Below are examples of rhetorical and literary devices we studied in the
fall. There are examples from Romeo and Juliet for each:
LITERARY TERMS Elements of a story:ROMEO AND JULIET
Genre (Drama)
Protagonist (Romeo and Juliet)
Antagonist (Tybalt and fate)
Theme (moral or lesson - We are cursed by our need for instant
gratification...or, Adults do not always offer the expected best advice.)
Back Story ("From ancient grudge broke to new mutiny")
Foil character (Benvolio and Mercutio)
Mentor character (Friar and Nurse)
Subplot (Rosaline and Paris)
Archetype (Juliet is pretty. Romeo is handsome.)
Indirect (What drawn and talk of peace? I hate word as I hate hell
Direct characterization (He that can lay hold of her shall have the chinks.)
Rhetorical shift ("It is not near day" - when they skip wedding night)
Allusion (Venus smiles not in a house of tears.)
Situational Irony - the opposite of what is expected occurs
(A servant is given an invitation list who can't read.)
Dramatic irony - the audience knows something the characters do not
(We know Juliet is like faking or whatever.)
internal conflict (deciding to take the "sleep potion" vs. external
conflict "Thou art a villain!"
foreshadowing - clues to upcoming events or stuff that you like know is gonna
happen "I see thee buried in a tomb."
MOTIF - a reoccuring theme or symbol "I defy you stars!"
flat/static character - remains the same - the NURSE
round/dynamic character - changes - ROMEO
Point of View - 1st, 3rd, and omniscient (all - knowing)
allegory - an abstract representation of an actual event
setting, plot, climax, resolution
epiphany - a sudden realization a character makes "O she doth teach the
torches to burn bright."
parallelism - events imitate each other and/or grammatical structure in
sentences parallel each other (Good and Bad news "nurse" scenes and sentences
in Friar's speech "There art thy happy."
antethesis - opposite ideas expressed in consecutive sentences. "Tybalt
should have slew thee. Yet thou slewest Tybalt."
hubris - arrogance by the hero or protagonist leading to his demise...Romeo
and Juliet heroes?
RHETORICAL DEVICES
Parts of Speech - noun, verb, adverb (hastily), adjective (robust),
conjunction (yet, but), preposition
(near, before, during), pronoun (myself), interjection)
Figurative Language (Language not meant literally)
If you DO use a contraction, which you shouldn't...SHOULD NOT. Please, for
the love of Sugarcandy mountain, USE an apostrophe!
Metaphor - comparison between two unlike things "Juliet is the sun!"
Metonomy - a type of metaphor where a word closely related to a term
represents the whole.
"Crown" for royalty, "Skin" for peel, and "bottle" for wine
Simile - comparison using like, as, or than "Thou are like a powder in a
skilless soilder's flask."
cliche' - a trite or overused expression "Wherefore art thou Romeo?"
ellipsis - omitting words..."I am peppered...I warrant for this world...A
plague of both your houses!...They have made worm's meat of me!"
Personification - ideas or objects given human traits "Open the jaws of death"
Apostrophe - to speak to a thing or animal as if real "I will cram thee with
more food. (Romeo to tomb)
Anthropomorphism - when an object or animal becomes human - Don't think we
had this one
HYPERBOLE - exaggeration "Banisment is worse than 1,000,000,000,000,000
Tybalts!"
REPETITION - There is power in repetition. There is strength. There is
memory. "There art thy happy." (Said three times)
IMAGERY - any writing related to the five senses "Smooth our rough touch (of
our hands) with a kiss"
SYNTAX (sentence structure...Do not be afraid of short, direct sentences.
*Most of the play is written in IAMBIC PENTAMETER (10 syllables)
VARY sentence beginnings and length)
DICTION (pretty obvious, but paramour and about 500 others)
ANNOTATION - An annotation is a short description of an item. Annotations
describe (summarize important content) and evaluate (critically analyze).
This is what you did to Friar Laurence's speech.
INFINITIVE PHRASE(To + verb) To understand this element, you have to read
it. "To speak that word is father, mother, Juliet all dead!" - TO SPEAK
PARTICIPIAL PHRASE(verb ending in -ed or -ing used as an adjective)
"Despised substance of divinest show" - DESPISE is usually a verb. Here is
is an adjective.
ABSOLUTE PHASE- noun and verb, not a sentence - Eyes blazing,...
APPOSITIVE PHRASE (A noun clause directly after the subject simply restating
what it is) - "Death, that sucked the honey of thy breath, had no power yet
upon thy beauty."
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE (With his satchel, in the cannon's mouth)
ANANPHORA - repetition at the beginning. (Here will I set up everlasting
rest. Here will I remain, with worms that are thy chambermaids."
all.)
EPISTROPHE - repetition at the end
O shut the door! I am past help, past hope, past care!" or "Said he not
so? Or did I dream it so?"
ASYNDETON - omission of conjunctions ("Last scene of all, That ends this
strange eventful history, is second childishness, and mere oblivion, Sans
teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything."
POLYSYNDETON - overuse of conjunctions (We ran and worked and slept.)
"Thou railest (complain about) earth and heaven and
PUN - A pun is a play on words..."A dog of the house of Capulet moves me.
Well if you are moved then you will run away?"
OXYMORON - "Cold Fire", "Sick Health" "Damned Saint" "Honorable villain!"-
two word phrase with contrasting ideas.
RHETORICAL FRAGMENT - sentence fragments used for effect (Barren, desolate.)
"So silent."
JUXTAPOSITION - an act or instance of placing close together or side by side,
esp. for comparison or contrast. Juxtaposition placing Benvolio, the
peacekeeper next to Tybalt, the vexed Prince of Cats.
ASSONANCE - repetition of vowel sound (a, e, i , o, u)
"If not say no. Brief sounds determine my weal or woe."
ALLITERATION - repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of successive
phrases ("What devil art thou that dost torment me thus?")
CONSONANCE - repetition of consonant sounds WITHIN consecutive words...
"It was a stroke of luck that we found the clock within the wreck."
METHODS OF PERSUASION
LOGOS - persuasion based on logic "The law should have killed you." -
logically, you should be dead already.
ETHOS - based on ethics "Art thou a man?" - You are not acting like you
should ethically or someone who is in love.
PATHOS - emotional appeal "You kill Juliet if you kill yourself." - Think of
what you will do emotionally to Juliet.
PARADOX - appears contradictory, makes sense "The earth is both a tomb and a
womb." or "Here is thy gold. Worse poison to men's souls than those
compounds thy mayst not sell."
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARHHHHHHH
HH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here are the SKILLS you should know for our exam. Next to each is the
example we found from "THE ILLUSTRATED MAN" prologue. There are other
examples and definitions if you need to search below.
The illustrated man – inside the tattoos (prepositional phrase)
Allusion – El Greco, Picasso – alludes to outside piece of art, literature,
history, person
Archetype – witch has powers, man covered in tattoos works at carnival
Back story – how he procured illustrations
Protagonist – narrator or illustrated man
Antagonist – witch or tattoos
FIG LANGUAGE URATIVE
Simile – He looked like a man who had fallen into a twenty- color printing
press, crawled like ants, glowed like charcoals
Metaphor – a constellation of freckles, a walking treasure gallery
Personification – The first illustration quivered and came to life.
Hyperbole – They won’t touch me with a ten foot pole.
Imagery – whisky on his breath, hear the Illustrated man’s breathing(relates
to sences)
Parts of speech
Noun – tattoos, celebration, carnival
Verb – flickered, covered, exhaled, opening
Adjective – vibrant, clear, and beautiful
Adverb – slowly unbuttoned his collar
Preposition – after, by, out on the air, on
Conjunction – and, yet, so, however
Pronoun – He, I, they
Cliché – touch me with a ten foot pole (hyperbole too)
Paradox – Everyone wants to see the tattoos, but nobody really want to see
them
Infinitive phrase – (to + verb) To feel his chest…
Participial phrase – begins with a verb ending in –ing or –ed (Walking along
an asphalt road, I was on the final leg of a two weeks’ walking tour of
Wisconsin.)
Prepositional phrase – On his palm was rose. (begins with a preposition)
Absolute phrase – diamond eyes aglitter – noun and verb, not a sentence – His
eyes shut, he unbuttoned his collar.
Appositive phrase – I only knew that he was tall, once well muscled, but now,
for some reason going to fat.
Indirect characterization – “Do you know where I can find a job?”
(unemployed), He unbuttoned his collar slowly with his eyes shut
(embarrassed of tattoos or tired of showing them)
Direct characterization – His face was a child’s set on a massive body.
(Describing directly)
Alliteration – while the stars wheeled in the sky, tiny tinkling thoughts
Assonance – Eighteen illustration, eighteen tales. (repetition of vowel
sounds ) there were yellow meadows
Consonance – repetition of consonant sounds WITHIN words. The tattoos waited
until the man fell asleep.
Rhetorical question – “How else could she know these stories she painted on
me?”
Anaphora – Each seemed intent upon his own activity; each was a separate
gallery portrait.
Epistrophe – and shows her whole life – how she’ll live, how she’ll die, what
she’ll look like when she is sixty. (asyndeton too)
Polysyndeton – He was a riot of rockets and fountains and people.
Asyndeton – omission of conjunctions – He was a riot of rockets, fountains,
people.
Diction – word choice, connoisseur
Active sentence – He shut his eyes tiredly. His voice grew fainter.
Passive – The tattoos were put on by the witch and he was going to kill her.
Ellipsis – The first illustration quivered and came to life…
HERE IS THE FULL LIST OF TERMS.
Genre (Drama)
Protagonist (Rainsford)
Antagonist (General Zaroff)
Theme (moral or lesson applied to life) - Though Zaroff is a fictional
character, there remains thousands of Zaroffs in society today, willing to
prey on the weakness of others.
Back Story ("I've seen you shoot a moose at four hundred yards")
Foil character (Whitney or Ivan)
Mentor character (Zaroff's father)
Archetype (Ivan proves the atypical enforcer.)
Indirect characterization - Dialogue, Reactions ("The world is made up of two
classes, the hunters and the huntees. Luckily, you and I are the hunters.")
Direct characterization (His thick eyebrows and pointed military mustache.)
Rhetorical shift ("When he opened his eyes he knew from the position of the
sun that it was late in the afternoon.") TIME or TONE shift.
Allusion (Then he lit a cigarette and hummed a bit from "Madame Buttefly"
(an opera)
Situational Irony - the opposite of what is expected occurs
(A hunter who lacks pity for animals is then hunted.)
Dramatic irony - the audience knows something the characters do not
(We realize Zaroff hunts humans before Rainsford.)
Verbal irony - a character says something he or she does not mean.
internal conflict (deciding jump into the ocean) vs. external
conflict (the sea itself)
foreshadowing - clues to upcoming events or stuff that you like know is gonna
happen ("Each time he looked up he saw the General appraising him."
MOTIF - a reoccuring theme or symbol - THE WALL in cask
Point of View - 1st, 3rd, and omniscient (all - knowing)
epiphany - a sudden realization a character makes "He knew how a beast at bay
feels."
RHETORICAL DEVICES
Parts of Speech - noun, verb, adverb (hastily), adjective (robust),
conjunction (yet, but), preposition
(near, before, during), pronoun (myself), interjection - Bah!)
Figurative Language (Language not meant literally)
If you DO use a contraction, which you shouldn't...SHOULD NOT. Please, for
the love of Sugarcandy mountain, USE an apostrophe!
Metaphor - comparison between two unlike things
Simile - comparison using like, as, or than
cliche' - a trite or overused expression "Wherefore art thou Romeo?"
ellipsis - omitting words (...)
Personification - ideas or objects given human traits
HYPERBOLE - exaggeration
REPETITION - There is power in repetition. There is strength. There is
memory.
IMAGERY - any writing related to the five senses "Smooth our rough touch (of
our hands) with a kiss"
SYNTAX (sentence structure...Do not be afraid of short, direct sentences.
VARY sentence beginnings and length)
DICTION (pretty obvious, but paramour rather than love)
CONNOTATION vs. DENOTATION - Connotation is the implied meaning or
association with the word. Denotation is the dictionary definition.
ANNOTATION - An annotation is a short description of an item. Annotations
describe (summarize important content) and evaluate (critically analyze).
PLOT DIAGRAM – KNOW THE 6 different points.
EXPOSITIONS, CONFLICT, RISING ACTIONS, CLIMAX, FALLING ACTION, RESOLUTION
INFINITIVE PHRASE(To + verb) To understand this element, you have to read
it. - TO SPEAK clearly is important to any orator.
PARTICIPIAL PHRASE(verb ending in -ed or -ing used as an adjective)
Speaking clearly to his audience, MLK motivated all.
ABSOLUTE PHASE- noun and verb, not a sentence -
Hands twitching, he began his speech after a momentary pause.
APPOSITIVE PHRASE (A noun clause directly after the subject simply restating
what it is) - MLK, a civil rights activist, now has a memorial in Washington.
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE (With the use of his wit and wisdom, MLK changed the
lives of millions.
ANANPHORA - repetition at the beginning.
EPISTROPHE - repetition at the end
ASYNDETON - omission of conjunctions ("Last scene of all, That ends this
strange eventful history, is second childishness, and mere oblivion, Sans
teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything."
POLYSYNDETON - overuse of conjunctions (We ran and worked and slept.)
_________________________
PUN - A pun is a play on words
OXYMORON -two word phrase with contrasting ideas.
RHETORICAL FRAGMENT - sentence fragments used for effect (Barren, desolate.)
"So silent."
JUXTAPOSITION - an act or instance of placing close together or side by side,
esp. for comparison or contrast.
ASSONANCE - repetition of vowel sound (a, e, i , o, u)
"If not say no. Brief sounds determine my weal or woe."
ALLITERATION - repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of successive
phrases ("What devil art thou that dost torment me thus?")
CONSONANCE - repetition of consonant sounds WITHIN consecutive words...
"It was a stroke of luck that we found the clock within the wreck."
METHODS OF PERSUASION
LOGOS - persuasion based on logic "The law should have killed you." -
logically, you should be dead already.
ETHOS - based on ethics "Art thou a man?" - You are not acting like you
should ethically or someone who is in love.
PATHOS - emotional appeal "You kill Juliet if you kill yourself." - Think of
what you will do emotionally to Juliet.
PARADOX - appears contradictory, makes sense "The earth is both a tomb and a
womb." or "Here is thy gold. Worse poison to men's souls than those
compounds thy mayst not sell."
LITERARY and rhetoriCAL strategies and ELEMENTS
Omit needless words.
Write out numbers.
Write to impress.
Use the active voice. (I ate the sandwich.)
Avoid passive voice. (the sandwich was eaten by me.)
Avoid get, got, that, so, then, and state of being verbs.
Avoid cliches
INCORRECT
Romeo is starting to fight Tybalt now.
CORRECT
Romeo enters the fight with Tybalt.