Epiphany In a piece of fiction, an epiphany is the realization that occurs at the moment that the main character discovers an important insight about himself or herself, about another character, or about a relationship. This realization might be of almost any type, such as religious, psychological, or political. Epiphanies in fiction are also often…
Tag: Literary Devices
The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket – Literary Devices
Imagery Imagery is a technique a writer uses to involve the reader in the story. He does this by appealing to the reader’s senses. Kawabata uses imagery throughout his brief story, beginning with the first paragraph, in which he gives specifics. The university wall is not just a wall but a ‘‘tile-roofed wall’’; the fence…
Forty-Five a Month – Literary Devices
Third-Person Multiple Point of View Narayan’s ‘‘Forty-Five a Month’’ is written in what is known as the third person, a method of storytelling in which the narration is conducted by a person outside the action of the story. The narrator in ‘‘Forty-Five a Month,’’ for example, informs the reader of what Shanta is doing, but…
The Doll’s House by Katherine Mansfield – Literary Devices – Symbolism
Omniscient Narrator ‘‘The Doll’s House’’ is told from a third-person point of view. The narrator is not a character within the story, one who would speak of herself or himself as ‘‘I’’ or ‘‘me,’’ but is instead an outside observer, reporting on all of the characters as ‘‘he’’ or ‘‘she.’’ Frequently, third-person narrators will limit…
Dog Star by Arthur C Clarke – Literary Devices
Science Fiction One could easily point to some of the most important twentieth-century novels, all of which concern events that seemed similar to events likely to transpire in the future, including Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, George Orwell’s 1984, and Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange. However, as Tom Shippey has pointed out in his study…
Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket – Literary Devices
Plot ‘‘Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket’’ offers an excellent example of plotting in a short story. Ross Murfin and Supryia M. Ray in The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms define plot as the ‘‘arrangement and interrelation of events in a narrative work, chosen and designed to engage the reader’s attention . ….
The Censors by Luisa Valenzuela – Literary Devices
Irony Valenzuela uses irony throughout ‘‘The Censors.’’ Irony is a literary technique in which an author conveys to the reader that there is a discrepancy between what appears to be true in the story and what is actually true. Often the characters in the story are not aware of this discrepancy. In ‘‘The Censors,’’ Juan…
B. Wordsworth by V. S. Naipaul – Literary Devices
Dialect Of the three characters given dialogue in the story, two of them speak a local dialect that might be called non-standard English. When B. Wordsworth first comes to the narrator’s house, the boy calls to his mother, ‘‘Ma, it have a man outside here. He say he want to watch the bees.’’ In the…
Aunty Misery – Literary Devices
Personification Simply put, personification is a literary device that grants personality to inanimate objects or natural phenomena. This is also known as anthropomorphizing, or granting human qualities to nonhuman objects. Personification occurs in the story predominantly through Death’s appearance as a tired old man. Death, a natural phenomenon, is literally personified, transformed into a character…
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love – Literary Devices – Narrator
Narration The story is told from the first-person restricted point-of-view. The narrator, Nick, describes the interactions between the two couples only from his own perspective. Nick portrays his relationship with his wife, Linda, in glowing terms, full of warmth, affection, and mutual respect. Given the atmosphere of the story, and the tone of the conversation,…