Literary devices 1 Flashcards
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Analogy
A comparison between two things, typically for the purpose of explanation or clarification
“24 Bullets” from Cleveland Metro Schools
“America is a gun and Cleveland is just one of its many witnesses and targets. “
Analysis: This analogy implies that America is a dangerous weapon that causes harm to many cities like Cleveland. These cities are not only forced to be victim of physical damage but also witnesses of these events causing trauma and grief throughout the city.
Anaphora
A poetic or rhetorical technique where successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses begin with the same word or expression
“24 Bullets” from Cleveland Metro Schools
“Because of a gun I had to hide. Because of a gun I had to lie.
Because of a gun I can never feel fully safe when I leave my house and enter school. “
Analysis: The authors choice to use the anaphora of “because of a gun” puts emphasis on how dangerous a gun is both physically and mentally.
Pathos
Appeals to the emotions and ideals of the audience and elicits feelings that already reside in them
“24 Bullets” from Cleveland Metro Schools
The police officers tell her “It will be okay, we are doing everything we can,” but nobody knows how she feels, the pain and agony she is going through.
Analysis: This use of pathos argues that a mother’s grief cannot be quelled and cannot be understood or fixed by anybody because of death being irreversible.
Irony
A literary device or event in which how things seem to be is very different from how they actually are
“24 Bullets” from Cleveland Metro Schools
“They say the government is here to help and make it better, but they ban abortions instead of guns?”
Analysis: This is a use of irony because the government proclaims it will help the community and make it better but focuses on the wrong issue of abortion instead of stopping gun violence (in this scenario)
Rhetorical Question
A rhetorical question is a type of figurative language that has another layer of meaning on top of its literal meaning
“24 Bullets” from Cleveland Metro Schools
“Ask yourself right now, could you handle your sibling getting shot, your best friend, or your lover? “
Analysis: The rhetorical question aims to demonstrate the true emotional damage gun violence inflicts by asking you to imagine losing a loved one, even though you know you never could.
Hyperbole
A literary device in which exaggeration is used to create emphasis, humor, or prosodic effect
“24 Bullets” from Cleveland Metro Schools
” Her grief and anger is bigger than any protest could do justice for. “
Analysis: This hyperbole is used to say that death cannot be reversed, so no matter how much outrage or publicity a child’s death gets it can never be reversed, effectively making the mother’s grief and anger greater than anything.
Metaphor
A figure of speech that makes an implicit, implied, or hidden comparison between two things that are unrelated, but which share some common characteristics.
“24 Bullets” from Cleveland Metro Schools
“America is a gun”
This metaphor demonstrates that America’s identity is filled with guns and violence, something that the passage argues needs to be fixed.
Epiphora
A stylistic device in which a word or a phrase is repeated at the ends of successive clauses
Brian Bilston’s “America is a Gun”
“America is a gun”
Analysis: The repeated usage of “America is a gun” again emphasizing how deep-rooted gun violence has become in America, so much so that it is now essential to the identity of the nation
Juxtaposition
A literary device that involves placing two contrasting or seemingly contradictory elements side by side to draw attention to their differences
Brian Bilston’s “America is a Gun”
Brazil is football on the sand.
Argentina, Maradona’s hand.
Germany, an oompah band.
America is a gun.
Analysis: This use of juxtaposition portrays how the identity of other nations such as Argentina, Brazil, and Germany are all relatively peaceful and interesting things such as soccer, while America’s identity is only of gun violence even though America is regarded as “Land of The Free”.
Symbolism
A literary device that refers to the use of symbols in a literary work.
John Ransburg’s “We Can’t Normalize Gun Violence”
“Coffin for one - coffins for all”
Analysis: Here, coffin is symbolism for death. It aims to show that even one death can cause many more through either people understanding gun violence can be done or through mental reasons.
Rhetorical Question
A rhetorical question is a type of figurative language that has another layer of meaning on top of its literal meaning
“24 Bullets” from Cleveland Metro Schools
“Is there ever a right time?”
Analysis: This rhetorical question is said after the line “they were at the wrong place, wrong time”. This implies that in America there is no such thing as a wrong place or wrong time because America has been riddled with guns for so long every time and place is the wrong one.
Juxtaposition
A literary device that involves placing two contrasting or seemingly contradictory elements side by side to draw attention to their differences
John Ransburg’s “We Can’t Normalize Gun Violence”
“What’s caused a Right we’ve held so long
To become tarnished by these wrongs?”
Analysis: Ransburg uses juxtaposition in right and wrong to employ his argument about how guns are not inherently a bad thing and should be in our rightful right to own but it is the bad people with bad intentions that ruin this right and make guns out to be the problem.
