LITERARY DEVICES & ELEMENTSKNIFFEN-SHORT STORY UNIT

AlliterationThe repetition of an initial consonant sound.

This literary term is often used in poetry.

Consider Carrie Underwood's use of

alliteration in her song Blown Away.

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Alliteration

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Alliteration is also often used in tongue twisters.

Try a few of these out!

If Freaky Fred Found Fifty Feet of

Fruit And Fed Forty Feet to his

Friend Frank. How many Feet of

Fruit did Freaky Fred Find?

Silly Sally swiftly shooed seven silly

sheep. The seven silly sheep Silly

Sally shooed shilly-shallied south.

Allusion

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An allusion is a figure of speech where the author refers to a subject matter such as a person, place, event, or

literary work in a passing reference. It is up to the reader to make a connection to the subject being mentioned.

Allusion

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Swift's song alludes to other parts of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet as well. She mentions disapproving families and the famous balcony scene from the play. This is allusion because she mentions the names and

plot aspects of Romeo and Juliet in passing.

Click The Link

Below To See The

Video For This Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xg3vE8Ie_E

Analogy

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A comparison between two things for the

purpose of explanation or clarification.

Click the link below to see

Barrack Obama's Analogy.

He is comparing the

economic recession to

driving a car into a ditch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKv-dXHhtMs

Conflict

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In a story, conflict is the struggle between

opposing forces. There are 4 types of conflict:

Person vs Person Person vs Self

Person vs Society Person vs Environment

Conflict

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Consider the following movies:

The Dark Knight Rises uses human vs human

conflict (Batman vs Bane)

127 Hours uses human vs self conflict (man must

mentally and physically overcome being trapped

for 127 hours).

2012 uses human vs environment conflict (human

race vs environmental apocalypse)

Coach Carter uses human vs society conflict

(Coach using new coaching techniques which are

not approved by the community)

Dystopia

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An imagined setting in which everything is unpleasant or bad. This could be a totalitarian,

apocalyptic, or environmentally- degraded society.

For example: The

zombie takeover

in the TV show,

The Walking Dead

Dystopia

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The Hunger Games falls

in the dystopian genre!

Click The Link Below

to See The Trailer! http://www.youtube.com/watc

h?v=FovFG3N_RSU

Unpleasant

setting

Totalitarian

government

Foil

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The term ‘foil’ refers to a literary device where the author creates a character whose primary purpose is to create a

contrast to another character by laying emphasis, or drawing attention to, the differences.

Dr. Jekyll is a seemingly prosperous man, well established in the

community, and known for his decency and charitable works.

Mr Hyde is a strange, repugnant man who looks faintly pre-human.

Hyde is violent and cruel, and everyone who sees him describes

him as ugly and deformed.

Foreshadowing

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The literary device foreshadowing refers to the use of words/phrases that give hints to the reader of

something that is going to happen without revealing the story or spoiling the suspense. Foreshadowing is used to suggest an upcoming outcome to the story.

Click on the link below to see an example of foreshadowing in The Lion King. Mufasa tells his son,

Simba, that kings of the past look down on on them from the stars.

Later in the movie, Mufasa comes to Simba from the stars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRVRxvNYR7Y

Idiom

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An expression that is peculiar to itself grammatically

or cannot be understood from the individual meanings

of its elements but is understood by most people.

Gloria Delgado on

Modern family is

known for using

English idioms

improperly!

Modern

Family

Idiom

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A few idioms she has trouble with include:

She says: “We live in a doggy dog word”

She means: We live in a dog-eat-dog world

She says: “Blessings in the skies”

She means“Blessings in disguise”

Irony (verbal)

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Verbal irony (also called sarcasm) occurs when a writer makes a statement in which the actual meaning differs

from the meaning that the words appear to express.

http://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=IiR-bnCHIYo

Click the link below to see some examples!

Irony (situational)

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Situational irony occurs when the reader is led to believe that one thing will occur but, in fact, the opposite occurs. This can be humorous or tragic.

http://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=tqg6RO8c_W0

Click the link below to see some examples!

Irony (dramatic)

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Dramatic irony occurs when the reader/ audience knows

something, but the characters within the story do not.

Monsters, Inc.

Irony (dramatic)

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In horror movies, the audience often knows

that the killer is present, when the characters do not!

Can you think of any

examples in movies

you have seen?

Metaphor

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A metaphor is an implied comparison that is made between two unlike things that actually

have something important in common.

One Direction in their song

"One Thing" sing:

You're my kryptonite

You keep making me weak

Why is this a metaphor?

Metaphor

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Although at first glance, kryptonite and love don't seem to have much in common; they actually do! Kryptonite makes Superman feel weak like love

makes the man in the song feel weak. This is a direct

comparison between two unlike things that have something in common.

Mood

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Mood is the author's emotional perspective towards the subject of the literary work. It refers to the mental and

emotional disposition of the author towards the subject, which in turn makes the audience feel this emotion.

Miranda Lambert's song The House

That Built Me tells the story of going

back to her childhood home. The song

demonstrates the author's longing to

find comfort and peace. The mood of

this song is nostalgic and the author is

searching to be healed.

Click below to listen to the song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQYNM6SjD_o

Motif

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A motif is a specific theme that dominates a literary work. Motifs are very noticeable and play a significant

role in defining the nature of the story, the course of events, and the very fabric of the literary piece.

What would be one of the

dominant themes (motifs)

of The Lord Of The Rings?

Click below to see the trailer! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aStYWD25fAQ

Motif

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One recurring theme (or motif) from The Lord Of The

Rings is temptation. The temptation of the ring is the

motivating force behind every action in this trilogy,

whether characters are fighting the temptation,

nurturing it, denying it, or preventing someone else from

giving in to it. Characters of every race pursue the ring.

Personification

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Personification is one of the most commonly used and recognized literary devices. It refers to the

practice of attaching human traits and characteristics with inanimate objects, phenomena and animals.

Dear pain, oh, it's been a long time

Remember when you were holding me tied

I would stay awake with you all night

Dear shame, I was safe in your arms

You were there when it all fell apart

I would get so lost in your beautiful eyes

I let you go

But you're still chasing

Go ahead, you're never gonna take me

You can bend, but you're never gonna break me

I was yours, I'm not yours anymore

Oh, you don't own me“Dear X” by Disciple

Point of View(First Person)

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With first person point of view, the story is told by the narrator from his/her point of view. It is easily

identified by the use of "I" or "Me".

The Diary of A Young Girl is

written from the first person

perspective. It tells the true

story of Anne Frank, who lived

in hiding during the Nazi

occupation of the Netherlands.

Point of View(Second Person)

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You use the second-person point of view to address the reader. The second person uses the pronouns

“you,” “your,” and “yours.”

Click the link below to

listen to the introduction to

an old T V series called

The Twilight Zone. It uses

second person narration!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzlG28B-R8Y

Point of View(Third Person)

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With third person point of view, the narrator does not participate in the events of the story and tells the story by referring to all characters and places in the third person with third person pronouns and proper nouns (he, she,

they). The movie Stranger Than

Fiction is narrated in the third

person omniscient (all-knowing

narrator). Click below to see

the trailer for the movie!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj4MC8Nqpjg

PunA play on words, sometimes on different senses

of the same word and sometimes on the similar

sense or sound of different words.

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Simile

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Similes are comparisons between two unrelated and

dissimilar things using like or as (and sometimes than).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_8ydghbGSg

Symbol

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A symbol is an object that represents something

else, usually something more meaningful.

Symbol

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In a literary piece, a symbol means the same

thing. Consider this possible symbol:

Perhaps a light in the story could represent hope!

Hope

Tone

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The tone of a literary work is the perspective or attitude that the

author adopts with regards to a specific character, place, or

development. Tone can portray a variety of emotions ranging from

solemn, grave, and critical to witty, wry, and humorous. Tone helps

the reader ascertain the writer’s feelings towards a particular topic

and this, in turn, influences the reader’s understanding of the story.

Forest Gump tells the amazing

story of a simple man with

good intentions. For those who

have seen the film, what kind

of tone do you think the film

Forest Gump uses?

Tone

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Forest Gump has an optimistic tone. It is

clear that the author's perspective and

attitude about Forrest is a positive one. The film portrays a light-hearted and hopeful

perspective, and shows that the writer feels optimistic about the subject at hand.

Tragic Flaw

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The character flaw or error of a tragic hero that

leads to a character's downfall.

Dr. Gregory House from the TV show House—his addiction is his tragic flaw. Although he is a genius, he manages his

pain through the habitual use of Vicodin. This tragic flaw causes his downfall,

especially as the seasons go on.

Click the link below to see a clip

demonstrating Dr. House's tragic flaw: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUDcAo2SPGQ

Unreliable Narrator

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Sometimes the author chooses to tell the

story through a narrator that does not see

the story as it truly is—this is an

unreliable narrator

Sometimes, the first person narrator is

even mentally insane, depressed, or

mentally retarded (the unnamed narrator

of Fight Club, both narrators, Nick and

Amy in Gone Girl)