FLASHBACK

Flashback- an interruption of the chronological series in which the character recalls a prior memory. Flashbacks are often used by authors to provide background information or to add context to the current storyline.

Example from The Count of Monte Cristo

The story of Villefort burying an illegitimate newborn baby, Benedetto, and then stabbing of villefort by Bertuccio, the Count’s steward, is an example of a flashback.

Function- In this case the flashback of the tragic moment allowed Dumas to give more insight into the history of Villefort, as well as to show certain characters’ motivations. For instance, Bertuccio has a personal vendetta against Villefort due to this moment. This shows why he was hired by the Count as his personal steward.

Example from To Kill a Mockingbird

When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow. When it healed, and Jem’s fears of never being able to play football were assuaged, he was seldom self-conscious about his injury.

Non-Original Mnemonic

Original Mnemonic

If the Flash runs really fast from east to west we will go back in time.

Suspense

Suspense

Definition:

An intense feeling the reader or audience goes through while waiting for the outcome of events to happen. This technique leaves the reader wanting more and being on the edge of their seat. Depending on the amount of suspense used, it can lead to a reader or audience to not stop until they find out information. A sequence of events will happen while leading to the climax to keep the reader hooked while the story is developed.

Example from Count of Monte Cristo:

From the time Edmond Dantes escapes from prison, the reader is left in suspense. The Count’s arranged duel with Albert, the murders taking place in the Villefort household, and the kidnapping of Danglers at the end are all examples of suspense. Almost every event that takes place after the Count’s new identity is established can be considered suspenseful.

Function:

Due to the fact the book does not have a true climax, Dumas uses suspense throughout the whole novel to keep the reader interested and entertained. Without the use of suspense, the reader could lose interest fairly quickly because nothing is keeping the reader’s attention.

Another Example:

In Shakespeare’s Othello, he uses dramatic irony to create suspense in the work. A malevolent Iago is the villain who creates jealousy in Othello to try to destroy his life and career by persuading him that his wife is unfaithful. The reader knows that Othello’s wife is not guilty and that Iago has ill intentions toward Othello. But, Othello is ignorant of this fact, thus creating suspense throughout the play.

Non-Original Mnemonic

Original Mnemonic:

S: Subtle

U: Unexpected

S: Series

P: Providing

E: Exciting

N: Narration

S: Supporting

E: (the) Ending

Hyperbaton

Hyperbaton

Definition: A device in which the author changes the regular positioning of words and phrases within a sentence to create a different structure that conveys the same meaning. This allows words or phrases to overstep their conventional uses and creates a more intriguing, complex sentence with more depth.

Example from The Rape of the Lock:

“This nymph, to the destruction of mankind, / Nourished two locks, which graceful hung behind / In equal curls, and well conspired to deck / with shining ringlets the smooth iv’ry neck” (Pope 71-74).

Function: By rearranging the words within each one of these lines and placing phrases such as “two locks,” “equal curls,” and “shining ringlets,” Alexander Pope is able to place the emphasis on what he is conveying in these few lines on the hair of the young girl itself, and not what is actually happening to the hair.

Example from Measure for Measure:

“Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall”

-William Shakespeare

Non-Original Mnemonic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVI28EieHW4

Original Mnemonic: Some people may twirl their baton hyperly while others may hyperly twirl their baton.

Motif

Definition

A motif is a narrative element with symbolic meaning that repeats throughout a work of literature. Motifs may come in the form of recurring imagery, language, structure, or contrasts. In drama, motifs may also take the form of repeated music, visual components, or physical movements. The development of motifs in a work of literature often contributes to mood and/or theme.

Example-The Count of Monte Cristo

“If I live, everything changes; I become only a man who did not honor his own word, who failed to meet his obligations. But if I die, my body will be that of an unfortunate but honorable man. If I live, you’ll be ashamed to bear my name; if I die, you’ll hold your head high and say, ‘I am the son of a man who killed himself because he was unable to keep his word for the first time in his life’” (Dumas 107).

Function

The motif, suicide, is used many times in The Count of Monte Cristo. Suicide is repeated by many of the characters during the book. Mercedes first talks about committing suicide early in the book when Dantes is taken to prison. She thought it would be better to die than to marry anyone other than Dantes. Dante’s father starves himself to death when he hears of Dantes is imprisoned. And the quote above is from M. Morrel when he is telling Maximilien that it would be honorable to kill himself because he could not come up with the money for Thompson and French; M. Morrel says their name would be a joke if he does not commit suicide. Other common motifs are presented in the book such as the role of God in the lives of men, the limits of human justice, absolute and relative happiness, politics, love, alienation, friendship, revenge, and parental influences on children.

Another Example

In To Kill a Mockingbird, many "small town" images and values are represented. For example, there is a school play, where Scout and her classmates represent the various agricultural products of the county. There is a comforting scene with neighbors gathering after a fire. Things move "slowly" and people have “nowhere to go and nothing to do.”

Non-Original Mnemonic

Original Mnemonic

M-AKES

O-BVIOUS

T-HOUGHTS OR IDEAS

I-N

F-ICTION

Hubris

Hubris

Definition:

Extreme pride and arrogance shown in a character that ultimately brings about his downfall. Hubris is typical a flaw in the personality of a character in a powerful position. This character usually overestimates his capabilities, which then leads to his tragic downfall.

Example from The Count of Monte Cristo:

Villefort is an example of Hubris. He throws Dantes' letter in the fire, because he did not want his pride to be ruined. He then acquires a good fortune and name for himself, while Dantes is in prison. When Dantes returns, his family is ultimately killed, and he is left insane. His prideful actions early in the story, are later counteracted by his tragic downfall.

Function:

In this example, Hubris is used in several characteristics to show how pride and arrogance can ultimately lead to misfortune and ruin. Villefort ultimately pays for his early actions of pride when Dantes returns. In other literature, use of hubristic characters serves to portray a moralistic end. These characters are eventually punished, thus giving the reader a moral lesson. When a reader witnesses a tragic hero suffer from hubristic actions, it persuades them to be cautious of their own actions, avoiding the same end as the hero.

Another example from The Odyssey:

When Odysseus tricks Polyphemus and he escapes with the majority of his men. As they are sailing away, the Hubris takes place when Odysseus becomes arrogant and yells back at Polyphemus that his name was Odysseus and that he was the son of Laeretes.

Non-original Mnemonic 

Original Mnemonic:

Hubris sounds like "who pris" as in "Who's that priss?", as in a prissy/arrogant person.

Foil

Definition

In literature, it is a character who shows contrasting qualities with another character to emphasis the second character’s traits.

Example from The Count of Monte Cristo

“Forgive, Edmond, forgive for the sake of Mercedes, who still loves you!” (p.313) -Mercedes still cares for Edmond

Madame Danglars is cheating on Danglars with Lucien Debray

Function

Madame Danglars is a foil to Mercedes because it makes Mercedes’ character look stronger. They both have poor marriages, but only one stays faithful. Madame Danglars is portrayed as a bad mother and wife, so it emphasizes how good of a person Mercedes is because even though she still has feelings for Edmond, she stays loyal to Fernand.

Another example from Animal Farm

Snowball’s character in Animal Farm is a foil to Napoleon because he makes Napoleon the clear bad guy of the story. Snowball has big plans for the farm and likes to take into account the opinions of all of the animals, but Napoleon is more of a dictator and wants things done his own way. Snowball was a brave leader and was wounded when fighting the farmers, but he is eventually ran off by Napoleon and his attack dogs.

Non-original mnemonic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gQ_ti1r4gU

Original mnemonic

Find

Our

(non) Identical

Likenesses

Bathos Definition: Bathos comes from a Greek word meaning “depth”. An author or poet uses bathos when they begin to write a lot of metaphors, descriptions, or ideas to try and create a more emotional or passionate piece of work. This usually occurs to make the piece of work more comedic. This happens usually with an abrupt turn from the serious to silly, adding a comedic effect.

Examples from Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night's Dream”:

When the mechanics put on their performance of Pyramus and Thisbe. 

Function:

In this example from A Midsummer’s Night Dream, bathos is used very subtly. It adds more humor to the play because the mechanics themselves must be unaware of how bad they are acting. This combines the tragedy of the story with bad acting, which helps to add more emotion and humor to the play.

Other Example (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy):

“For a moment, nothing happened. Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen.” This is an example of bathos by having the expectation that something is going to happen and then after a few seconds still nothing happens adding a comedic effect.

Non-original Mnemonic: can be found here

Original Mnemonic:

BATH-SOap

Tautology

Definition: The repetitive use of phrases or words that have similar meaning to give the impression that the writer is providing extra information.

Examples from A Midsummer Night's Dream:

Act 3 Scene 2 lines 432-435

Robin, In Lysander’s voice

“Thou coward, art thou bragging to the stars,

Telling the bushes that thou look’st for wars,

And wilt not come? Come, recreant! Come, thou

child!”

Function:

In this example Robin used the word coward to describe Demetrius when speaking to him. He then later on uses the word recreant which means “a coward.” The word recreant is used to prevent monotony and to make the reader believe that they are given more information about the situation even though the information given is the same.

Other Example from "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe:

"But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,

And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,"

Non-original Mnemonic:

Original Mnemonic:

When using tautology, you must repeat, recite, restate, rehash, and reiterate.

Circumlocution

Definition: A form of writing where the writer uses exaggeratedly long and complex sentences in order to convey a meaning that could have otherwise been conveyed through a shorter, much simpler sentence (talking around the subject). Circumlocution involves stating an idea or a view in an indirect manner that will usually leave a reader to guess the actual meaning. The writer uses this to remain ambiguous or to state things in a way that is not offensive, or to add artistic value.

Examples from Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18”:

“Thou art more lovely and more temperate…”

“So long as men can breathe or eyes can see…”

Function:

The first example in the sonnet uses circumlocution in a subtle way to add artistic value to the poem. The phrase “more lovely” is used instead of the correct word “lovelier” in order to keep the rhythm of the poem consistent. If the word “lovelier” was used, it would have broken the poem’s iambic pentameter.

The second example adds great artistic value to the end of the poem. The phrase “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see…” is a more complex way of stating, “As long as humans live.” Again, Shakespeare uses circumlocution here to add beauty to his work, as well as keeping the rhythm consistent.

Other Example (Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad):

“The edge of a colossal jungle, so dark green as to be almost black, fringed with white surf, ran straight, like a ruled line, far, far away along a blue sea whose glitter was blurred by a creeping mist.”

In this excerpt from Heart of Darkness, Conrad provides a long-winded description of the jungle instead of a straightforward one. The use of circumlocution here is used primarily to provide ambiguous correlations between the jungle and the themes of morality and evil. By using circumlocution, Conrad makes the story demand the reader’s attention in order to comprehend what is trying to be conveyed in a very artistic and subtle way.

Non-original Mnemonic:

Original Mnemonic:

When confronted with circumlocution, you must locate the meaning in the author's circle of words.

Epithet

Epithet

DEFINITION
A descriptive literary device that is typically used to add a description to a person, and it is usually attached to that person’s name or takes the place of the name. While the definition of epithet has recently been associated with a negative connotation, it is usually a glorification of one and what they have accomplished.  

EXAMPLE FROM MACBETH

In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, calling Macbeth the Thane of Cawdor is an example of an epithet.

“Turn hell-hound, turn” - Act 5 Scene 8

FUNCTION

Calling Macbeth the Thane of Cawdor announces who Macbeth is and gives him a sense of authority and power. “Turn hell-hound, turn” was a quote from Macduff to Macbeth, which shows just how Macduff felt about Macbeth. An Epithet is used to add descriptive adjectives or phrases to the title of a person in order to help portray their persona. It can sometimes be used to make someone more prominent than they really are or to make them seem more evil.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE

Harry Potter, the boy who lived. Many historical figures also have epithets, such as Alexander the Great, Louis the Pious, and Richard the Lionhearted.

NON-ORIGINAL MNEMONIC

Epithet Video

ORIGINAL MNEMONIC
Epithet, the king of literature, thane of poetry,

Pathetic Fallacy

Pathetic Fallacy 


Definition:
A literary device which gives human qualities or emotions to inanimate objects of nature. 

Example from Macbeth: 
“The night has been unruly. Where we lay,
Our chimneys were blown down and, as they say,
Lamentings heard i’ th’ air, strange screams of death,
And prophesying with accents terrible
Of dire combustion and confused events
New hatched to the woeful time. The obscure bird
Clamored the livelong night. Some say the Earth
Was feverous and did shake.”

(Act II, Scene III)

Function: 
Pathetic fallacy is used to bring inanimate objects to life so that the reader can make connections between what is going on in the story and what is going on with nature. The night that Duncan was killed, the Earth seemed to be in turmoil which reflects what was going on inside Macbeth's home. 

Other Example: 

 "I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills." 

William Wordsworth, "I wandered lonely as a cloud" 

Non-original mnemonic

Original mnemonic: 
The trees watched as the pathetic girl took a rough fall down the hill.