Literary Techniques: A Mini-Reference

Technique Bank (Micro)

• Metaphor: Implies a comparison between two unlike things without using "like" or "as."
• Simile: Explicitly compares two unlike things using "like" or "as."
• Personification/Anthropomorphism: Attributes human qualities or characteristics to inanimate objects, animals, or abstract ideas.
• Juxtaposition/Contrast/Dichotomy: Places opposing ideas or phrases side by side to highlight their differences.
• Oxymoron: Combines contradictory words side by side in a single expression.
• Accumulation/Cumulative Listing: Creates a list of items to emphasize a point; a tricolon is a specific example with three items.
• Onomatopoeia: Uses words that imitate the sounds they describe.
• Sensory Imagery: Appeals to the five senses to create vivid descriptions.
  • Tactile Imagery: Appeals to the sense of touch.
  • Auditory Imagery: Appeals to the sense of hearing.
  • Gustatory Imagery: Appeals to the sense of taste.
  • Visual Imagery: Appeals to the sense of sight.
  • Olfactory Imagery: Appeals to the sense of smell.
• Irony/Satire: Uses humor, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices.
• Colloquial Language: Uses informal, everyday language and slang.
• Tone: Expresses the author's attitude or feeling toward the subject matter (e.g., reflective, melancholic, nostalgic, jubilant, sardonic, wistful, bittersweet).
• Pathetic Fallacy: Attributes human emotions or characteristics to aspects of nature.
• Parataxis: Uses short, clipped sentences, often to convey emotional detachment.
• Hyperbole/Amplification: Uses exaggeration for emphasis or effect.
• Anecdote: Shares a brief, personal story to illustrate a point.
• Foreshadowing: Hints at future events in the story.
• Jargon: Uses specialized terminology specific to a particular profession, group, or field of study.
• Repetition/Repetitive Structure: Repeats words, phrases, or structures for emphasis or rhythm.
• Metonymy: Substitutes an associated word or concept to represent something else.
• Synaesthesia: Blends different types of sensory imagery.
• Apostrophe: Directly addresses an absent person, abstract idea, or object.
• Free Indirect Speech: Combines third-person narration with a character's thoughts or inner voice.

Technique Bank (Macro)

• Consider shifts in tone throughout the text.
• Describe the narrative style in a concise way (e.g., reflective narrative).
• Analyze the overarching narrative voice, linking it to specific micro-techniques.
  • Personal first-person point of view.
  • Impersonal third-person point of view.
• Analyze the setting and its significance.
• Dramatic Irony: Occurs when the audience knows something the characters do not.
• Analyze the characterization techniques used.
• Enjambment: (primarily for poetry) The continuation of a sentence or phrase from one line to the next without a pause.
• Non-Linear Narrative: Presents the story out of chronological order, may include flashbacks or stream of consciousness.
• Simple Sentences: Use minimalist syntax for impact.
• Diction: Consider connotative or simplistic word choice.

Dictionary Bank

• Provides a list of words for analytical use, including: Commodifying, undermine, trivial, subversion, emotional whiplash/rollercoaster, theatrical poise, authenticity, mundane, heightens, express/assert/declare, foreboding/anxious, despondent, critique/criticise, liberation, sense of renewal, reinforce, evoke/elicits, demonstrate, experiences, employ/implement, fragmented, observe, conservative, motivated by, alter/shift/modify, premonition/prelude, echoing, universal, multifaceted, sophisticated, reminiscing/reminiscence, benevolence, transience/transient, reassemble, cognitive reconstruction, reverence, hesitancy, contradictory, evolving, engross, inextricably linked, memento(es), accustomed, illusion, successfully.

Analyzing "Border" Questions

• Evaluate the border's effectiveness by stating whether it's "effective" or "successful."
• Describe the border's nature: Is it psychological, social, physical, political, cultural, abstract/conceptual, ethical, or temporal?
• Describe the border's function: Does it separate, isolate, bring people together, act as a refuge or liminal space, or provide freedom and possibilities?
• Link the border to macro techniques, especially characterization.
• Explain how specific aspects of a character reflect the border.
• Example Thesis Statement Structure: "[The author] effectively depicts the [abstract] border between [... and …], [demonstrating how it can be merged at times and an isolating experience on others], through the characterisation of […], as he/she […]."
• Arguments: Connect each argument back to the characterization and the depiction of the border through that character.
• Conclusion: Rephrase the thesis statement using different words.

General Thesis Statement Structure

• Maintain a two-part structure for all thesis statements.
• Answer the question directly.
• Follow up with "by/as/through" to explain HOW the author achieves the effect described in the first part.
• Focus on actions or descriptions rather than simply mentioning "figurative language."

Thesis Statement Examples

• "The author conveys a sense of awe by describing the vastness and grandeur of the landscape, creating a wondrous setting and characterising the natural life it houses."
• "The author conveys a sense of isolation by describing Hamnet’s seclusion in detail, and the absence of the bustling family members.”
• "The author depicts the [intrinsic/estranged] relationship between [the protagonist] and the setting of [house/garden] by demonstrating [his/her] [familiarity with the activities + people/reluctance to tread along the path]."