Literary+terms+9

//most definitions taken directly or modified from Ms. Lowman's list //
 * LITERARY DEVICES we've encountered so far in English 9 **:

**allegory:** in literature, an allegory is a story that uses its characters and plot to represent abstract ideas or principles. It can be thought of as an extended metaphor or symbol that occupies an entire text.
 * In Dante's //Divine Comedy//, the main character (Dante) is taken on an allegorical journey during which he is led through hell, purgatory, and paradise. His journey illustrates the nature of sin and the path to salvation (abstract ideas).
 * George Orwell's //Animal Farm// uses a farm and its animals to represent the principles of Communist Russia allegorically.
 * In Aesop's fable "The Tortoise and the Hare," the two animals represent humankind, and illustrate the simple principle that dogged determination and consistency can overcome superior talent that is not accompanied by these traits.

**allusion:** a reference to a statement, person, place, event, or thing that is known from literature, history, religion, myth, politics, sports, science, or pop culture
 * I swear it "by Cupid's bow."
 * Plan ahead. It was not raining when Noah built the Ark.
 * The software included a Trojan horse.
 * as old as Mathuselah
 * "sons of Adam and daughters of Eve"

**characterization:** the way an author presents his or her characters, developing the audience's understanding of their personal traits through direct description, or their actions, gestures and speech.

**foreshadowing:** //(also known as **prefiguration**)// an author's introduction of hints and clues that indicate to the reader events that may occur later in the text.
 * In //The Odyssey//, rude and careless remarks made by Antinous in the first few books foreshadow his outright antagonism and violent disrespect later in the epic poem.
 * Marcus brandishes a gun in the play's first act, foreshadowing his eventual murder of his wealthy aunt Gladys at the end of the drama.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**imagery:** descriptive language that appeals to the senses and re-creates sensory experience. [Note that "imagery" is a collective noun, referring to a number of images. Do not use the word "imageries."] <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> a. Visual: "Fast fading violets cover'd up in leaves" <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> b. Auditory/sound: "The deafening tic-tic-tic of the clock" <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> c. Olfactory/smell: "Then a mile of warm sea-scented beach" <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> d. Gustatory/taste: "And lucent syrups, tinct with cinnamon" <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> e. Tactile/touch: "Soft as a child's nose" <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> f. Synesthetic (synesthesia—n.): "She stroked molten tones"

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**metaphor:** a figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">"My thoughts no longer hover. . . resting their wings"
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Last night I plowed through a book"

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**personification:** a figure of speech in which a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">"a smiling moon"
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">"a jovial sun"
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Father Time"

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**symbol:** anything that stands for or represents something larger and more complex <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> **symbolism:** the serious and relatively sustained use of symbols to represent or suggest other things or ideas <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Avoid the word "symbolisms," like "imageries." If tempted, consider "symbols" or "images" instead.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Joseph Conrad uses snake symbolism in //Heart of Darkness.//