This document defines and provides examples of various literary devices and rhetorical techniques, including metaphor, oxymoron, parallelism, irony, tone, paradox, onomatopoeia, invective, anaphora, polysyndeton, asyndeton, and chiasmus. It examines the Greek or Latin origins and definitions of these terms and illustrates them with quotes from literature and speeches.

1. Get your folders for DOL/QW

2. » If you have moved locations: Where are you
from? Is it somewhere other than where you
live? When did you move? Where did you move
from or to? Why did you move? Are you happy
with the move?
» If you have never moved, why not? Would you
like to move somewhere different? Why or why
not?

4. » A term from the Greek meaning “changed
label” or “Substitute name”. A figure of speech
in which the name of one object is substituted
for that of another closely associated with it.
» Example: The White House asked the television
networks for air time on Monday night.

5. » From the Greek for "pointedly foolish," an
oxymoron is a figure of speech wherein the
author groups apparently contradictory terms
to suggest a Paradox
Examples:
» abundant poverty
» double solitaire

6. » Also referred to as parallel construction or parallel
structure, this term comes from Greek roots
meaning "beside one another."
» It refers to the grammatical or rhetorical framing
of words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs to
give structural similarity.
» This can involve, but is not limited to, repetition of
a grammatical element such as a preposition or
verbal phrase.

7. » The contrast between what is stated explicitly and what
is really meant, or the difference between what appears
to be and what is actually true.
» Verbal irony: intended meaning of a statement differs
from the meaning that the words appear to express.
» Situational irony: involves an incongruity between what
is expected or intended and what actually occurs.
» Dramatic irony: the audience knows more about present
or future circumstances than a character in the story

8. » meaning the prevailing atmosphere or
emotional aura of a work.

9. » A statement that appears to be self-
contradictory or opposed to common sense but
upon closer inspection contains some degree of
truth or validity.
» Example:
"Some day you will be old enough to start reading
fairy tales again.“ –C.S. Lewis

10. » A figure of speech in which natural sounds are
imitated in the sounds of words.
Example:
» “Brrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinng! An alarm clock clanged
in the dark and silent room."

11. » an emotionally violent, verbal enunciation or attack using
strong, abusive language
Example:
» "A knave, a rascal, an eater of broken meats; a base,
proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound,
filthy worsted-stocking knave; a lily-livered, action-taking,
whoreson, glass-gazing, super-serviceable, finical rogue;
one-trunk-inheriting slave; one that wouldst be a bawd in
way of good service, and art nothing but the composition
of a knave, beggar, coward, pander, and the son and heir
to a mongrel bitch: one whom I will beat into clamorous
whining if thou deni'st the least syllable of thy addition."
(Kent addressing Oswald in William Shakespeare's King
Lear, II.2)

12. » A sub-type of parallelism, when the exact
repetition of words or phrases at the beginning
of successive lines or sentences.
Example:
» "I don't like you sulking around, bothering our
citizens, Lebowski. I don't like your jerk-off
name. I don't like your jerk-off face. I don't like
your jerk-off behavior, and I don't like you, jerk-
off."
(Policeman in The Big Lebowski, 1998)

13. » the use of several conjunctions in close succession,
especially where some might be omitted
Example:
» "Let the whitefolks have their money and power and
segregation and sarcasm and big houses and schools
and lawns like carpets, and books, and mostly--
mostly--let them have their whiteness."
(Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,
1969)

14. » Lack of conjunctions
Example:
» “Speed up the film, Montag, quick. Click, Pic,
Look, Eye, Now, Flick, Here, There, Swift, Pace,
Up, Down, In, Out, Why, How, Who, What,
Where, Eh? Uh! Bang! Smack! Wallop, Bing,
Bong, Boom!"
(Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 1953)

15. » From the Greek meaning “to tear flesh,”
sarcasm involves bitter, caustic language that is
meant to hurt or ridicule someone or
something.
Example:
» Don’t be humble. You’re not that great.

16. » A succession of clauses of approximately equal length
and corresponding structure
Example:
» "Come then: let us to the task, to the battle, to the
toil--each to our part, each to our station. Fill the
armies, rule the air, pour out the munitions, strangle
the U-boats, sweep the mines, plow the land, build the
ships, guard the streets, succor the wounded, uplift
the downcast, and honor the brave."
(Winston Churchill, speech given in Manchester,
England, on Jan. 29, 1940)