Writing is a rather complex process with its own characteristics and tricks. Not all writers can make their text striking by making it stand out from the crowd. However, there are some helpful literary devices you can use. Besides writers, they are used by students, journalists, marketers, copywriters, and other professionals. With their help, text can become more interesting, memorable, and vivid.
It doesn’t matter if you’re going to write articles and stories professionally or if you just want to master literary tricks for writing essays. In any case, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with them.
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Use of aphorisms
An aphorism is a phrase or thought, which carries a philosophical meaning. Quite often, you can see that the aphorism has an unexpected conclusion, which makes the expression even more vivid and memorable.
Use irony
Irony is a satirical statement that provides a meaning opposite of the language used. The use of irony can mislead a person, and he or she will perceive what is happening from a different angle. For example: “Yes, I see you are working tirelessly today.” This is a phrase you can say to a lazy person who doesn’t want to do anything.
Epithets
By using epithets in the text, you can make the expression brighter. The epithet itself is able to maximally emphasize the feature of the subject. For example, you can emphasize a girl of unprecedented beauty.
The presence of epithets gives a feeling of special semantic depth, which is filled with irony, bitterness, sarcasm, and bewilderment. Authors often use such techniques when writing poetry, press releases, and essays. But in prosaic creations, you can also find similar effects.
Applying metaphors
What could be better than using a metaphorical comparison in the text? The metaphor is based on a comparison of two objects with common features, but it used in a figurative sense. For example: My house is a honeycomb of rooms.
Simile
A simile is used to relate objects that have common features, using linking words such as “like” or “as.” For example: He ran as fast as a horse.
There are several basic ways to create simile:
- with the help of comparative conjunctions “how,” “if,” “like,” “exactly”;
- using an adjective or adverb in a comparative form;
- using the word “similar.”
Using an allusion
This method is used to hint at another reference or outside work, be it political, historical, literary, or otherwise. For example: John was a Romeo looking for his Juliet.
The main thing is not to confuse an allusion with a quote. The latter is an accurate reproduction of someone’s words. For example, the phrase “The die is cast” refers to Julius Caesar. But, this is not an allusion, although the phrase itself is widely used by many in everyday speech.
Many authors use this stylistic device in their works. It allows them to briefly describe the characters, their actions, or the situation in general. Moreover, the image turns out to be much more colorful than if it was described in your own words.
Applying repetition
Repetition is the use of certain phrases or words multiple times in the same sentence. Most often, repetitions are used to add more emotion. For example: You poor, poor girl!
This stylistic device is carried out at different levels of the text as a unit of speech. In literature, several types of repetition are distinguished:
- phonetic (repetition of the same vowels and consonants);
- morphemic (repetition of morphemes and parts of a word);
- lexical (word repetition);
- syntactic (using the same type of syntactic constructions).
If the same vowel sounds are repeated in a poetic line, then assonance is used in it. The repetition of consonants is alliteration.
Authors can resort to lexical repetition if they want to highlight an important word from a personal point of view for a more accurate expression of a thought or to give it more expressiveness.
Personification
Personification is often used in writing fairy tales and stories. It implies expression in a figurative sense, when an inanimate object is endowed with the properties of humans. For example: He could feel the book sigh with relief after he saved it from the garbage bin.
By the way, if you noticed, a verb is often the personification. This is the hallmark of this literary device. It is the verb that “animates” a specific noun, endowing it with certain properties. In this case, it also adds expressiveness and brightness to the text.
We can also see examples of personification on TV screens or street banners every day. Advertisers have long started to use bright images to give life to a product that needs to be sold.
Use of portmanteaus and combining words
This technique involves combining two separate words into one, which produces unusual combinations. For example, the Batmobile. In reality, the Batmobile refers to the car of Batman, who is a fictional character.
Oxymoron use
An oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines opposing words. For example, hot snow or a living corpse.
Despite the rare use of this term in everyday life, it has long been known in the academic community, and its use in fiction has its roots in antiquity. Many writers do not even suspect that they use it in their works.
Often, many writers use this stylistic device in the titles of their works. In fact, an oxymoron in literature is a way to attract the attention of the reader, vivid examples of which eloquently show the great expressive potential of this technique.
International Journal of Research (IJR) 