CNF Figures of Speech and Literary Devices

LECTURE 1: FIGURES OF SPEECH

            Figures of Speech aka. Figurative language is a tool that an author uses, to help the reader visualize, or see, what is happening in a story or poem. The following are the common types of figures of speech.

1.       Simile is a comparison using like or as. It usually compares two unlike objects. Example: His feet are as big as boats. Feet and boats are being compared.

2.       Metaphor states that one thing is something else. It is a comparison, but does NOT use like or as to make the comparison. Example: Her hair is silk. Hair and silk are being compared.

3.       Personification is giving human qualities, feelings, actions, or characteristics to inanimate (not living) objects. Example: The house stared at me with looming eyes. The verb, stared, is a human action. A house is a nonliving object. Therefore, we have a good example of personification.

4.       Hyperbole is intentionally exaggerated figures of speech used to create emphasis and/or evoke strong feelings. Example: The sea him lent those bitter tears.

5.       Onomatopoeia is the imitation of natural sounds in word form. These words help us form mental pictures, or visualize, things, people, or places that are described. Sometimes a word names a thing or action by copying the sound. Example: Bong!, Hiss…. Buzz!, Kablag! Vroom…

6.       Allusion - reference to another person, place, event, literary work, etc. Example: “No Second Jose Rizal”: “Was there another Rizal for them to shot?” the “them” alluding to Spaniards).

7.        Idiom - a common phrase or expression not to be taken literally. They are overused expressions. (Examples: beating around the bush, raining cats and dogs)

8.       Irony occurs when there's a marked contrast between what is said and what is meant, or between appearance and reality. Examples: "How nice!" she said, when I told her I had to work all weekend. (Verbal irony) The Titanic was said to be unsinkable but sank on its first voyage. (Situational irony) When the audience knows the killer is hiding in a closet in a scary movie, but the actors do not. (Dramatic irony)

9.       Assonance - in poetry, the repetition of the sound of a vowel or diphthong (a, e, i, o, u, y) throughout a sentence, phrase, paragraph, or entire piece of writing. (e.g., penitence, reticence).

10.   Alliteration is the repetition of the initial consonant. There should be at least two repetitions in a row. Example: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. The first letter, p, is a consonant. Its sound is repeated many times.

11.   Consonance – repetition of same consonants (or consonant patterns) at the ends of words.

12.   Rhyme – the repetition of vowel sounds in neighboring words. Examples: pair/fair; mad/glad; sigh/ride.

13.   Near/Half Rhyme – the repetition of ending consonant sounds in nearby words; the consonant sounds are the same, but the vowel sounds are different. Examples: (chitter/chatter, bitter/platter, shaking/throbbing, quirk/lark)

14.   Anaphora - the repetition of words at the beginning of a clause. Example: In every cry of every human, in every Infants cry of fear, In every voice: in every freedom)

15.   Epistrophe - the repetition of words at the ending of a clause

“If you had known the virtue of the ring,

Or half her worthiness that gave the ring,

Or your own honor to contain the ring,

You would not then have parted with the ring.”)

LECTURE 2. LITERARY DEVICES

•      Also called literary techniques, literary methods or literary motifs.

•      These are the thumb, conventions or structures employed in literature (literary texts) and storytelling (narratives). The following are the common types:

1.       Aphorism - concise statement that contains a cleverly stated subjective truth or observation.

2.       Chekhov’s Gun - insertion of an apparently irrelevant object early in narrative for a purpose only revealed later.

3.       Cliffhanger - the narrative ends unresolved, to draw the audience back to a future episode for the resolution.

4.       Defamiliarization - forcing the reader to recognize common things in an unfamiliar or strange way, to enhance perception of the familiar.

5.       Dramatic - representing an object or character with abundant description.

6.       Visualization - detail, or mimetically rendering gestures and dialogue to make a scene more visual or imaginatively present to an audience.

7.       Epiphany - a sudden revelation or insight-usually with a symbolic role in the narrative.

8.       Flashback - general term for altering time sequences, taking characters back to the beginning of the tale, for instance.

9.       Flashforward - also called prolepsis, an interjected scene that temporarily jumps the narrative forward in time.

10.   Foreshadowing - hinting at events to occur later.

11.   Juxtaposition - using two themes, characters, phrases, words, or situations together for comparison, contrast, or rhetoric.

12.   Paradox - a phrase that describes an idea composed of concepts that conflict.

13.   Parody - ridicule by overstated imitation of the original material, usually humorous

14.   Poetic License - distortion of fact, altercation of the conventions of grammar or language, or rewording of pre-existing text made by a writer to improve a piece of art.

15.   Stream of Consciousness - technique where the author writes down their thoughts as fast as they come.

16.   Symbolism - applied use of symbols: iconic representations that carry particular conventional meanings and it occurs when one thing stands for or represents something else. Example: The dove symbolizes peace.

17.   Imagery involves one or more of your five senses – the abilities to hear, taste, touch, smell, and see. An author uses a word or phrase to stimulate your memory of those senses and to help create mental pictures.

18.   Ticking Clock - threat of impending disaster - often used in thrillers scenario where salvation and escape are essential elements.

19.   Tone - author’s attitude towards the audience, the subject, or the character.

20.   Mood - the feeling the reader gets from a fiction writing.

21.   Motif - a unifying element in an artistic work: any recurrent item, etc.