Red Badge of Courage

Describing something by comparing it with something else

Any language that goes beyond the literal meaning of words in order to furnish new effects or fresh insights into an idea or a subject.

Language that appeals to the five senses

Example: “A sputtering of musketry was always to be heard. Later the cannon had entered the dispute. In the fog-filled air their voices made a thudding sound” (Crane 66).

A figure of speech which involves a direct comparison between two unlike things, usually with the words like or as

Example: The muscles on his brawny arms are strong as iron bands.

A figure of speech which involves an implied comparison between two relatively unlike things using a form of be. The comparison is not announced by like or as.

Example: “The shells, which had ceased to trouble the regiment for a time, came swirling again, and exploded in the grass or among the leaves of the trees. They looked to be strange war flowers bursting into fierce bloom” (Crane 29).

A figure of speech which gives the qualities of a person to an animal, an object, or an idea

Example: “He found himself in a region of shells [. . .]. As he listened he imagined them to have rows of cruel teeth that grinned at him” (Crane 32).

An exaggerated statementExample: She’s said so on several

million occasions.

Repeated consonant sounds occurring at the beginning of words or within words.

Example: wide-eyed and wondering while we wait for others to waken

The author’s attitude, stated or implied, toward a subject.

Some possible attitudes are pessimism, optimism, earnestness, seriousness, bitterness, humorous, and joyful.

An author’s tone can be revealed through choice of words and details.

The climate of  feeling in a literary work.

The choice of setting, objects, details, images, and words all contribute towards creating a specific mood.

For example, an author may create a mood of mystery around a character or setting but may treat that character or setting in an ironic, serious, or humorous tone.

Reference in literature to a person, place, event, or another passage of literature

Allusions can originate in mythology, biblical references, historical events, legends, geography, or earlier literary works.

Example: “They might not be distinctly Homeric, but there seemed to be much glory in them” (Crane 3).

The language of a particular district, class, or group of persons

includes the sounds, spelling, grammar, and diction employed by a specific people as distinguished from others either geographically or socially

A technique of characterization that reveals the social or geographic status of a character

“What reg’ment do yeh b’long the? Eh? What’s that? Th’ 304th N’ York? [. . .] An’ these here hull woods is a reg’lar mess” (Crane 55).

Any artistic or literary portrayal of life in a faithful, accurate manner

The tendency to create detailed, probing analyses of the way "things really are," usually involving an emphasis on nearly photographic details and the author's inclusion of in-depth psychological traits for his or her characters.

“The orderly sergeant of the youth’s company was shot through the cheeks. Its supports being injured, his jaw hung afar down, disclosing in the wide cavern of his mouth a pulsing mass of blood and teeth” (Crane 92).