Literary Devices

1
Literary Devices

• Period 6
• AP Language and Composition
• Mrs. Dolhon

2
Metaphor

• Instead of honoring this sacred obligation,
  America has given the negro people a bad check
  which has come back marked insufficient funds.
• King Jr., Marin Luther. Speech. I Have a Dream.
  March on Washington. Lincoln Memorial, Washington
  D.C. 28 Aug. 1963
• It helps to convey a point by relating to the
  audience with a familiar circumstance. This type
  of situation may have been encountered by many of
  the members of the Civil Rights Movement,
  therefore adding more passion to their argument
  for equal rights.

3
AllusionA literary reference to a familiar
person, place, thing, or event.

• But to him, I was just an Evita or a Maria
  merely a character in his cartoon-populated
  universe.
• Cofer, Judith Ortiz. The Myth of the Latin
  Woman I Just Met a Girl Named Maria. 50 Essays
  A Portable Anthology Ed. Samuel Cohen. Boston
  Bedford/St. Martins, 2004.
• This emphasizes the effect of stereotypes on
  minority populations. It also shows the limited
  knowledge of non-Hispanics in regard to Hispanic
  culture and lifestyles.

4
Hyperbole

• A figure of speech in which exaggeration is
  used for emphasis or effect.

her eyes bulging nearly out of her
head. Hyperbole is used to exaggerate how
scared she is to exemplify how he is seen he by
women.
Staples, Brent. Just Walk On By Black Men and
Public Space. MS Essays A Portable Anthology.
Boston Cohen, 2004.
5
Anaphora

• The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase
  at the beginning of several successive verses,
  clauses, or paragraph

Go back to Mississippi. Go back to Alabama. Go
back to South Carolina. Go back to Georgia. Go
back to Louisiana.
Anaphoras are used in I Have A Dream to provide
emphasis and empowerment to the speech.
King Jr., Martin Luther. I Have A Dream.
Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C 28 August 1963
6
Connotation

• - All I knew was that I was stuck between my
  hatred of the empire I served and my rage against
  the evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make
  my job impossible.

Orwell, George. Shooting an Elephant. 50
Essays. Ed. Samuels. Cohen. 2nd ed. Boston
Bedford/St. Martins, 2007. 302-309
The excerpt from Orwells Shooting an Elephant
connotes the literal, the speakers difficulty
working with the Burman natives, with the
coloring or associated emotions - his anger and
hostility towards both the native population and
his countys imperialism. ?Stuck connotes that
Orwell is placed between two evils that he
equally loathes. ? Little beasts connotes his
bitterness towards the Burmans and the inhuman
view that Englishmen had of the natives.
7
Parallelism

• With this faith we will be able to work
  together, to pray together, to struggle together,
  to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom
  together, knowing that we will be free one day.

King Jr., Martin Luther. I Have A Dream.
Lincoln Memorial. Washington D.C. 28 August. 1963
Martin Luther King, Jr. uses a collection of
infinitives to create a balanced sentence that
emphasizes the actions different races will take
together.
8
Anecdotes and Ethos

• A Presentation by Core, Carl, Melissa, and Kyle

9
Anecdotes

• An anecdote is a short tale narrating an
  interesting or entertaining biographical
  incident.
• George Orwells piece, Shooting an Elephant, is
  one giant anecdote.
• Ex In Moulmein, in Lower Burma, I was hated
  by large numbers of people. I was sub-divisional
  police officer of the town
• Anecdotes serve to illustrate one of the
  authors personal experiences.

10
Ethos

• Ethos is a Latin term meaning moral.
• This is a rhetorical strategy that is used to
  establish credibility with the reader.
• In Brent Staples piece Just Walk on By, he
  established credibility by establishing his
  education and position.
• A graduate student newly arrived at the
  University of Chicago, and I worked as a
  journalist in Chicago.
• This is important, as Staples needs this
  credibility.

11
Bibliography
Orwell, George. "Shooting an Elephant." 50
Essays A Portable Anthology. (2004) 277-283.
Print. Staples, Brent. "Just Walk on By Black
Men and Public Space." MS. 1994 Print.
12
Sarcasm
Thanks for banning my book!

• Sarcasm- a sharply ironical taunt
• The publisher of Vamos a Cuba should send a
  bottle of champagne to Frank Bolanos, the
  Miami-Dade School Board member who led the push
  to ban the harmless little travel tome from the
  countys public schools.
• Carl Hiaasen adds some humor to his article when
  he uses sarcasm in his writing. He lightens the
  mood of the legal issue and shows how ridiculous
  the ban is in his opinion.

Hiaasen, Carl. This Column Banned in Miami
Schools. Miami Herald. 2006.
13
Diction
Hey girl!

• Diction- style of speaking or writing as
  dependent upon choice of words
• You mustnt speak to wharf-rat-boys, not even
  give directions.
• When speaking to a little girl, using a word like
  rat (something gross and frightening) would scare
  her away from these types of boys.
  Wharf-rat-boys creates a stronger effect than
  if Kincaid would have used grimy
  irresponsible or dirty.

Kincaid, Jamaica. Girl. At the Bottom of the
River. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. 1983
14

• BY Brittney Lane, Danielle Johnson, Nadia
  Kapossy, Alexis Galamay, Guillermo Giannattasio

15
Metaphor

• Instead of honoring this sacred obligation,
  America has given the negro people a bad check
  which has come back marked insufficient funds.
• King Jr., Marin Luther. Speech. I Have a Dream.
  March on Washington. Lincoln Memorial, Washington
  D.C. 28 Aug. 1963
• It helps to convey a point by relating to the
  audience with a familiar circumstance. This type
  of situation may have been encountered by many of
  the members of the Civil Rights Movement,
  therefore adding more passion to their argument
  for equal rights.

16
AllusionA literary reference to a familiar
person, place, thing, or event.

• But to him, I was just an Evita or a Maria
  merely a character in his cartoon-populated
  universe.
• Cofer, Judith Ortiz. The Myth of the Latin
  Woman I Just Met a Girl Named Maria. 50 Essays
  A Portable Anthology Ed. Samuel Cohen. Boston
  Bedford/St. Martins, 2004.
• This emphasizes the effect of stereotypes on
  minority populations. It also shows the limited
  knowledge of non-Hispanics in regard to Hispanic
  culture and lifestyles.

17
Alliteration

• Definition- repetition of initial sounds in
  successive or neighboring words
• This sweltering summer of the negros legitimate
  discontent will not pass until there is an
  invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.
• Since I Have A Dream is a speech given to a
  large crowd with different educational levels the
  use of sweltering summer is an example of
  alliteration. Its use helps to catch the
  listeners attention, and direct their focus to
  his point.
• This alliteration creates a lasting impression in
  the listeners mind. Sweltering summer also
  allows the reader to understand the oppression
  and discomfort that the African American
  community endures.

King Martin Luther Jr. I Have A Dream.
Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C. August 28, 1963
18
Colloquialism

• Definition informal words or expressions not
  usually acceptable in formal writing
• On Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like
  the slut you are so bent on becoming
• The use of slut in Girl is an example of
  colloquialism because it is a word not typically
  accepted in formal writing.
• When Jamaica Kincaid uses slut it grabs the
  readers attention her daughter.
• It demonstrates the mothers sense of urgency and
  exemplifies her purpose for the piece.

Kincaid Jamaica. Girl. At the Bottom of the
River. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. 1983.