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Literary Devices
Literary Devices
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Rhyme is the matching of vowels and the
coupling of vowel sounds. Like rhythm, it is a
kind of recurrence - but rhyme has a
recurrence of sound as well as beat. The
following jingle has rhythm:
One, two,
Buckle my belt;
Three, four,
Snap the lock.
The rhythm of these lines becomes more
musical - and much easier to remember
-when rhyme is added. We then get the
recurring vowel sound of:
One, two,
Buckle my shoe;
Three, four,
Shut the door.
Alliteration Definition
Alliteration is derived from Latins
Latira. It means letters of
alphabet. It is a stylistic device in
which a number of words, having the
same first consonant sound, occur
close together in a series.
Krispy Kreme
The Scotch and Sirloin
We also find alliterations in names of people,
making such names prominent and easy to
be remembered. For instance, both fictional
characters and real people may stand out
prominently in your mind due to the
alliterative effects of their names. Examples
are:
Ronald Reagan
Sammy Sosa
Jesse Jackson
Michael Moore
William Wordsworth
Mickey Mouse
Porky Pig
Lois Lane
Marilyn Monroe
Fred Flintstone
Donald Duck
Spongebob Squarepants
Seattle Seahawks
Alliteration Examples in Literature
Example #1
From Samuel Taylor Coleridges The
Rime of the Ancient Mariner
The fair breeze blew, the white foam
flew,
The furrow followed free;
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea.
In the above lines we see alliteration
(b, f and s) in the phrases
breeze blew, foam flew, furrow
followed, and silent sea.
Example #2
From James Joyces The Dead
His soul swooned slowly as he heard
the snow falling faintly through the
universe and faintly falling, like the
descent of their last end, upon all the
living and the dead.
We notice several instances of
alliteration in the above mentioned
prose work of James Joyce.
Alliterations are with s and f in the
phrases swooned slowly and falling
faintly.
Example #3
From Maya Angelous I Know Why the
Caged Bird Sings
Up the aisle, the moans and screams
merged with the sickening smell of
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woolen black clothes worn in summer
weather and green leaves wilting over
yellow flowers.
Maya gives us a striking example of
alliteration in the above extract with
the letters s and w. We notice that
alliterative words are interrupted by
other non-alliterative words among
them but the effect of alliteration
remains the same. We immediately
notice alliteration in the words
screams, sickening smell,
summer, weather and wilting.
Example #4
From William Shakespeares Romeo
and Juliet (prologue to Act 1)
From forth the fatal loins of these two
foes;
A pair of star-crossd lovers take their
life.
This is an example of alliteration with the f
and l. in words forth, fatal, foes and
loins, lovers, and life.
Example #5
Percy Bysshe Shelleys (English
Romantic poet) The Witch of Atlas is
a famous poem that is full of examples
of alliterations. Just a few of them are
wings of winds (line 175), sick soul
to happy sleep (line 178), cells of
crystal silence (line 156), Wisdoms
wizard. . . wind. . . will (lines 195197), drained and dried ( line 227),
lines of light (line 245), green and
glowing (line 356), and crudded. . .
cape of cloud (lines 482-3).
Function of Alliteration
Alliteration has a very vital role in
poetry and prose. It creates a musical
effect in the text that enhances the
pleasure of reading a literary piece. It
makes reading and recitation of the
poems attractive and appealing; thus,
making them easier to learn by heart.
Furthermore, it renders flow and
beauty to a piece of writing.
In the marketing industry, as what we
have already discussed, alliteration
makes the brand names interesting
and easier to remember. This literary
device is helpful in attracting
customers and enhancing sales.
Assonance Definition
Assonance takes place when two or
more words close to one another
For instance,
Men sell the wedding bells.
The same vowel sound of the short
vowel -e- repeats itself in almost all
the words excluding the definite
article. The words do share the same
vowel sounds but start with different
consonant sounds unlike alliteration
that involves repetition of the same
consonant sounds. Below are a few
assonance examples that are more
common:
Common Assonance Examples
We light fire on the mountain.
I feel depressed and restless.
Go and mow the lawn.
Johnny went here and there and
everywhere.
The engineer held the steering to
steer the vehicle.
Examples of Assonance in Literature
Assonance is primarily used in poetry
in order to add rhythm and music, by
adding an internal rhyme to a poem.
Let us look at some examples of
assonance from literature.
Example #1
Try to notice the use of assonance in
Robert Frosts poem Stopping by
Woods on a Snowy Evening:
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sounds the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dar and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
The underlined bold letters in the
above extract are vowels that are
repeated to create assonance.
Example #2
Assonance sets the mood of a passage
in Carl Sandburgs Early Moon:
Poetry is old, ancient, goes back far. It
is among the oldest of living things. So
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old it is that no man knows how and
why the first poems came.
Notice how the long vowel o in the
above extract helps emphasize the
idea of something being old and
mysterious.
Example #3
The sound of long vowels slows down
the pace of a passage and sets an
atmosphere that is grave and serious.
Look at the following example taken
from Cormac McCarthys Outer Dark:
And stepping softly with her air of
blooded ruin about the glade in a frail
agony of grace she trailed her rags
through dust and ashes, circling the
dead fire, the charred billets and chalk
bones, the little calcined ribcage.
The repetition of the long vowel in the
above passage lays emphasis on the
frightening atmosphere that the writer
wants to depict.
Example #4
Similarly, we notice the use of long
vowels in a passage from Dylan
Thomas famous poem Do Not Go
Gentle into the Good Night:
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close
of day;
Rage, rage, against the dying of the
light.
Grave men, near death, who see with
blinding sight,
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors
and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the
light.
The poet deliberately uses assonance
in the above lines to slow down the
pace of the lines and create a somber
mood, as the subject of the poem is
death.
Example #5
William Wordsworth employs
assonance to create an internal rhyme
in his poem Daffodils:
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high oer vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the
breeze
Example #6
Below are a few brief examples of
assonance from different writers:
If I bleat when I speak its because I
just got . . . fleeced. Deadwood by
Al Swearengen
Those images that yet,
Fresh images beget,
That dolphin-torn, that gongtormented sea. Byzantium by W.B.
Yeats
Strips of tinfoil winking like people
The Bee Meeting by Sylvia Plath
I must confess that in my quest I felt
depressed and restless. With Love
by Thin Lizzy
Function of Assonance
Similar to any other literary device,
assonance also has a very important
role to play in both poetry and prose.
Writers use it as a tool to enhance a
musical effect in the text by using it
for creating internal rhyme, which
consequently enhances the pleasure
of reading a literary piece. In addition,
it helps writers to develop a particular
mood in the text that corresponds with
its subject matter.
Imagery Definition
Imagery means to use figurative language to
represent objects, actions and ideas in such
a way that it appeals to our physical senses.
Usually it is thought that imagery makes use
of particular words that create visual
representation of ideas in our minds. The
word imagery is associated with mental
pictures. However, this idea is but partially
correct. Imagery, to be realistic, turns out to
be more complex than just a picture. Read
the following examples of imagery carefully:
It was dark and dim in the forest. The
words dark and dim are visual images.
The children were screaming and shouting in
the fields. Screaming and shouting
appeal to our sense of hearing or auditory
sense.
He whiffed the aroma of brewed coffee.
whiff and aroma evoke our sense of
smell or olfactory sense.
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The girl ran her hands on a soft satin fabric.
The idea of soft in this example appeals to
our sense of touch or tactile sense.
Example #3
Function of Imagery
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readers senses as possible. It aids the
readers imagination to envision the
characters and scenes in the literary piece
clearly. Apart from the above mentioned
function, images , which are drawn by using
figures of speech like metaphor, simile,
personification, onomatopoeia etc. serve the
function of beautifying a piece of literature.
Symbolism Definition
Example #2
William Blake goes symbolic in his poem Ah
Sunflower. He says:
Ah Sunflower, weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the sun;
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the travelers journey is done;
Example #3
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The phrase foliage of leaves for Linton is a
symbol for his fertile and civilized nature. On
the contrary, Heathcliff is likened to an
eternal rock which symbolizes his crude
and unbendable nature.
Example #4
Sara Teasdale in her poem Wild Asters
develops a number of striking symbols:
In the spring, I asked the daisies
If his words were true,
And the clever, clear-eyed daisies
Always knew.
Now the fields are brown and barren,
Bitter autumn blows,
And of all the stupid asters
Not one knows.
In the above lines, spring and daisies are
symbols of youth. Brown and barren are
symbols of transition from youth to old age.
Moreover, Bitter autumn symbolizes death.
Function of Symbolism
Symbolism gives a writer freedom to add
double levels of meanings to his work: a
literal one that is self-evident and the
symbolic one whose meaning is far more
profound than the literal one. The
symbolism, therefore, gives universality to
the characters and the themes of a piece of
literature. Symbolism in literature evokes
interest in readers as they find an
opportunity to get an insight of the writers
mind on how he views the world and how he
thinks of common objects and actions,
having broader implications.
Consonance Definition
Consonance refers to repetitive sounds
produced by consonants within a sentence or
phrase. This repetition often takes place in
quick succession such as in pitter, patter.
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T was sooner when the cricket went
Than when the winter came,
Yet that pathetic pendulum
Keeps esoteric time.
It can be seen from the lines that Emily
Dickinson has made use of the consonant
m frequently in the italicized words.
3. Shall I Wasting in Despair is another
example written by George Wither.
Great, or good, or kind, or fair,
I will neer the more despair;
If she love me, this believe,
I will die ere she shall grieve;
If she slight me when I woo,
I can scorn and let her go;
For if she be not for me,
What care I for whom she be?
Here the use of consonance can be seen
through the letters such as r, d, and f.
4. Another poem by Dickinson that makes
good use of consonance is As imperceptibly
as Grief.
A Quietness distilled
As Twilight long begun,
Or Nature spending with herself
Sequestered Afternoon
Here Emily Dickinson has relied on the
consonant n to create the intended effect.
Functions of Consonance
Consonance is commonly employed in a
range of situations ranging from poetry to
prose writing. However, as the above
narrated examples highlight, the use of
consonance is significantly greater in poetry
writing than its use in the prose form. The
use of consonance provides the structure of
poetry with a rhyming effect. The writer
normally employs the tool of consonance for
the purpose of reiterating the significance of
an idea or theme. Further, the use of the
device makes the structure of poetry or
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Gradatio: A construction in poetry where the
last word of one clause becomes the first of
the next and so on.
Example 4
Example 1
Example 5
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constructive usage encompasses functions
such as, putting emphasis on a point,
confirming a fact or an idea, cohesion,
mimesis, transition, showing impartiality and
or describing a notion. The same literary
device when used destructively can
disintegrate the entire piece of writing.
Erasure, redundancy, continuous present,
fragmentation, copying and habitual misuse
of the literary device are among the
destructive effects.
Cacophony Definition
If we speak literally, cacophony points to a
situation where there is a mixture of harsh
and inharmonious sounds. In literature,
however, the term refers to the use of words
with sharp, harsh, hissing and unmelodious
sounds primarily those of consonants to
achieve desired results.
Common Cacophony Examples
In everyday life, one of the examples of
cacophony would be the amalgamation of
different sounds you hear in a busy city
street or market. You hear sounds of
vehicles, announcements on loudspeakers,
music, and chatter of people or even a dog
barking at the same time and without any
harmony. You can rightly point to the
situation as being the cacophony of a busy
street or market. We can notice the
manifestation of cacophony in language as
well; for instance in the sentence:
I detest war because cause of war is always
trivial.
The part because cause is cacophony as
because is followed by a word cause that has
a similar sound but different meaning.
Generally, it sounds unpleasant as the same
sound is repeated in two different words.
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New verities, new inklings in the velvet
hummed
Of dynamos, where hearings leash is
strummed.
Powers script, wound, bobbin-bound,
refinedIs stopped to the slap of belts on booming
spools, spurred
Into the bulging bouillon, harnessed jelly of
the stars.
The disorder and confusion of the industrial
world has been expressed here by the writer
through deliberate selection of cacophonic
words and phrases.
Example #3
Look at the following excerpt from Jonathan
Swifts Gullivers Travel:
And being no stranger to the art of war, I
have him a description of cannons, culverins,
muskets, carabines, pistols, bullets, powder,
swords, bayonets, battles, sieges, retreats,
attacks, undermines, countermines,
bombardments, sea-fights
In order to describe the destructive
consequences of war, the writer chooses
words and arranges them in an order that
they produce an effect that is unmelodious,
harsh and jarring that corresponds with the
subject matter.
Definition of Euphony
The literary device euphony is derived from
the Greek word euphonos that means
sweet-voiced. It can be defined as the use of
words and phrases that are distinguished as
having a wide range of noteworthy melody or
loveliness in the sounds they create. It gives
pleasing and soothing effects to the ears due
to repeated vowels and smooth consonants.
It can be used with other literary devices like
alliteration, assonance and rhyme to create
more melodic effects. Examples of euphony
are commonly found in poetry and literary
prose.
Features of Euphony
All euphony examples share the following
features:
Euphony involves the use of long vowels that
are more melodious than consonants.
Euphony involves the use of harmonious
consonants such as l, m, n, r and soft f
and v sounds.
Euphony uses soft consonants or semivowels w, s, y and th or wh
extensively to create more pleasant sounds.
Example #4
Example #1
Function of Cacophony
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And still more, later flowers for the bees,
So clear, of victory,
Functions of Euphony
The purpose of using euphony is to bring
about peaceful and pleasant feelings in a
piece of literary work. The readers enjoy
reading such pieces of literature or poems.
The long vowels create more melodious
effects than short vowels and consonants,
making the sounds harmonious and
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soothing. The pronunciation and enunciation
become agreeable and easy. Furthermore,
euphony is used in poetry and speeches to
convey messages effectively to the audience
and the readers.