Literary Devices

a) Simple parallel sentence
b) Complex parallel sentence
= repetition of the same pattern of words or phrases within a sentence or passage to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance.

• a) She looked tired, frustrated, anddisgusted.“All the mechanical operations for allthe farms were performed here. Theshoemaking and mending, theblacksmiting, cartwrighting, coopering,weaving, and grain-grinding were all performed...” (7)
• “She had served my old master faithfully... She had been the source of all his wealth; she had peopled hisplantation with slaves; she had become a great grandmother in his service...” (28)
• The effect is a kind of suspense in which the reader’s attention ispropelled forward to the end.

Tags

CCSS.RL.2.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

anaphora

• 2 parallel elements are set off against each other
• A type of parallelism in which thesame word or phrase is repeatedin (and usually at the beginning of) successive lines, clauses or sentences. Found often in both verse and prose.
• A long sentence comprised ofseveral short balanced, dependent clauses ending with an independent clause that completes the idea.

Tags

CCSS.RI.3.10

CCSS.RI.4.10

CCSS.RI.5.10

CCSS.RI.6.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

litote

• Just as when an author chooses words for their connotative associations (see the above discussion of 'diction'), she chooses sensory details for the associations or tones they evoke.
• derived from a Greek word meaning “simple”, is a figure of speech which employs an understatement by using double negatives or, in other words, positive statement is expressed by negating its opposite expressions
• A statement that, despite apparently sound reasoning from true premises, leads to an apparently self-contradictory or logically unacceptable conclusion

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.6

Balanced sentence -  Two parallel elements are set off against each other.

• “We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom,symbolizing an end as well as a beginning, signifying renewal as well as change.” (J.F. Kennedy’s 1961 speech)
• “Whilst I was saddened by the thought of losing the aid of my kind mistress, Iwas gladdened by the invaluable instruction which, by the merestaccident, I had gained from my master” (20).

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5

CCSS.L.5.5

Periodic Sentence - A long sentence comprised of several short balanced, dependent clauses ending with an independent clause that completes the idea.

• “My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark thatlingered about my eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me; andbehold a man transformed into abrute!” (38).
• Two ideas seem equal but theysuggest a closer look;may emphasize a contrast in ideas(antithesis)
• “A mere look, word, or motion, – amistake, accident, or want of power, –are all matters for which a slave maybe whipped at any time” (47). (also parallel)

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5

CCSS.L.5.5

Loose sentence

• Can emphasize list of “too many”challenges or tasks that a subject must undertake/ overcome.
• A sentence structure in which amain clause is followed by one or more coordinate or subordinate phrases and clauses
• The thought of a sentence isinterrupted by evidence or details,usually set off by a dash (2hyphens).

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5

CCSS.L.5.5

Interrupted Sentence - The thought of a sentence is interrupted by evidence or details,usually set off by a dash (2 hyphens).

• “My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition toread departed, the cheerful spark thatlingered about my eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me; andbehold a man transformed into abrute!” (38).
• Stops the reader – to show importance of added detail – before writer finishes his idea.Can emphasize length of list – it seems never ending – or the inevitability or in es capability of a situation.
• Robert E. Lee was a foe without hate, a friend without treachery, a soldier without cruelty.

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5

CCSS.L.5.5

metonymy

• Polysyndeton is a literary technique in which conjunctions (e.g. and, but, or) are used repeatedly in quick succession, often with no commas, even when the conjunctions could be removed.
• a word or phrase that is used to stand in for another word. Sometimes a metonymy is chosen because it is a well-known characteristic of the word.
• seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

polysyndeton

• is a literary technique in which conjunctions (e.g. and, but, or) are used repeatedly in quick succession, often with no commas, even when the conjunctions could be removed.
• a statement or proposition that, despite sound (or apparently sound) reasoning from acceptable premises, leads to a conclusion that seems senseless, logically unacceptable, or self-contradictory.
• the substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing meant, for example suit for business executive, or the track for horse racing.

Tags

CCSS.L.6.6

CCSS.RI.3.4

CCSS.RI.4.4

CCSS.W.7.2D

CCSS.W.8.2D

Euphemism

• Often in literature, whether for humor or just for taste, a writer wishes to describe some graphic or offensive event using milder imagery or phrasing. 
• Reading literature, you may have come across a work where the author under the title has included a quotation from some other work; often the quotation is in italics. 
• Just as when an author chooses words for their connotative associations (see the above discussion of 'diction'), she chooses sensory details for the associations or tones they evoke.

Tags

CCSS.L.9-10.5A