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Stylistic Devices & Their Effects
Stylistic Devices Definition Effect alliteration Repetition of initial consonant sound. ● Grabs reader’s attention, sort of punctuates words. ● Also creates mood for e.g. if it’s an ‘s’ sound, maybe shows snakelike quantity or hissing. Perhaps slyness of the narrator. anaphora Repeating the first part of a sentence. “ The beginning of wisdom is silence. The second step is listening.” ● Emphasis on words. ● Could create emotional effect like passion in audience (this is why many famous speeches use anaphora). ● Adds rhythm making it easier to read and remember. antithesis Having two opposite ideas in a sentence. “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” ● Emphasises ideas. ● Makes it easier to understand the point being made or the complexity of the situation. epiphora Repeating the ending words of a sentence. “I am an American , he is an American , everybody is an American .” ● Emphasise words/message.. ● Gives a unique rhythm to text. ● Convey the importance of something. hyperbole Exaggeration of ideas. ● Create amusing effect. ● Common human feelings sound remarkable. ● Can also create contrast if something is described using exaggeration and the next thing isn’t. This attracts reader’s attention. ● Helps visualise. metaphor Comparing two things without using the words “like” or “as”. ● Gives readers another way of thinking about something. ● Creates an image for the reader. ● Make it easier to understand what the reader is saying (mostly applies to similes). simile Comparing two things using the words “like” or “as”.
onomatopoeia A word which imitates the natural sound of things like “buzzing”, “rustling” or even “meow”. ● Helps readers hear the sounds, allowing them to enter the author’s world. parallelism Using components in a sentence that are grammatically the same or have similar sounds or construction. “ Like father, like son.” or “They got together and talk ed , laugh ed and giggl ed .” ● Adds rhythm to sentences. ● In literature, usually used to convey some message. ● Also persuasive because an idea is emphasised and easy to remember using this structure. personification When an idea or animal is given human characteristics. “The sky weeps.” ● Helps readers empathise with non-human characters. ● Gives deeper meanings as well. repetition Repeating words or phrases. (There are actually many different types of repetition like anaphora and epiphora.) ● To grab the reader’s attention. For e.g. repeating a line. ● Emphasise and create rhythm. rhetorical question A question which is meant to be unanswered. ● Emphasise a point being made. Mostly used to as an effect. ● Used to persuade people. synecdoche (si- nek -duh-kee) Referring to something by one of its parts. For e.g. “wheels” to refer to a car, or “bread” to food or money. ● Achieve symbolism! ● Keeps writing concise and engages the reader because they have to think deeply about what the word is referring to. ● Can also sound more colloquial to connect to audience more. Metonymy (me- ton -uh-mee) When name of something is replaced with name of something else that’s associated with it. For e.g. “crown” refers to power or authority. Not to be confused with metaphors--it’s not comparing two things! ● Symbolism! ● Draws reader’s attention because words have deeper meanings to them. enjambment In poetry, when the sentence continues on to the next line. ● Makes poem’s rhythm faster. ● Adds surprise because reader has to keep reading to know
auditory imagery. Another e.g. is “the dog howled at the moon” or “she could hear the clang of pots and pans amongst the quiet murmur of her children”. reader in. olfactory imagery Describing a particular taste. For e.g. “he could smell the rich, sweetness of the chocolate cake”. visual imagery Appeals to the sense of sight. Something like “the hues of the bright fish glinted in the sun like bright pearls”. gustatory imagery Describing taste! For e.g. “She tasted the sweet sugary coating as she chewed the doughnut”. tactile imagery Appeals to the sense of touch. For e.g. “when she put her hands in the ice cold water, it felt like a thousand needles were pricking her fingers and palms”. kinaesthetic imagery Describes the movement or action of objects and people. For e.g. “the dog wagged his tail energetically and bounded towards the door, clawing it with his paws”. hypophora When a question is raised and then immediately answered by the author. Don’t confuse with rhetorical question. The difference is that in RQ, there’s no answer. ● Create curiosity in the reader ● Captures the attention ● Helps to introduce new topics of discussion ● Almost like the author is having a conversation with the audience. anastrophe Changing the structure of the sentence so that it’s in an unusual grammatical order. For e.g. everything Yoda says. “Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is.” ● Make it sound wise and more profound. ● Makes the reader think longer about what the author is saying. tricolon a series of three parallel words, ● Emphasises points in a
phrases, or clauses aka triadic structure memorable way. quaestio When you use question after question after question after question. :-) synthetic personalisation Creating a fake relationship between the audience and author. polysyndeton When you keep using and, but, or in a sentence to make it super long. For e.g. I ran and ate food and sang and laughed and ate again and... ● Conveys a sense of urgency or passion.
