rhetorical fragment examples in literature

Rhetorical fragment examples in literature series#

I hope that you slept well and are prepared for this morning’s science exam.” Imagine reading a YA novel that takes place in modern America, and the characters speak to each other like this: Writers use colloquialisms to provide context to settings and characters, and to make their writing sound more authentic.

ColloquialismĬolloquialism is the use of casual and informal language in writing, which can also include slang. Well, a chiasmus might sound confusing and unnecessary in theory, but it's much more convincing in practice - and in fact, you've likely already come across it before.Įxample: “Ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country.” - John F. “Why would I do that?” you may be wondering. Takes one minute!Ĭhiasmus is when two or more parallel clauses are inverted. Archetypes represent feelings and situations that are shared across cultures and time periods, and are therefore instantly recognizable to any audience - for instance, the innocent child character, or the theme of the inevitability of death.Įxample: Superman is a heroic archetype: noble, self-sacrificing, and drawn to righting injustice whenever he sees it.įind out which literary luminary is your stylistic soulmate. It can be a character, a setting, a theme, or an action. ArchetypeĪn archetype is a “universal symbol” that brings familiarity and context to a story. Aphorisms are typically witty and memorable, often becoming adages or proverbs as people repeat them over and over.Įxample: “To err is human, to forgive divine.” - Alexander Pope 7. AphorismĪn aphorism is a universally accepted truth stated in a concise, to-the-point way. Similar term: personification The household items in 'Beauty and the Beast' have been anthropomorphized. Potts the teapot, Cogsworth the clock, and Lumière the candlestick are all household objects that act and behave like humans (which, of course, they were when they weren’t under a spell). But unlike personification, in which this is done through figurative description, anthropomorphism is literal: a sun with a smiling face, for example, or talking dogs in a cartoon.Įxamples: In Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Mrs. To anthropomorphize is to apply human traits or qualities to a non-human thing such as objects, animals, or the weather. So a typical verb-subject-adjective sentence such as “Are you ready?” becomes a Yoda-esque adjective-verb-subject question: “Ready, are you?” Or a standard adjective-noun pairing like “tall mountain” becomes “mountain tall.”Įxample: “Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing.” - The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe 5. '… I have a dream that little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”Īnastrophe is a figure of speech wherein the traditional sentence structure is reversed. '… and I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood. “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. It’s often seen in poetry and speeches, intended to provoke a emotional response in its audience.Įxample: Martin Luther King’s 1963 “I Have A Dream” speech.

Rhetorical fragment examples in literature series#

AnaphoraĪnaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of a series of clauses or sentences. It lends a pleasing cadence to prose and Hamlet and the dollar as currency in Macbeth. AlliterationĪlliteration describes a series of words in quick succession that all start with the same letter or sound.

A commentary on the events leading up to Stalin's rise and the formation of the Soviet Union, the pigs at the heart of the novel represent figures such as Stalin, Trotsky, and Molotov.

This dystopian novella is one of modern literature’s best-known allegories. Many children's fables, such as The Tortoise and the Hare, are simple allegories about morality - but allegories can also be dark, complex, and controversial.Įxample: Animal Farm by George Orwell. In an allegorical story, things represent more than they appear to on the surface. An allegory is a type of narrative that uses characters and plot to depict abstract ideas and themes.