Paradox

Paradox

Definition:

A statement whose two parts seem contradictory yet make sense with more thought; it attracts the reader’s or the listener’s attention and gives emphasis. It is also used to illustrate an opinion or statement contrary to accepted traditional ideas. A paradox is often used to make a reader think over an idea in an innovative way.

Macbeth Example:

“Fair is Foul, and Foul is fair.” -The Witches, Act 1, scene 1

Function:

The three witches foreshadow what will happen in the future; in other words, they predict the evil that will corrupt Macbeth’s judgement. All that is good is turning to bad and all bad delights them. This statement contradicts itself because fair is the opposite of foul. This introduces the theme of equivocation because it conceals the truth of what Macbeth is going to do in order to become king.

Other Examples:

“I must be cruel to be kind.” - Hamlet, Act 3, scene 4

Function:

Hamlet is talking about his mother, and how he intends to kill Claudius to avenge his father’s death. This act of Hamlet will be a tragedy for his mother, who is married to Claudius. Hamlet does not want his mother to be the beloved of his father’s murderer any longer, and so he thinks that the murder will be good for his mother.

Non-original Mnemonic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWwnOmrya94

Original: To become clean, one must get dirty.

Comic Relief

Comic Relief

Definition

Comic relief is an amusing scene, incident, or speech introduced into serious or tragic elements, as in a play, in order to provide temporary relief from tension, or to intensify the dramatic action.

Example- from Macbeth

Act Two, scenes 3-4

A porter stumbles through the hallway to answer knocking, grumbling about the noise and mocking whoever is at the door. He compares himself to a porter at the gates of hell and asks “Who’s there, i’ th’ name of Beelzebub?”. Macduff and Lennox enter, and Macduff complains about the porter’s slow response to his knock. The porter continues to say that he was up late and rambles on humorously about the effects of alcohol, which he says provokes red noses, sleepiness, and urination.

Function

After the bloody imagery and dark tones of the previous two scenes, the porter’s comedy comes as a refreshing sense of relief. His good-natured joking with Macduff breaks up the tension of the play and creates a break in the dramatic murder scene.

Another Example-Romeo and Juliet

Nurse

“Lord, how my head aches! what a head have I! It beats as it would fall in twenty pieces. My back o’ t’ other side,-- O, my back, my back! Beshrew your heart for sending me about, to catch my death with jaunting up and down!” (lines 51-55).

Nurse's unexpected reply serves to draw tension away from Romeo’s reply and onto the interaction between Juliet and her caretaker. The Nurse highlights how tired she feels, which lightens the mood on stage.

Non-original mnemonic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OChs3oQoijY

Original mnemonic

To relieve someone from feeling sad, one would use comical jokes to make them laugh.

Synesthesia

DEFINITION
The production of a sense impression relating to one sense or part of the body by stimulation of another sense or part of the body

EXAMPLE FROM MACBETH

“I have almost forgot the taste of fears…”

-Macbeth, Act V Scene V

FUNCTION

In this example, Macbeth has just discovered that Lady Macbeth is dead. Shakespeare describes Macbeth’s fear as both something that can be felt and something that can be tasted because it is so strong. This adds a deeper meaning and feeling to what Macbeth is experiencing. Writers generally employ synesthesia to add an element of appeal and creativity. Synesthesia makes ideas stand out more sharply by creating multiple levels of meaning, which allows readers’ minds to become more engaged in the story and give them a more sensory experience.  

ANOTHER EXAMPLE

“With blue, uncertain, stumbling buzz,

Between the light and me;

And then the windows failed, and then

could not see to see.”
-Emily Dickinson, Dying

NON-ORIGINAL MNEMONIC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7sto6sOWL8

ORIGINAL MNEMONIC
Sound of hope Your heated words Noises of thought
Eyes filled with cold fear
Smell the colors
Taste the music
Hear the warmth
Echoes of feeling
Sound of purple
Iciness of her smile
Anger of the cold

Portmanteau

Portmanteau

Definition:

A word or morpheme whose form and meaning are derived from a blending of two or more distinct forms (as smog from smoke and fog)

Example from The Tempest by William Shakespeare

“Go make thyself like a nymph o' the sea: be subject to no sight but thine and mine, invisible to every eyeball else.”

eye+ball=eyeball.

Function:

In this example from Shakespeare's The Tempest, he creates the portmanteau "eyeball" to give a further description of what he requests of the character. The extended description of adding the shape of the eye and combining the to words into a portmanteau is an artistic and stylistic choice to emphasize the standards Prospero gives.

Example from Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll

“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?

     Come to my arms, my beamish boy!

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”

     He chortled in his joy."                                    

Chortle = chuckle + snort

Non-original Mnemonic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4rhDTmNV_U

Original Mnemonic

Portmanteau

Port of Man Toe can be combined to portmanteau, a combination of the three words. Portmanteaus serve as a combination of words.

Epigraph

DEFINITION

An epigraph is a literary device in the form of a poem, quotation or sentence which is placed at the beginning of a piece of writing. It can be used as a summary, introduction, or an association to what the story will be about. It can sometimes foreshadow the theme of the story.

EXAMPLE - From the Lord of the Rings series

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,

Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,

Nine for the Mortal Men doomed to die,

One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne

In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,

One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

FUNCTION

This epigraph is at the beginning of each book of the series. “One Ring” is repeated three times which lets readers know it is going to be important. The epigraph explains that if the Dark Lord gets the opportunity to control the One Ring, he will be able rule all of Middle-earth. This instantly lets readers know the story is going to be centered around the “One Ring.”

ANOTHER EXAMPLE

“Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her; If you can bounce high, bounce for her too, Till she cry ‘Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover, I must have you!’” -The Great Gatsby

This epigraph foreshadows Gatsby’s approach to winning over Daisy which is exactly that of the gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover, desperate to try anything - including buying a giant mansion next door and throwing weekly parties in the vague hope that she would show up.

NON-ORIGINAL MNEMONIC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fN6kz1qpIA

(stop at 51 seconds)

ORIGINAL MNEMONIC

Extraordinary

Part

In

Good

Reading

Able to

Predict what

Happens

Poetic Justice

Definition:

A literary technique in which the actions of a character are either rewarded or inversely punished. It is often accompanied by an ironic twist of fate related to the actions of the character. This technique is often used to inspire good moral values.

Example in Lord of the Rings

Poetic justice can be found in The Fellowship of the Ring in the character Boromir. Boromir is driven to be part of the fellowship in a search for the power that the ring holds. Eventually, his thirst for power leads Boromir to attempt to steal the ring from Frodo. Soon after these evil actions, the man meets an untimely death at the hands of the Orcs despite his best efforts to right his past wrongs by defending Merry and Pippin.

Function

Tolkien uses the death of Boromir to spark the breaking of the fellowship; however, he also uses Boromir’s previous actions in order to create a sense of poetic justice. Although readers might mourn the death of Boromir, they can also see the reason that Boromir had to meet this end. As a result of the hold that the Ring had on Boromir he could have easily, in some way, kept Frodo from completing his quest. It also gives the reader a better sense of good morals and encourages the reader to avoid seeking power.

Another Example: Shakespeare’s King Lear

‘“My name is Edgar, and thy father’s son.

The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices

Make instruments to plague us.

The dark and vicious place where thee he got

Cost him his eyes.”’

Original Mnemonic

“I tried to burn a pile of poetry, but justice was immediately served as I set myself aflame.”

Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing

Definition: An advanced sign or warning of what is to come in the future. This appears at the start of a chapter or story to hint at what is to come later, and to allow the reader to develop his own ideas and expectations for the plot. Any event, chapter title, or action in a book may hint towards what lies ahead. It can create mystery and tension in a story or it can make the story seem tied together at the end.

Examples:

Pride and Prejudice

“If a woman conceals her affection with the same skill from the object of it, she may lose

the opportunity of fixing him… Bingley likes your sister undoubtedly, but he may never

more than like her, if she does not help him on”
.

Romeo and Juliet

“Life were better ended by their hate,

Than death prorogued, wanting of thy love”

Function:  

In Pride and Prejudice Mr. Bingley leaves Jane and goes to London because he believes Jane does not care for him because she hid her feelings for him. This is foreshadowing because Jane is warned of what may happen to her, but it is not directly stated.

Romeo states to Juliet he would rather die soon with her love than to die later never having it. This is foreshadowing because he will die very soon because of their love.

Non-original mnemonic

Original Mnemonic:

F-Future

O-Occurring

R-Realistic

E-Events

S-Showing

H-How

A-And

D-Describing

O-One’s

W-World