Stylistic device
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- See also: Figure of speech
In literature and writing, a stylistic device is the use of any of a variety of techniques to give an auxiliary meaning, idea, or feeling to the literal or written.
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[edit] Diction (word choice)
Diction is the choice of specific words to communicate not only meaning, but emotion as well. Authors writing their texts consider not only a word's denotation, but also its connotation. For example, a person may be described as stubborn or tenacious, both of which have the same basic meaning, but are opposite in terms of their emotional background (the first is an insult, while the second is a compliment). Similarly, a bargain-seeker may be described as either thrifty (compliment) or stingy (insult). An author's diction is extremely important in discovering the narrator's tone, or attitude.
[edit] Formal structure
Formal structure refers to the form of a text. In the first place, a text is either a novel, a drama, a poem, or some other "form" of literature. However, this term can also refer to the length of lines, stanzas, or cantos in poems, as well as sentences, paragraphs, or chapters in prose. Furthermore, such visible structures as dialogue versus narration are also considered part of formal structure.
[edit] Plot structure
Plot structure refers to the configuration of a plot in terms of its exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution/denouement. For example, Dickens' novel Great Expectations is noted for having only a single page of exposition before the rising action begins, while The Lord of the Rings has an unusually lengthy falling action.
[edit] Repetition
Repetition is the deliberate use of a word or phrase more than a once in a sentence or a text to create a sense of pattern or form or to emphasize certain elements in the mind of the reader or listener.
- Example: Pile the bodies high [...] And pile them high [...] And pile them high [...]
[edit] Rhyme
The repetition of identical or similar sounds, usually at the end of words.
For example, in the following lines from a poem by A.E. Housman, the last words of both lines rhyme with each other.
- Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
- Is hung with bloom along the bough
[edit] Sentence structure
Sentences can be long or short, written in the active or passive voice, composed as simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex. They may also include such techniques as inversion or such structures as appositive phrases, verbal phrases (gerund, participle, and infinitive), and subordinate clauses (noun, adjective, and adverb). These tools can be highly effective in achieving an author's purpose. Example: The ghetto was ruled by neither German nor Jew; it was ruled by delusion. (from Night, by Elie Wiesel) --In this sentence, Wiesel uses two parallel independent clauses written in the passive voice. The first clause establishes suspense about who actually rules the ghetto, and then the first few words of the second clause sets up the reader with the expectation of an answer, which is metaphorically revealed only in the final word of the sentence.
[edit] Symbol
Something that stands for something other than itself.
- Example: A heart standing for love.
