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Apostrophe -- a figure of speech where the speaker speaks directly to something nonhuman. Apostrophe gives the character the opportunity
to think aloud.
In these lines from John Donne's poem "The Sun Rising" the poet scolds the sun for interrupting his nighttime activities:
Busy old fool, unruly sun,
Why dost thou thus,
Through windows, and through curtains call on us?
Aside -- a device in which a character in a drama makes a short speech which is heard by the audience but not by other characters in the play.
In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, the Chamberlain, Polonius, confronts Hamlet. In a dialogue concerning Polonius' daughter, Ophelia, Polonius speaks this aside:
How say you by that? Still harping on my daughter.
Yet he knew me not at first; 'a said I was a fishmonger.
'A is far gone. And truly in my youth I suffered much extremity for love,
very near this. I'll speak to him again.
Catharsis -- meaning "purgation," catharsis describes the release of the emotions of pity and fear by the audience at the end of a tragedy. In his Poetics, Aristotle discusses the importance of catharsis. The audience faces the misfortunes of the protagonist, which elicit pity and compassion. Simultaneously, the audience also confronts the failure of the protagonist, thus receiving a frightening reminder of human limitations and frailties. Ultimately, however, both these negative emotions are purged, because the tragic protagonist’s suffering is an affirmation of human values rather than a despairing denial of them. Catharsis - any emotional discharge which brings about a moral or spiritual renewal or welcome relief from
tension and anxiety. The usual intent is for an audience to leave feeling this relief from tension or anxiety after having viewed a play.
Comedy -- a literary work which is amusing and ends happily. Modern comedies tend to be funny, while Shakespearean comedies simply end well. Shakespearean comedy also contains items such as misunderstandings and mistaken identity to heighten the comic effect. Comedies may contain lovers, those who interfere with lovers, and entertaining scoundrels. In modern Situation Comedies, characters are thrown into absurd situations
and are forced to deal with those situations, all the while reciting clever lines for the amusement of a live or television or movie audience.
Enjambment – “to straddle” or “bestride” – a linguistic unit moves into or “straddles” the next line before its meaning is completed. Meaning flows
as the lines progress, and the reader’s eye is forced to go on to the next sentence. It can also make the reader feel uncomfortable or the poem
feel like “flow-of-thought” with a sensation of urgency or disorder The opposite is “end-stopped,” where each line formally corresponds with a unit of thought. e.e.cummings is a master of enjambment. Shakespeare uses this device also.
Genre – a literary genre is a recognizable and established category of written work employing such common conventions as will prevent readers or audiences from mistaking it [with] another kind.
Hyperbole – a figure of speech in which an overstatement or exaggeration is used for deliberate effect.
Irony – a device that depends on the existence of at least two separate and contrasting levels of meaning embedded in one message. Verbal
irony is sarcasm, when the speaker says something other than what they really mean. Situational irony occurs when the opposite of what is
expected happens. This type of irony often emphasizes that people are caught in forces beyond their comprehension and control. In dramatic
irony, the audience is more aware than the characters in a work.
Malapropism – an incorrect usage of a word, usually with comic effect. “I resemble that remark!” (resent) The Three Stooges.
This following poem is composed entirely of actual quotes [malapropisms] from President George W. Bush.
Make the Pie Higher
I think we all agree, the past is over.
This is still a dangerous world.
It's a world of madmen
and uncertainty
and potential mental losses.
Rarely is the question asked
Is our children learning?
Will the highways of the internet
become more few?
How many hands have I shaked?
They misunderestimate me.
I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity.
I know that the human being and the fish
can coexist.
Families is where our nation finds hope,
where our wings take dream.
Put food on your family!
Knock down the tollbooth.
Vulcanize society!
Make the pie higher!
Make the pie higher!
Source: Richard Thompson
http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/piehigher.asp -- to see the origins of each line.
Meter – in English poetry -- rhythms of stressed and unstressed syllables – iambic, trochaic, spondaic, anapestic, dactylic.
Metonomy – a figure of speech in which one references something or someone by naming one of its attributes. An example would be “We
await word from the crown.” Another would be referring to the men from the IRS as “suits.” Another example would be in speaking about a
herd of fifty cows, the herd might be referred to as fifty head of cattle. The word "head" is the word representing the herd. Another example is "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;" (Julius Caesar Act III, scene ii).
Creating Metonymy
Think about what the you wish to represent. What is that person, place, or thing associated
with that is undeniable well known as representative?
Describe the thing you wish to represent.
Make a list of all that could easily be associated with it. Erase your original description. Replace with an association from your list.
http://www.roxannewrites.com/trope-synecdoche-metonymy.html
Scansion – the analysis of a poem’s meter. This is usually done by marking the stressed and unstressed syllables in each line and then, based
on the pattern of the stresses, dividing the line into feet. See meter above.
The meter in a poem is classified according both to its pattern and the number of feet to the line. Below is a list of classifications:
Monometer = one foot to a line
Dimeter = two feet to a line
Trimeter = three feet to a line
Tetrameter = four feet to a line
Pentameter = five feet to a line
/ / / /
Whose woods | these are | I think | I know
Since the line above is written in iambic meter, four feet to the line, the line would be referred to as iambic tetrameter.
Synecdoche -- a figure of speech in which a part of something stands for the whole or the whole for a part, as wheels for an automobile or
society for high society. “You’ll feel differently when you feel the point of my steel.” "Could you pass me a kleenex?" "The hired hands are not
doing their jobs."
Creating Synecdoche
Is someone you know a brain? Does your mate refer to his car as his wheels? Listen
today to people speak. Or watch (ugh) commercials.
The parts are there, representing the whole. Now freshen up one part, making it stand
for the whole entity you want to show: the gumshoe, the skirt, the hired gun....
http://www.roxannewrites.com/trope-synecdoche-metonymy.html
Tone – the writer’s attitude toward the material and/or the readers. Tone may be playful, formal, intimate, angry, serious, ironic, outraged,
baffled, tender, serene, depressed or combinations. See tone in the Honors Handbook.
Theme -- (1) the abstract concept explored in a literary work, (2) frequently recurring ideas, such as enjoy-life-while-you-can, (3) repetition
of a meaningful element in a work, such as references to sight, vision, and blindness in Oedipus Rex.
Tragic Flaw (hamartia) -- the character flaw or error of a tragic hero that leads to his downfall; concept of Greek tragedy. Also means any disproportion in the character's makeup that leads to downfall; thus an excess of a valuable or virtuous quality can in some circumstances be seen as hamartia.
http://web.uvic.ca/wguide/Pages/LTHamartia.html
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