LITERARY DEVICES

THE HOLE

By: Al Ryanne G. Gatcho

Good Friday. A quarter to three.
Tranquil surrounding and excruciating sweats at one.
I arrive.
Met the landlord. He seems aloof.
Keys handed over.
I listen.
He said, “it’s been a long time since a living soul has been here.”
Smirk, the response that I only gave.
I enter.
A new crib, nostalgia exuded.
Chairs, tables, and pictures of antiquity all over.
I search.
The room for me. Comfort zone, assured.
I notice.
The cobwebby wall that marks archaism.
Rejuvenate the place, I say to myself.
I approach.
My attention ensnared.
There’s a hole on the wall.
I observe.
Investigation, detective-like instinct.

The hole is perfectly surreal, round, dark and… familiar.

I think.
It could be a damage on the wall or a child-caused, maybe.
But why is there a seemingly familiar hole on the wall?
I imagine.
Could a nail make a hole like this?
Probably, a picture of an old and eerie woman hanging for a long time there.
I probe.
Could a blaze make a hole like this?
Possibly, fire commenced. A brave one tried to stop it.
I ponder.
Could the senescence of the wall make a hole like this?
Maybe! All deserves to retire after all.
I envisage.
This place has been a witness.
Feeling of anguish creeps on me – inside my veins.
I question.
Is it reminiscing?
That moment when I for once, was a witness of torment.
 I challenge.
Memories that I buried for long! I chose silence!
Draws me back to a nightmare as I see the hole!

I recall.
A piece of metal, penetrating the flesh.
The pleading, the hands shielding a face to cover the tears.
I discern.
This hole resembles my torment! It resembles my torment!
A nemesis that I cannot escape!
I realize.
Pointless! A void and an emptiness, I was enthralled.
Inevitable, I was the only one who knows when a man had a hole on his head.
The havoc of a flesh.
I affirm.
I’ll bury again the memories.
They will not know! They will never know!
I took a piece of wood and I’ll cover the hole.
It’s Good Friday. It is now 3:00 PM.

Making sense of the literary text-FORUM

After the reading the poem, you are tasked to answer the following questions in the forum:

1. What do you think is the poem all about?

2. What can you say about the author's style of writing?

3. How did his style of writing contribute to your understanding of the poem?

4. Are there any strategies of the author that caught your attention? Why did it catch your
attention?

You are required to: (1) comment to at least two ideas or insights shared by your peers, (2)
ask questions to at least two of your peers, and (3) answer questions given by your peers.

Literary Devices
Literary devices are techniques that writers use to express their ideas and enhance their writing.
Literary devices highlight important concepts in a text, strengthen the narrative, and help readers
connect to the characters and themes.
These devices serve a wide range of purposes in literature. Some might work on an intellectual
level, while others have a more emotional effect. They may also work subtly to improve the flow
and pacing of your writing. No matter what, if you're looking to inject something special into
your prose, literary devices are a great place to start.
Of course, for readers, literary devices can be difficult to identify. But here's a good rule of
thumb: if you're reading a book and you find the author using language or narrative structure in
an unusual way, there's probably a literary device at work. Indeed, some devices show up so
frequently, you may not even register them as you're reading.
Access the link provided here in order for you to have a greater knowledge in literary devices. As
a creative writer, your task is to familiarize yourself with many literary devices.

Maryville University Online's Literary Devices Guide

Writers, both professional and casual, regularly use literary devices. These techniques are tools
used by writers to help them create engaging works such as poems, short stories, or novels.
There are a large number of literary devices, and it can be helpful to brush up on them
occasionally. Whether one is signed up for an online bachelor’s degree program, taking classes
on campus, or a college graduate, having a source of reference for some of the more common
literary devices can be beneficial and serve to sharpen and improve one’s writing.
 Allegory: When writers use characters, figures, or events to represent abstract principles
or ideas
 Alliteration: The use of the same consonant sounds at the beginnings of two or more
closely grouped words in the same sentence
 Allusion: A reference made by the writer to a real or imaginary person, place, or event
that is likely to be recognized by the reader
 Assonance: The repetition of a pattern of vowel sounds
 Atmosphere: The mood or feeling that readers get from reading the description or setting
of a literary work
 Ballad: A narrative poem that is told in song
 Blank Verse: A non-rhyming poem that uses iambic pentameter
 Consonance: Repeating similar consonant sounds or patterns in close proximity
 Diction: Word choices used in writing or in speech
 Elegy: A serious or sorrowful poem that is often lamenting someone who is dead
 Enjambment: When a writer’s use of a phrase goes over a line break without a comma or
any other form of punctuation for emphasis
 Epitaph: An inscribed verse or phrase on a tombstone or a monument that’s written in
memory of someone who has died
 Epiphany: The point in literature when a sudden realization occurs that serves as a
turning point for the character
 Euphemism: The use of understated or inoffensive words to say something that is
considered offensive or harsh
 Foreshadowing: When clues or events occur that hint at changes in the plot that will
occur at a later point in the storyline
 Free Verse: Poetry that is non-rhyming and without a regular meter
 Hyperbole: An exaggeration that is used for effect but not meant to be taken seriously
 Idiom: Phrases or expressions that have a widely accepted meaning other than the literal
meaning of each individual word
 Imagery: Descriptions that are used to appeal to the readers’ five senses
 Irony: A technique that uses words in a way that contradicts what they actually mean
 Juxtaposition: Placing two ideas or characters side by side in a narrative for contrast or
comparison
 Lyric: A poem that expresses the writer’s emotion in a style or form that’s song-like
 Metaphor: A figure of speech that implies a comparison between two unlike things, often
by speaking of something as if its meaning were something else
 Monologue: A speech made by a single character
 Ode: A type of poem that’s addressed to, and often praises, a particular person or subject
that the poet admires or has deep feelings for
 Onomatopoeia: The use of words that sound like the thing that they refer to
 Oxymoron: A figure of speech that joins two words that contradict each other
 Paradox: A statement that seems false and appears to contradict itself but is actually true
to some degree
 Pun: A play on words that uses similar-sounding words that have different meanings and
is often done for the purpose of humor or irony
 Repetition: Using the same words or phrases two or more times for emphasis
 Rhetorical Question: A question that does not require an answer but is expressed to make
a point or for dramatic effect
 Rhyme: When two or more words end with identical or similar sounds, often occurring at
the ends of lines of poetry
 Sarcasm: When a harsh remark is used to mock for the purpose of amusement and to hurt
someone’s feelings
 Satire: Writing that uses humor, derision, or irony to ridicule human vices and other
faults
 Sonnet: A poem of 14 lines that uses one of several rhyme schemes and is written in
iambic pentameter
 Stream of Consciousness: A narrative technique in which a writer attempts to illustrate a
character’s subjective and random observations, feelings, and commentary in a
continuous flow
 Symbol: An object or character that’s written to represent something else
 Tone: The writer’s attitude toward a character, a subject, or the reader
 Understatement: When a writer deliberately makes something seem smaller or less
important than what it is for effect
 Wit: Elements in literature meant to amuse readers using insightful or cynical humor that
can be harmless or aggressive and may include clever banter or dry one-liners
Write a poem analysis of "The Hole" and focus on how its meaning is revealed to you through
the literary devices used by the author. Your poem analysis will determine how you can easily
spot literary devices now and how such mechanisms can create meaning to a literary text. You
will be graded using the attached rubric. The deadline of your poem analysis is on October 6,
2021.