LITERARY DEVICES AND FIGURES

1. PARODY

1.1. Is a creative work that is created in order to imitate, comment on, critique, and / or mock its subject. It’s usually, but not always, meant to be funny – at least a little bit. And the subject of a parody is often another work of art, a book, a writing style, or a real-life person.

1.2. Example: Pride and Prejudice with Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.” AND Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife”.

2. PUN

2.1. It's a joke. It's a play of words. By experimenting with the sounds and/or meanings of a word, the author of a pun uses language in a novel, surprising, and often humorous way.

2.2. Example: “Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man.” Romeo & Juliet BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

2.2.1. To be a grave man means to be utterly serious, but Mercutio means this to say he will be dead—in the grave.

3. HYPERBOLE

3.1. It's using exaggeration to convey meaning. It is used for emphasis or as a way of making a description more creative and humorous. Not only that, but it is important to note that hyperbole is not meant to be taken literally; the audience knows it’s an exaggeration. Hyperbole describes the sense of over-reaching, or grasping beyond what is necessary in order to describe a certain feeling, an experience, or response.

3.2. Example: "I heard all the hings in heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell". Edgar Allan Poe. The Tell-Tale Heart.

4. SATIRE

4.1. Is a way of writing meant to ridicule, criticise or expose behaviours and actions. This is often done implicitly through the clever use of techniques such as wit, humour, irony, exaggeration, and incongruity.

4.2. Example: The show “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Mike Flanagan, is a satire series that aims at the pharmaceutical industry and the opioid epidemic, showing the greed and excess of the wealthy, making sure that each of the Ushers thoroughly deserves their respective terrible fate. Even though the show isn't a direct adaptation of the short story, it's inspired by many of Poe's works.

5. IRONY

5.1. Irony occurs in literature and in life whenever a person says something or does something that departs from what they (or we) expect them to say or do. There are many different kinds of irony. The three most common are verbal irony, dramatic irony, and situational irony.

5.2. Example: “How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily — how calmly I can tell you the whole story.”

5.2.1. Throughout the story the narrator keeps on telling the readers that he is not crazy and calm, but the way he narrates the story portrays the opposite.

5.3. Example: “I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. […] I think it was his eye! yes, it was this! […] I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.”

5.3.1. The narrator love the man and has never done something wrong to him, but his perception of his eye made him kill the old man.

6. SYNECDOCHE

6.1. A synecdoche is a kind of metonym, but the associated thing is actually a component part, a piece, of whatever you are characterizing. A synecdoche is a figure of speech which allows a part to stand for a whole or for a whole to stand for a part.

7. METONYMY

7.1. METAPHOR and METONYMY are both types of figurative language, in which the speaker or writer wants us to understand one thing by associating it without something else. But those associations work differently for metaphor and metonymy as well as for a third variation, SYNECDOCHE. In METONYMY, the things being compared aren't similar in qualities. Instead, the characterization of something is being replaced with something associated with it, but not physically or emotionally like it.

8. NARRATOR

8.1. The person telling the story. It may take different forms (the protagonist, a secondary character, an outsider and so on) And it will determine the point of view the reader/audience will experience.

8.2. Example: “A letter, however, had lately reached me in a distant part of the country — a letter from him — which, in its wildly importunate nature, had admitted o no other than a personal reply.” Edgar Allan Poe. The Fall of the House of Usher.

9. THEME

9.1. The central idea, topic, or point of a story. It’s the bigger issue that emerges as the characters pursue their goals. It has less to do with whether they’ll win the race, or get the date, or find the treasure, and more to do with the deeper questions and conflicts about identity, philosophy, or morality that arise during their attempts.

9.2. Example: “And now, some days of bitter grief having elapsed, an observable change came over the features of the mental disorder of my friend. His ordinary had vanished. His ordinary occupations were neglected or forgotten…” Edgar Allan Poe. The Fall of the House of Usher.

10. SETTING

10.1. The time frame and location in which the story takes place (when/where). Usually is found in the beginning of the story and contributes to the plot and development of the characters.

10.2. Example: “During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year […] found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher” Edgar Allan Poe. The Fall of the House of Usher.

11. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

11.1. There are two aspects to character development: The process by which you create characters you’ll write about and the way a character changes through the course of a novel. The character is the binding component of the story. It's sometimes who alongside or through which readers/audience can relate and experience the story.

11.2. Example: “He admitted, however, although with hesitation, that much of the peculiar gloom which thus afflicted him could be traced to a more natural and far more palpable origin — to the severe and long-continued illness — […] of a tenderly beloved sister.” Edgar Allan Poe. The Fall of the House of Usher.

12. PLOT & CLIMAX

12.1. The plot is the basis in which other literary elements rely on for meaning and purpose. It's the sequence of events that happen from beginning to end throughout the story (the what/how of the story). The plot it is typically made of five elements: Exposition, Rising action, Climax, Falling action, Resolution/Denouement. The CLIMAX in the story refers to the peak of the plot, the major event in which the protagonist confronts the main conflict or the obstacles they need to overcome. The moment of highest tension that leads to the resolution of the conflict and makes way for the conclusion.

12.2. Example: "For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture — a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees — very gradually — I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.” Edgar Allan Poe. The Tell-Tale Heart.

12.2.1. In this horror short story, the PLOT refers to an unnamed narrator who kills an old man for fear of his blue pale eye, even though they insist to loving him and never having felt wronged about him

12.3. Example: "With a loud tell, i threw open the lantern and leap into the room. He shrieked once — once only. In an instant I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over him. I then smiled gaily, to find the deed done." Edgar Allan Poe. The Tell-Tale Heart.

12.3.1. This example shows the CLIMAX of the story when the narrator murders the old man and rids himself of the vulture eye

13. IMAGERY

13.1. Example: “I know not how it was — but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. […] I looked upon the scene before me — upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain — upon the bleak walls — upon the vacant eye-like windows — upon a few rank sedges — and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees.” Edgar Allan Poe. The Fall of the House of Usher.

13.2. Is the language used by writers to create or recall images about the story in the minds of readers/audience, in which one of the five senses might engage, and in that manner this images may connect to personal experiences or memories.

14. PERSONIFICATION

14.1. Personification is a kind of metaphor in which you describe an inanimate object, abstract thing, or non-human animal in human terms. It is used to create more interesting and engaging scenes or characters.

14.2. Example: " I looked upon the scene before me — upon the mere house, […] upon the bleak walls — upon the vacant eye-like windows" Edgar Allan Poe. The Fall of the House of Usher.

15. SIMILE

15.1. It's a branch of METAPHOR. It's similar to a simple comparison but different as it compares two unrelated things. Not only that, but it's really easy to identify, as it uses the words “LIKE” and/or “AS”.

15.2. Example: “...there was a long tumultuous shouting sound like the voice of a thousand waters — and the deep and dank tarn at my feet closed sullenly and silently over the fragments of the 'HOUSE OF USHER´'”. Edgar Allan Poe. The Fall of the House of Usher.

16. METAPHOR

16.1. It's the comparison between two things that are unrelated but have qualities in common. The difference with SIMILE is that it doesn't use words such as LIKE or AS to show comparison. These comparisons are found in a figurative form rather than literal, and they are everywhere. Writers use metaphor to add colour and emphasis to what they are trying to express.

16.2. Example: “...there was a long tumultuous shouting sound like the voice of a thousand waters — and the deep and dank tarn at my feet closed sullenly and silently over the fragments of the 'HOUSE OF USHER´'”. Edgar Allan Poe. The Fall of the House of Usher.

16.2.1. Here the metaphor “The House of Usher” could be interpreted as symbolizing the building itself or the family