kernel (read more), A character is said to be "flat" if it is one-dimensionalor lacking in complexity. Characterization is the representation of the traits, motives, and psychology of a character in a narrative. This panicked need to occupy the mind to stop it from fixating on the dreaded theme of death is something Orwell conveys so well, even as bystander rather than condemned man, in A Hanging. The tone of a piece of writing isits general character or attitude, which mightbecheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical A tragic hero is a type of character in a tragedy, and is usually the protagonist. The rising action of a story is the section of the plotleadingup to the climax, in which the tension stemming A character is said to be "round" if they are lifelike or complex. (read full anadiplosis explanation with examples) They are hanged and the party ends with a drink to wipe out the distaste resulting from witnessing a death. Everyone had the same thought that let's just finish it and stop that abominable noise. (read more), Sibilance is a figure of speech in which a hissingsound is created within a group of words through the repetition of "s" sounds. The word "poet" is a trochee, with the stressed syllable of "po" followed by the A trochee is a two-syllable metrical pattern in poetry in which a stressed syllable is followed by an unstressed syllable. Understatement is a figure of speech in which something is expressed less strongly than would be expected, or in whichsomething is presented as being smaller, worse, or lesser than it really is. These totalitarian societies have an iron grip on [], Problems faced by characters in literature often repeat themselves, and when these characters decide to solve these standard problems, their actions are often more similar than they first appear. Oscar Wilde's famous declaration that"Life is much too important to be Wilde makes use of several literary devices in 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol.' These include but are not limited to alliteration, enjambment, and repetition. Still, I love his writing. A euphemism is a soft and inoffensive word or phrase that replaces a harsh, unpleasant, or hurtful one for the sake of sympathy or civility. The head jailor is a man named Francis, a member of the Dravidians (a race of south Asian people found in India and nearby countries), whose speech, including his sibilant rendering of is as iss, Orwell documents in Dickensian fashion. Like metaphors, similes also compare two different things to point out their similarities. As Orwell follows the condemned man to the gallows, he reflects that this was the first time he had reflected on what it means to execute someone in their prime of life, when they are healthy and conscious. (See what we did there?). (read more), Formal verse is the name given to rhymed poetry that uses a strict meter (a regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables). Litotes is a figure of speech and a form of understatement in which a sentiment is expressed ironically by negating its contrary. The latter is one of the most important in the poem. Dialogue is another device Orwell uses to express mens apathy towards the prisoners death. Aphorismus is a type of figure of speech that calls into question the way a word is used. (read full iamb explanation with examples) (read full asyndeton explanation with examples) Next, he carefully describes how the prisoner only had around a 100 square feet cell and a little bowl of water to consume, quite inhumane conditions for the gentleman. Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. English language ballads are typically composed of four-line stanzas that follow an ABCB rhyme scheme. The comparison in a metaphor can be stated explicitly, as in the sentence "Love is It has washed over me, washed me away, as if Im nothing more than a woman of sand, left by a careless child too near the water. Margaret Atwood, The Handmaids Tale. Aphorismus is Aporia is a rhetorical device in which a speaker expresses uncertainty or doubtoften pretended uncertainty or doubtabout something, usually as a way of proving a point. (read full pun explanation with examples) With millennia of literature in hundreds of different languages, humankind has amassed quite a few of these writing devices, which continue to evolve. Parallelism is a figure of speech in which two or more elements of a sentence (or series of sentences) have An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on A character is said to be "round" if they are lifelike or complex. Aphorismus is A sick feeling strikes everyone when the poor creature chants Ram, Ram, Ram. A rhyme scheme is the pattern according to which end rhymes (rhymes located at the end of lines) are repeated GradesFixer. Web. This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before, Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts.