Transcript Slide 1

Elements of Style: Literary Devices
Feature Menu
What Is Style?
Figures of Speech
Irony
Imagery
Dialect
Practice
What Is Style?
Style is the way a writer uses language.
In fashion, style comes from
the choices people make when
they get dressed.
In writing, style comes from
the choices writers make when
they put words on a page.
What Is Style?
Many writers have a style that is easy to
recognize.
Because of the way these writers use
language—
the words they choose,
the length and shape of their sentences,
the images they create,
the tone they use—
people read their words and know who they are.
What Is Style?
Can you tell which poem was written by Dr. Seuss?
By E. E. Cummings?
who are you,little i
from Green Eggs
and Ham
I would not like them
here or there.
I would not like them
anywhere.
I do not like
green eggs and ham,
I do not like them,
Sam-I-am. . . .
who are you,little I
(five or six years old)
peering from some high
window;at the gold
of november sunset
(and feeling that if day
has to become night
this is a beautiful way)
What Is Style?
If you’ve read anything by Dr. Seuss, you will know
that this poem was written by him.
from Green Eggs
and Ham
I would not like them
here or there.
I would not like them
anywhere.
I do not like
green eggs and ham,
I do not like them,
Sam-I-am.
What Is Style?
If you’ve ever read anything E. E. Cummings, you
will probably recognize
who are you,little i
his unique style in this
who are you,little I
poem.
(five or six years old)
peering from some high
window;at the gold
of november sunset
(and feeling that if day
has to become night
this is a beautiful way)
What Is Style?
How did you know which writer wrote each poem?
You probably recognized the regular rhythm and
rhyme pattern in the poem by Dr. Seuss—as well
as the silly sounding, made-up word Sam-I-am.
Dr. Seuss has a
style that most
readers learn to love
early in life.
What Is Style?
How did you know which writer wrote each poem?
You may have recognized the lowercase letters
and unusual punctuation in the poem by E. E.
Cummings . . .
a poet who isn’t
afraid to break the
rules.
What Is Style?
Every writer has a style, and
many elements come
together to create
that style.
Imagery
Irony
In this collection,
you will learn about
four of those
elements:
Dialect
Figures
of
Speech
[End of Section]
Figures of Speech
Figures of speech are expressions that are not
literally true
It was a shot in the dark . . .
but that suggest similarities between usually
unrelated things.
I had forgotten to study for the test, so
every answer was a shot in the dark.
No one is actually shooting into the darkness. . .
but taking a test without studying is like shooting in the
dark— you’re not likely to get it right.
Figures of Speech
There are four main types of figures of speech:
similes
personification
metaphors
symbols
Similes compare two unlike things using a word
of comparison such as like, than, as, or
resembles.
The car’s tire was as flat as a
pancake.
Figures of Speech
Metaphors compare two unlike things directly,
without using a specific word of comparison.
Sunlight poured down
onto the fields.
Sometimes metaphors go on for more than a
sentence. These are called extended
metaphors.
Figures of Speech
Personification speaks of a nonhuman or
inanimate thing as if it had human or lifelike
qualities.
A falling leaf danced on
the breeze.
The ocean’s whisper
grew louder as the tide
came in.
Figures of Speech
Symbols are people, places, or events that have
meaning in themselves but that also stand for
something beyond themselves.
A dove with an olive branch is a
symbol for peace.
A skull and crossbones is a symbol
for poison.
Figures of Speech
We use figures of speech in everyday language
without even realizing it.
Sorry I’m late. I was tied up
in traffic.
Her hands were as cold
as ice.
Figures of speech that we use everyday are clichés;
they are not particularly interesting anymore.
Figures of Speech
Writers try to create fresh figures of speech to help
us see things in a new way.
The traffic snaked along for miles,
squeezing us tight in its coils.
The handshake was as cold
and clammy as a cave wall.
The new and original comparisons a writer makes
are part of that writer’s style.
[End of Section]
Irony
When reality contradicts what we expect, it’s called
irony. There are three kinds of irony.
Verbal
Irony
We say one thing
“That’s just great,” your
and mean something friend says in a disgusted
else.
tone.
Situational
Irony
The situation turns
out to be just the
opposite of what
we’d expect.
The firehouse burns to the
ground.
Dramatic
Irony
We know something
that a character
doesn’t know.
We know what’s at the end
of the dark hallway, but
the character doesn’t.
Irony
How a writer uses irony and the type of irony he or
she tends to use—both are aspects of a writer’s
style.
“Everywhere we went, I
always took care of my
little brother, Jake—just
like Mama told me to.”
verbal irony
On the first day of
practice, Coach told us
the position he had played
in college: mascot.
situational irony
Irony
How a writer uses irony and the type of irony he or
she tends to use—both are aspects of a writer’s
style.
It would be the last
time Grandpa would
fly the plane, though
he didn’t know that.
Not one of the children
thought to look up; therefore,
none of them saw the new
flag over the school that day.
dramatic irony
dramatic irony
Irony
Which of these statements contains more irony?
That morning at breakfast,
Tom refused his mother’s offer
to cook him a bacon omelet
and thought about his new
pet, Curly, instead.
That morning at breakfast,
Tom ate a second helping of
bacon while planning Curly’s
escape.
[End of Section]
Imagery
Imagery is language that creates word pictures
and appeals to the senses.
the lazy
creak of the
tire swing
bright green
water parted
by the
knobby head
of a crocodile
the smooth
silky texture
of pie on your
thumb
Imagery
Imagery that describes the same subject can vary
significantly in style and tone.
The sun that bleak December day
Rose cheerless over hills of gray.
We’d one December morning more
to face the grim—and grimy—chore
of tire chain application.
Imagery
The way a writer presents imagery has a strong
impact on his or her style.
Notice how slowly and gradually author Edgar
Allan Poe creates the image of lantern light falling
upon an old man’s glass eye.
When I had waited a long time, very patiently,
without hearing him lie down, I resolved to open
a little—a very, very little crevice in the lantern.
So I opened it—you cannot imagine how
stealthily, stealthily—until, at length, a single dim
ray, like the thread of the spider, shot from out
the crevice and full upon the vulture eye.
Imagery
The way a writer presents imagery has a strong
impact on his or her style.
Now compare Poe’s use of imagery to this version
of the scene.
I waited for what seemed hours. Then, when I
could stand it no longer, I opened the lantern’s
cover just slightly, and a small amount of light—a
very soft glow—entered the room. I saw his eye.
With good reason—Poe’s version is much more
memorable. People who read Poe will recognize it.
[End of Section]
Dialect
Dialect is a way of speaking that’s characteristic
of a particular place or group of people.
Listen to these two
examples of dialect.
Dialect
Some writers use dialect to convey information
about a story’s setting or its characters.
Other writers
avoid using dialect
and rely on other
techniques
instead.
The woman who met my father
and me for lunch was the sort
my mother would call a
“gentlewoman.” She spoke with
a Southern drawl and seemed
unnervingly pleased to see us.
A writer’s choice to use dialect can be a very
noticeable part of his or her style—since dialect is
conveyed using unconventional spelling and
punctuation.
[End of Section]
Practice
Let’s Try It
from My Mother Pieced Quilts
they were just meant as covers
in winters
as weapons
against pounding january winds
but it was just that every morning I awoke
to these
october ripened canvases
passed my hand across their cloth faces
and began to wonder how you pieced
all these together
these strips of gentle communion cotton
and flannel nightgowns
wedding organdies
dime store velvets
1. What
metaphor is
used in the first
stanza?
2. Which line in
the second stanza
contains
personification?
Practice
Let’s Try It
how you shaped patterns square and
oblong and round
positioned
balanced
then cemented them
with your thread
a steel needle
a thimble
3. To what
sense does
the imagery
in this stanza
appeal?
Practice
Let’s Try It
how the thread darted in and out
galloping along the frayed edges, tucking
them in
as you did us at night
oh how you stretched and turned and
rearranged
your michigan spring faded curtain pieces
my father’s santa fe work shirt
the summer denims, the tweeds of fall
4. What simile
appears in this
stanza?
Practice
Let’s Try It
in the evening you sat at your canvas
—our cracked linoleum floor the drawing
board
me lounging on your arm
and you staking out the plan:
whether to put the lilac purple of easter
against the red plaid of winter-goinginto-spring
whether to mix a yellow with blue and
white and paint the
corpus christi noon when my father held
your hand
whether to shape a five-point star from the
somber black silk you wore to
grandmother’s funeral
5. What do the
different kinds of
fabric
symbolize?
Practice
Let’s Try It
from Brer Rabbit and Brer Lion
retold by Julius Lester
Brer Rabbit was in the woods one afternoon
when a great wind came up. It blew on the
ground and it blew in the tops of the trees.
It blew so hard that Brer Rabbit was afraid
a tree might fall on him, and he started
running.
He was trucking through the woods
when he ran smack into Brer Lion. . . .
“What’s your hurry, Brer Rabbit?
“Run, Brer Lion! There’s a hurricane
coming!”
6. Which words
and phrases on
this page are
examples of
dialect?
Practice
Let’s Try It
Brer Lion got scared. “I’m too heavy to
run, Brer Rabbit. What am I going to do?”
“Lay down, Brer Lion, lay down! Get
close to the ground!”
Brer Lion shook his head. “The wind
might pick me up and blow me away.”
“Hug a tree, Brer Lion! Hug a tree!”
“But what if the wind blows all day and
into the night?”
“Let me tie you to the tree, Brer Lion.
Let me tie you to the tree.”
Brer Lion liked that idea. Brer Rabbit
tied him to the tree and sat down next to
it. After a while, Brer Lion got tired of
hugging the tree.
7. How does the
writer show Brer
Rabbit’s
excitement?
Practice
Let’s Try It
After a while, Brer Lion got tired of hugging
the tree.
“Brer Rabbit? I don’t hear no hurricane.”
Brer Rabbit listened. “Neither do I.”
“Brer Rabbit? I don’t hear no wind.”
Brer Rabbit listened. “Neither do I.”
“Brer Rabbit? Ain’t a leaf moving in the
trees.”
Brer Rabbit looked up. “Sho’ ain’t.”
“So untie me.”
“I’m afraid to, Brer Lion.”
Brer Lion began to roar. He roared so
loud and so long, the foundations of the
Earth started shaking. Least that’s what it
seemed like . . .
8. Which words
and phrases
(besides “Brer”)
on this page are
part of the
story’s dialect?
Practice
Let’s Try It
Brer Lion began to roar. He roared so
loud and so long, the foundations of the
Earth started shaking. Least that’s what it
seemed like, and the other animals came
from all over to see what was going on.
When they got close, Brer Rabbit
jumped up and began strutting around the
tied-up Brer Lion. When the animals saw
what Brer Rabbit had done to Brer Lion,
you’d better believe it was the fortyeleventh of Octorerarry before they messed
with him again.
9. What is ironic
about the story?
10. What kind of
irony is it?
Practice
On Your Own
Prepare a “literary devices” wall display for your
classroom. Get seven poster boards, and give them the
following labels:
•
•
•
•
Symbols
Images
Irony
Dialect
• Similes
• Metaphors
• Personification
Under each term, write its definition. Then, under each
definition, write in examples that you think are
interesting. You can find your examples in newspapers
and magazines, as well as in stories, poems, and
novels. Be sure to cite the author and title of any direct
quote that you use in your display.
Elements of Style: Literary Devices
The End