We were first introduced to Basic Literary Devices like similes, metaphors and so on, those of which I shall be explaining with further detail as you read on. I originally believed that learning these literary devices would be valuable, for scoring good grades in the upcoming end-of-years for Literature. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I learnt that these devices were more than simple terms used for special contexts only. In fact, these literary devices are used by each and every one us in our daily lives, unconciously...
Let me start of similes, which are the comparison between two different subjects which happen to share a hidden similarity. For example, "asa playful as a kitten" or "as busy as a bee". These similes are not simply made up, but taken from nature. In nature, we are able to observe the mischievious character of the kitten and the hardworking nature of the bee, thus lending to the similes we know so well today. Metaphors, too, rely on nature, as it applies the qualities of an object is applied to another, for example, " stuck in a sea of troubles". Judging by this metaphor, we can tell, that she was facing great difficulty. Moving on to personifications, this literary device describes an inanimate object using human qualities, such as, "the stars dances playfully in the moonlit sky". This almost gives the lifeless objects a life of their own! Symbols like the dove which symbolises peace and the rose which symbolises love, are well-known today, but these symbols actually stand for something more abstract than compared to its object. Then, of course, we move on to visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, kinesthetic and tactile descriptions which basically involve our five senses, sight, hearing, smell, taste or texture, movement and touch, respectively. For example, a "crimson red rose" depicts the bright red colour of the rose, of something we are able to see whereas "Amy skipping merrily" desribes the movement of Amy; visual and kinesthetic desriptions.
Next, we learnt about sound devices, which in my opinion, is a fun play of words requiring the usage of tongue-twisters. Rhyme basically is the similarity of ending sounds heard between two separate words. For example, we learnt about the different rhyme schemes earlier in poetry, such as "aa, bb" or "ab, cd". Rhythm, meanwhile, evokes a particular beat or pattern of a text, such as rhythmic claps or the use of words like "pell-mell" or "helter-skelter". What about alliteration? Well, alliteration, is the act of repeating initial consonant sounds to produce a rhythmical effect. For example, many might find the alliteration, "I'm faster, faster than fingers, much faster" to be a mini tongue twister.
Onomatopoeia, meanwhile, describes the words which echo the sound another word may make. This is commonly seen in animals, such a "a duck quacks". Another example of this is seen in the famous Old Macdonald nursery rhyme...something I'm sure all of us have grown up with. In order to properly depict tones, an efficient evoking of mood, attitude and perspective is much needed to differentiate two different sentences. Thisi is evidently seen in, "What are doing here?" a soft approach and "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" a loud and emotional approach to the same sentence.
We also immersed ourselves in diction and sentence structures, a more advanced level of the literary devices. We learnt about connontation, of how images and words combine to imply a specific meaning. For example, "the mansion he owns IMPLIES that he must be rich". Oxymoron meanwhile emphasises the complete difference or contradiction shared between two subjects, but how they relate to each other in a unique way, somehting I find extremely interesting. For example, the phrase "sweet sorrow" may seem utterly ridiculous but it actuall makes sense! Anyway, hyperbole basically exaggerates a particular message while paradox is similar to an oxymoron in some ways, but instead involves a statement like "the more I love her, the more I hate her". Now, we move on to complex, simple and incomplete sentences. Just like the names suggest, a simple sentence is one with just a single main idea while a complex sentence involves more than one idea combined with clauses or minor phrases here an there. An incomplete sentence involve several sentences which are improperly phrased which reflect great emotion such as excitement or sadness. When we think about this topic, how can we forget to mention exclamation? That's right, we can't! Exclamation is a strong and powerful statement which emphasises great feeling or emotion. It also usually ends with an exclamation mark at the end of the sentence to further emphasise this. I find a rhetorical uestion rather interesting too as it a question which does not aim to achieve a direct answer. A good example of this would be from the question, "How many times do I have to tell you?" The aim of this question is not to ask the number of times, but instead to bring out a tone different from the tone of the question. Last but not least, repetition comes into this list by using a particular word or phrase several times in order to stress an idea or show emphasis and feeling. For example, if one feels an urgency, a common repetition to use would be, "Go, go, go!" or "Hurry, hurry!"
It is terribly easy to forget the long list of literary devices I have laid out before you and that is why we are made to apply them into proses and poetry we read by commenting on the literary devices found in the text and giving our respective comments. It is very important for us as Literature students to understand the significance behind these devices not only for excelling in exams that come by, but also for receiving a deeper and more wholesome understanding of nature from different perspectives.
Your truly, Sanjna <3
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