Literary Terms Analysis With Examples Essays - Literature, Fiction

Literary Terms Analysis With Examples Literary Terms Analysis with Examples 1) Allusion: An allusion describes a famous literary figure or historical event. In an allusion, the author of a literary work refers to a well-known episode from a book or occasion. Thus, the two things most often alluded to in literature (the two greatest known literary works) deal with Shakespeare's plays and the New Testament. Examples: In modern-day literature, George Orwell alludes to the Evil Empire, in his book, Animal Farm. Orwell was a visionary-only years later would the world come to see that the Iron Curtain Stalin had created formed an Evil Empire which spawned half of Europe, some of Asia, much of Latin America, and some parts of Africa. In Animal Farm, Orwell exposes the reasons why communism does not work-explaining that in a totalitarian state with a dictator and several puppets, or a group of dictators, power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. And so, in his unpopular satirical allusion to the Soviet Union (which was the goal of his book) Orwell explained what would only be seen by the public a decade later. In The Unvanquished, Faulkner refers to homemade Jordan,-as the blacks believe that when they cross the river they will crossing the river Jordan and getting into the Promised Land, while all that they are crossing is a simple river and they will still be in the same state they are in. The allusion Faulkner makes is to the bible, where the people cross the River Jordan to get into the Promised Land. 2) Ambiguity explains a situation in which the effect produced by literary work makes the reader aware of different interpretations. It uses words or phrases with multiple meanings to achieve a state where the reader sees a vague idea-which he can take to mean different things. Example: In The Chocolate War, Cormier says that for no reason at all, he [Jerry] thought of Gregory Bailey. In this passage, Cormier does not explain what Jerry was thinking, and leaves it up to reader to try and underst and why Jerry would think of person that Brother Leon was constantly picking on. Only later in the book does the reader realize that Jerry too would be in the same position that Gregory was in in Brother Leon's classroom. 3) The antagonist is the bad guy who creates a conflict in a literary work with the good guy. However, the bad guy, does not have to be a person-it can be an event, such as war, or an idea, such as not having any self worth. The conflict created gives the story interest. Example: In Hamlet, King Claudius is the antagonist. At first, he kills King Hamlet through treachery, taking the King's throne and wife. Throughout the rest of the book, he is a poor ruler, who does not have any remorse for his previous actions (not being able to watch a play that shows exactly what he had done), and tries to kill his stepson. In the process, Claudius destroys the Danish royal family and its rule over Denmark. Thus, Claudius, being the driving force which ruins a country and famil y is the antagonist in Shakespeare's Hamlet. 4) Diction describes the word choice in a novel. Formal or informal language, general or specific words, abstract or concrete words all have an effect on how the writer sounds. Example: In The Unvanquished, at the beginning of the book, Philadelphy says to Loosh, her husband, Hush your mouth, nigger! after Loosh alluded to the fact that the Yankees were winning the Civil War to Bayard and Ringo. Here, a wife refers to her husband with derogatory language. In this instance, Faulkner chose to use this word to better establish the point that Philadelphy does not agree with Loosh's militant ways. 5) Dramatic Irony refers to when the audience of a literary work knows or perceives something that the character in the work does not know. This is most often seen in plays and creates a scene of humor or tragedy that the audience knew was going to happen-although the character had no idea of the situation s/he was being led in to. Example: In Shakes peare's Hamlet, nearing the end