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Literary devices: Difference between revisions
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→Figurative language
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Literary devices or literary techniques | Literary devices or literary techniques | ||
* similar to [[Rhetorical devices]] but about literature whereas rhetorical devices regard persuasion | * similar to [[Rhetorical devices]] but about literature whereas rhetorical devices regard persuasion | ||
== Purpose of literary devices == | |||
* When we express a literal thought, the intended idea is directly stated | |||
** ex. ''The rainstorm is dropped two inches of rain.'' | |||
*** = just the facts, ma'am | |||
* figurative language expands the meaning beyond the literal | |||
** ex. | |||
*** ''The violent rainstorm pounded on the roof all night'' | |||
**** can a storm be violent? can it "pound" on a roof? | |||
***** < not literally, but such was the effect and experience of the storm | |||
*** ''It rained cats and dogs'' | |||
**** well, not literally, we hope | |||
=== imagery and figurative language conveys emotions as well as thoughts === | |||
* when we express ourselves figurativey or through imagery, we convey (deliver, carry to) more than just the thought, we help the listener or reader also experience the idea, or carry the idea into his or her own experiences | |||
* for this reason, the purpose of "figurative language" is "rhetorical effect" | |||
** ''rhetorical'' = of or from use of language | |||
** ''rhetorical effect'', then, means an effect or experience created by language | |||
** rhetorical effect comes in a variety of ways, per below | |||
== Figurative language == | == Figurative language == | ||
[[File:Basic_human_drawing.png|thumb|285x285px|Basic “stick figure” representation of a person, with a circle for the head and lines for the torso, arms, and legs.]] | |||
* figures of speech | * or "figures of speech" | ||
* "figure" (noun) means a representation of something | |||
** thus a "stick figure" is a representation of a person using sticks (thin pieces of wood) | |||
** "to figure" (verb) means to decipher or decode the meaning of something | |||
* thus "figurative language" is language through representations | |||
** these representations can be images, references, metaphors, word games, etc. that "represent" one thing through another | |||
== Literary approaches == | == Literary approaches == | ||