For this target, with ALL texts you will need to:

• Identify literary devices and figurative language in the text

• Identify the diction, connotation, tone, and voice of the author (or shifts in them)

• Identify the persuasive techniques and rhetorical devices

• Identify the grammatical syntax and sentence structure the author uses (or shifts in them)

• Identify the theme/main idea/author's purpose (link goes to analysis page)

• Explain (Analyze) WHY/HOW the author's style and language support the theme/main idea/purpose

Knowing the definitions of literary devices and being able to identify them in readings is only half the battle. While most students are able to identify literary devices, they often have a hard time analyzing them and using precise language. While “positive” and “negative” can be used in describing devices, they are often too vague and therefore lead to incomplete analysis. It is best to be precise with your descriptions of devices. Use the information below to help you.

Comparative and Contrasting Devices

When looking at devices, some take the time to use two objects, ideas, etc. to make a point. It is important to know the difference and explain why it was important to the purpose to bring in the second idea.

Comparative- describing two ideas as similar

• Analogy- a comparison between two things to explain a point; it often is a story that helps explain an idea

• Metaphor- a poetic comparison between two unlike things

• Simile- a poetic comparison between two unlike things using "like" or "as"

• Conceit/Extended Metaphor- a comparison between two unlike things that continues on for several lines

Contrasting- describing two ideas as different

• Oxymoron- two words that are opposites that make up an object or idea

• Juxtaposition- two opposing words/ideas placed near each other to show contrast

• Paradox- two contrasting ideas that create a larger, true idea

• Irony- two opposing ideas, usually for humor (three types: situational, verbal, dramatic)

1. Identify the type of imagery

• Visual- Describes the look of something (seeing)

• Auditory- Describes sounds (hearing)

• Tactile- Describes what something feels like (touch)

• Gustatory- Describes what something tastes like (taste)

• Olfactory- Describes what something smells like (smell)

• Nature- Uses images in nature to enhance meaning

• Emotional- Describes what you feel like internally/emotionally

• Kinetic- Describes motion or the sensation of moving

• Sensational- Describes internal, physical feelings or sensations

• Figurative- Uses descriptions as a metaphor or symbol

2. Explain how the author is using this imagery to connect to the main idea/theme/author's purpose. Be able to answer these questions:

• HOW does it affect your understanding, the author’s purpose, or the overall theme?

• WHY was it important for the author to describe this in such great detail?

Example:

I would not say that the "green grass" is imagery by itself; however, if in the reading, the narrator was focused on the gray and monotonous tone of the city, and then they see a patch of "green grass," that patch becomes important to the purpose of that description and theme.

Types of Irony:

• Situational- Something happens that is the opposite of what you’d expect (ex: lifeguard drowns)

• Verbal- Someone says something that is the opposite of what they mean (ex: sarcasm)

• Dramatic- The audience knows something about the plot that the characters don’t (opposite of what you’d expect)

Words to describe irony:Bitter, dramatic, tragic, certain, final, romantic, cruel, strange, gentle, ultimate, supreme, sad, verbal, further, unconscious, heavy, subtle, fine, Socratic, grim, curious, historical, terrible, comic, delicate, greatest, double, deep, savage, considerable, delicious, profound, obvious, characteristic, grave, conscious, quiet, nice, playful, mild, light, exquisite, situational, unintended, peculiar, painful, apparent, cosmic, sharp, keen, deliberate, cold, pervasive, biting, poignant, mordant, usual, unintentional, faint, pleasant, humorous, postmodern, cool, self, slight, rich, delightful, intended, intentional, structural, wonderful, dry, sardonic

Questions to think about when describing the purpose of irony:

• HOW did the irony make you feel as the reader?

• Was this feeling intended by the author?

• HOW does this support the overall purpose/theme?

• WHY does the author choose to use irony in this instance?

Common Universal Motifs

Universal motifs are patterns that are seen throughout literature (time, location, society, etc.). They are particularly important because they tend to relate to readers more as they are more closely related to humanity.

• Alienation/Isolation: Characters, typically the protagonist, voluntarily separate themselves from the rest of society. Usually this separation is the result of a personal belief on the part of the character. It may also occur as a result of a wrong-doing.

• Appearance vs. Reality: This motif usually sends the message that one should not judge a book by its cover or that appearances cannot always be trusted. Often characters may be masking a part of their personality. This may be either intentional or unintentional.

• Coming of Age: The protagonist learns an important life lesson that no longer allows him/her to be a child. A new understanding of the world is the result. Coming of age and Loss of Innocence are very similar; however, it is possible for a character to be an adult, but still be innocent in some ways simultaneously.

• Effects of Power: Through this motif, readers come to understand the many ways that power can have an effect on the characters. These effects are often negative.

• Effects of Progress/Scientific Progress: Progress is a double-edged sword. It can move a society forward, but it can also cause a society to become dysfunctional. Readers can see how new technology and/or scientific discoveries have both helped and harmed the characters. This motif is often seen in dystopian literature.

• Good vs. Evil: This is an age-old motif present in many adventure stories and sagas. It usually goes hand-in-hand with a journey or a quest. This motif demonstrates how good tries to win out over evil. As we know, good often prevails. However, this is not always the case…

• The Journey/Quest: The protagonist/hero goes on a physical or emotional journey to find an important artifact or truth. Often, the physical and emotional journeys overlap.

• Loss of Innocence: Similar to the motif of Coming of Age, Loss of Innocence requires that the protagonist learn an important life lesson. Some protagonists lose their innocence before they are considered to be adults.

• Noble Sacrifice: A character, usually the protagonist, sacrifices him/herself for others—another character, a group, or an entire society. This motif often comes up in texts that involve war.

• Power of Friendship/loyalty: The protagonist learns a lesson about friendship, usually that friends are more important than material possessions or reputations. However, the hero may also learn what happens when he/she chooses to befriend the wrong characters. Loyalty to friends and the ability to hold fast to one’s own word also become important in this motif.

• Power of Love: Through this motif, the reader understands how love is more important than power and/or material possessions. This motif can also demonstrate the ways in which love can motivate characters to make different choices than they normally might.

• The Effects of Revenge: Just as love can be all-consuming, so can revenge. This motif shows readers the ways in which characters motivated by a need to seek revenge behave. Usually characters who do not learn to forgive do not come to a positive end.

• Struggle with Nature: The characters come up against an uncontrollable force of nature, such as a big storm or an animal attack. The characters either survive or succumb to nature’s will.

• Survival of the Fittest: The strongest character, usually the protagonist, wins. However, survival of the fittest may not always mean that the character with the most physical strength wins. It may be the most intelligent, creative, or compassionate character that ends up succeeding in the end.

• Tolerance of Others: Characters learn the importance of accepting others in spite of their differences and that discrimination is wrong. They learn that humanity is stronger when our differences are seen as strengths and we work together.

Diction: Word Choice

A "Dictionary" is a book of words, therefore, diction is the words we use. In English, we refer to diction as the pattern of words an author chooses to use. The word choices can influence the tone of a text as well as the voice and rhetoric. Many times, authors use words that are synonymous, but have different connotations, or feelings, attached to them. These words are chosen for effect to support the purpose.

For example: She nudged me. *What feelings come up when you hear the different words?

She pushed me. *What situations would each one be appropriate to be used?

She shoved me.

Ways to describe Diction:

Use adjectives to describe diction. Do not just say they use diction because every writer uses words. When writing about an author’s use of diction, you should quote or refer to individual words only, not whole sentences!

You can describe diction by:

• Length: monosyllabic (one syllable in length) or polysyllabic (more than one syllable in length)

  • • • • • • • The higher the ratio of polysyllabic words, the more difficult the content.

• Formality: colloquial (slang), informal (conversational), formal (literary) or old-fashioned.

• Specificity: general (wide range) or specific

• Meaning: denotative (containing an exact meaning, e.g., dress) or connotative (containing suggested meaning, e.g., gown)

• Depth: concrete (specific or tangible) or abstract (general or conceptual).

• Sound: euphonious (pleasant sounding, e.g., languid, murmur) or cacophonous (harsh sound, e.g., raucous, croak).

Other words to describe diction:

If the author says, “she was a pretty girl,” what is the connotation of that statement? What other words could he/she have chosen? Pretty, Attractive, Gorgeous, Cute, Hot, Sexy, Beautiful, Lovely, Charming…

How would these words be arranged? Think about where you would use certain words. Normally we use “cute” to describe a puppy or child, where “hot” or “sexy” would be used to describe someone you are attracted to. If we arrange the words in this order, this shows us a clearer picture of how these words take on additional meaning beyond their definition.

***Connotation is subjective in nature- while there is room for debate, there are still wrong answers***

Synonyms for pretty arranged from LEAST to MOST Sexual:

• Cute, Charming, Pretty, Lovely, Beautiful, Attractive, Gorgeous, Hot, Sexy

When thinking about this list, you can conclude that the author of the original sentence, “she was a pretty girl,” wanted the reader to assume a sense of innocence about the girl by calling her pretty. How would your inferences have changed if she had been described as one of the other words?

How can you determine the connotation of words?

• Look the word up in the dictionary to make sure you understand the meaning

• Use the thesaurus to identify synonyms to the word

• Search the word in search engines and see what type of titles it shows up in

  • • • • What are the contexts in which it is used?

        • Who would use this word?

        • Is it used around another word or type of word a lot?

• Search the synonyms as well? Do you see a pattern?

• Once determining the connotation of the word, look for other words in the passage that have that connotation.

• Ask yourself “WHY does the author use this connotation?” or “HOW does this connotation help the author’s purpose/theme?”

Sounds- (unique to voice)

• breathy- sounds of breathing because of physical exertion or strong feelings

• croaking- deep hoarse sound

• feathery - extremely light and soft or delicate

• flat- spoken in a voice that does not go up and down. This word is often used for describing the speech of people from a particular region.

• grating - harsh and unpleasant

• gravelly - deep and rough-sounding

• growling - low grating voice, typically in a threatening manner

• gruff- a gruff voice has a rough low sound

• guttural - produced in the throat; harsh-sounding

• hoarse - sounding rough and harsh, typically as the result of a sore throat or of shouting

• honeyed- honeyed words or a honeyed voice sound very nice but you cannot trust the person who is speaking

• husky- a husky voice is deep and sounds hoarse (=as if you have a sore throat), often in an attractive way

• low- a low voice or sound is quiet and difficult to hear

• low- in a deep voice, or with a deep sound

• mellifluous - sweet or musical; pleasant to hear

• melodious - pleasant-sounding

• monotonous - lacking in variation in tone or pitch

• muffled - not loud because of being obstructed in some way; muted

• oily - unpleasantly smooth and ingratiating

• orotund- an orotund voice is loud and clear

• penetrating- a penetrating voice or sound is so high or loud that it makes you slightly uncomfortable

• piping - high-pitched.

• plummy- a plummy voice or way of speaking is considered to be typical of an English person of a high social class. This word shows that you dislike people who speak like this.

• quavering- a shaky voice; scared

• quietly- in a quiet voice

• rasping - harsh—sounding and unpleasant; grating

• reedy - high and thin in tone

• ringing- a ringing sound or voice is very loud and clear

• robust - strong and healthy; vigorous

• rough- a rough voice is not soft and is unpleasant to listen to

• saccharine - excessively sweet or sentimental

• scratchy - rough; grating

• shrill- a shrill noise or voice is very loud, high, and unpleasant

• silvery- a silvery voice or sound is clear, light, and pleasant

• singsong- if you speak in a singsong voice, your voice rises and falls in a musical way

• small- a small voice or sound is quiet

• smoky- a smoky voice or smoky eyes are sexually attractive in a slightly mysterious way

• softly spoken- someone who is softly spoken has a quiet gentle voice; speaking or said in a quiet gentle voice

• steely - coldly determined; hard

• strident - loud and harsh; grating

• stony - not having or showing feeling or sympathy

• strangled- a strangled sound is one that someone stops before they finish making it

• taut- used about something such as a voice or expression that shows someone is nervous or angry

• thick- if your voice is thick with an emotion, it sounds less clear than usual because of the emotion

• thin-a thin voice or sound is high and unpleasant to listen to

• gullible - naive; innocent; ignorant

• humble - deferential; modest

• impartial - unbiased; neutral; objective

• imploring - pleading; begging

• impressionable - trusting; child-like - deep and rasping

• tight- a tight voice or expression shows that you are nervous or annoyed

• toneless- a toneless voice does not express any emotion

• tremulous- if something such as your voice or smile is tremulous, it is not steady, for example because you are afraid or excited

• velvety - soft; smooth

• wobbly- if your voice is wobbly, it goes up and down, usually because you are frightened, not confident, or are going to cry

Persuasive Appeals

Persuading people is an art form. It takes time and awareness to formulate an argument that will actually persuade people to change their minds. You are probably better at persuading the people who are closest to you because you are more likely to know your audience. Often people rely on one or two appeals, but a good persuader will mix, match, stitch, and weave many of these together. Think about how you can use these strategies the next time you want something. (These are not the ONLY strategies, but it is a good start)

Ethos- In order to build ethos, you need to create credibility for yourself so people will believe and trust you. You need to think about what your audience thinks/feels/needs and give that to them. In order to do this, you could use:

• Sympathy- When audience acknowledges emotional hardships and wants to provide comfort/assurance

• Empathy- When audience understands emotional hardships because they have experienced it themselves

• Parallelism- Grammatical structure in which the same pattern of words are used to show importance of ideas

• Rhetorical Question- Questions not meant to be answered out loud by the audience; for the purpose of getting audience to think; sometimes speaker will answer own question

• Elevated Language- Lofty vocabulary used to make speaker sound knowledgeable and/or like a trustworthy expert

• Trial- Usually appears in marketing; provides a trial period or sample, seemingly at a risk to the arguer, to gain your trust

Pathos- In order to build pathos, you need to connect to the audience's feelings. This can be very effective, but is often hard to do. You could use:

• Anecdote- A little story or bit of personal experience that encourages audience to feel a certain way

• Endorsement- A celebrity or well-known person lends creditability to the product/service

• Figurative Language- Language not meant to be taken literally (simile, metaphor, hyperbole, personification, etc.)

• Allusion- Indirect reference to a well-known text or story that the audience can relate to

• Loaded Language- Specific diction used to invoke certain feelings in the audience; could be negative diction against a competitor or positive diction in favor of subject/product/service

• Irony- The opposite of what the audience expects

• Call to Action- Demands that audience DO something different with their behavior

Logos- Logos is seemingly solid, but does not always persuade people like it should. Many people don't think just with their head. Also, many instances of logos can be manipulated, so pay attention. Examples of logos strategies are:

• Facts & Statistics- Ideas that can be proven, often with numbers and percentages

• Proofs- If-then statements

• Expert Opinion- An expert (doctor, lawyer, mechanic, etc.) is used to lend credibility to a specific product/service

• Deals- This usually shows up in marketing; a financial opportunity that makes something appear cheaper

Logical Fallacies- These are NOT good persuasive appeals, but they can still be very effective. Instead of using these, make sure to listen for them in others' arguments. When the author does not have enough good evidence, or they are trying to manipulate you, they will often use some of these strategies.

• Slippery Slope- the argument that one wrong thing will lead to the worst possible scenario without connecting the dots

• Broad Generalization- Oversimplifying an argument or a reason; usually, it is quickly made from first impressions

• Circular Reasoning- An argument that provides a "reason" that is just the same argument

• Biased Claim- trying to prove a claim that is already biased

• Personal Attack- attacking the person instead of the argument

• Bandwagon- Implies that everyone is using the product/service, so audience should too

• Diversion- providing an argument that does not relate to the main argument, but will upset people

• Straw man- this mixes generalization and personal attack; you simplify the argument then attack the founder

• Moral Equivalence- presenting to unequal things as equals, one usually being a hot topic

Sentence Patterns:

• By purpose:

  • • • Declarative- states ex: English is my favorite class.

      • Imperative- commands ex: Go to English class.

      • Interrogative- questions ex: Why do you enjoy English class?

      • Exclamatory- exclaims ex: English is the best!

• By clauses:

  • • • Simple- 1 ind. , 0 dep. ex: English is my favorite class.

      • Compound- 1 ind., 1+ dep. ex: Since it is fun, English is my favorite class.

      • Complex- 2+ ind. , 0 dep. ex: English is my favorite class, and it is the most informative.

      • Compound-Complex- 2+ind, 1+dep ex: Since it is fun, English is my favorite class, and it is the most informative.

• By appearance of main idea:

  • • • Loose- main idea at beginning ex: English was fun this afternoon after a long day of testing.

      • Periodic- main idea at the end ex: After a long day of testing, this afternoon, English was fun

• By order of the sentence:

  • • • Natural- S+MV+C ex: Students learn in Mrs. Morse’s class

      • Inverted- C+MV+S ex: In Mrs. Morse’s class learn students.

      • Split- C+S+MV ex: In Mrs. Morse’s class, students learn.

Punctuation:

• Comma (,): Commas are grammatically necessary, but sentences can be structured to increase or decrease the need for commas on purpose. Commas tend to slow down the pace of reading.

• Semi-colon (;): Semi-colons are most frequently used to separate 2 independent clauses, but writers often use semi-colons to emphasize a point or show contrast.

• Colon (:): Colons are most often used when listing items or ideas. However, writers often use colons to show a step forward in ideas or intensity.

• Quotation marks (“”): Quotation marks usually show readers when a character is speaking or in nonfiction, help readers to see where the author uses information from another source. Quotation marks can also be used for emphasis or to communicate a tone of sarcasm.

• Em-dash (--): An em-dash is used to join 2 independent clauses, but it can also be used for emphasis. Em-dashes impact the pace of reading.

• Ellipse (…): Ellipses are used to show where information has been left out. Ellipses often help to create a feeling of mystery, wonder, or foreboding.

The question you ask after identifying the pattern(s) is “WHY??!!