Zoe M. McCarthy's Blog, page 17
June 29, 2017
A Foil in Fiction: Emphasizes the Protagonist’s Qualities
Foil In fiction, a foil is usually a secondary character whose traits contrast or oppose qualities of the protagonist. The foil is created to highlight certain characteristics of the protagonist. Foils and protagonists aren’t necessarily opposites. The foil could be like the protagonist with one important difference. A foil character may be a good person […]
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June 22, 2017
Hyperbatons – A Word Reversal Device That Gets Attention
Hyperbaton Hyperbaton is a literary device in which words, phrases, and clauses are transposed from their usual order in a sentence. However, the unfamiliar order retains the gist of the message. These word reversals can be used in dialogue or internal dialogue when a character wants to emphasize his message or add a little drama. […]
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June 15, 2017
Aphorism: True, Short, and Witty
Aphorism A truth that is said in a quick and witty manner is an aphorism. Aphorisms don’t have to be humorous, but that’s half the reason we like so many of them. And aphorism’s brevity makes their truths easy to remember. An example of this literary device is Benjamin Franklin’s familiar statement, “In this world […]
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June 8, 2017
Metonymy & Synecdoche: Something Called by Another Name
Metonymy & Synecdoche Metonymy is a word(s) that stands in for an object or concept originally called by a different name. The Metonymy has some relationship to the meaning of the originally named entity. A woman might call a good-looking man eye candy. The man isn’t only easy on the eyes, but sweet to behold. […]
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June 1, 2017
Malapropism: A Sneaky Soundalike in Writing—Humor or Error
Malapropism Malapropism is using a word that sounds similar to the right word the writer intended to use. The word comes from the French expression mal a propos, which means inappropriate. Malapropism can be unintentional or intentional. To add humor to a story, writers sometimes create characters who repeatedly use malapropisms. The best way to […]
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May 25, 2017
Faulty Parallelism: Parallelism With a Rebel
Faulty Parallelism Parallelism is the literary device. Faulty parallelism occurs when the device takes a wayward turn from the parallel structure or format in listing or pairing items. The writer begins his sentence with two or more similarly related words or phrases. The rhythm soothes the reader. Then the writer deviates from the pattern, and the […]
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May 18, 2017
Authorial Intrusion – Readers Get a Dose from the Writer
Authorial Intrusion as a Literary Device In authorial intrusion, the author directly addresses the reader, intending to build a relationship with the reader on some level. This literary device was popular until the 20th century. The movie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986), represents well-planned authorial intrusion as Ferris tells about his day off. How to […]
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May 11, 2017
Circumlocution – Bore Readers with Overkill, or Not?
Circumlocution Writing that expresses something in a roundabout or indirect way, using many unnecessary words. Circumlocution can be understandable or unintelligible. Example A large portion of the class grabbed a goodly number of the assignments, far and beyond what they should have, in view of the fact that some of the students hadn’t been afforded […]
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May 4, 2017
Asyndeton & Polysyndeton in Story: Conjunctions, More & Less
First, let’s look at syndeton and the examples we’re most familiar with. Syndeton Syndeton is the coordination of elements in a sentence, generally with a conjunction, such as and, or, but, for, nor, so, yet. The conjunctions can be used between words, phrases, and clauses. Examples Anna could marry Lee or Doug. She could marry Lee, […]
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April 27, 2017
Amplification: Embellish What You Just Wrote With More Information
What Amplification Is Amplification is a literary device. Suppose you write a statement, but it doesn’t give the reader enough information to fully understand it or see the full impact of the object, idea, or event. So, you add information to further explain it or to emphasize it. You are using amplification. Example […]
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