LITERARY DEVICES

By Joanne Ochoa

PERIPHRASIS

Definition:• The use of indirect and circumlocutory speech or writing

Function:

• A form of circumlocution, periphrasis is commonly considered a stylistic device

Examples• When I am with you, my toes tingle and my knees are

weak. The world is a better place altogether and I find myself giving my fortune to beggars, and I am a beggar before you, craving a smile, a whim.

ASSONANCE

Definition:• The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds in

neighboring words

Function:• is to help the text “flow,” mainly from an auditory perspective

Examples:• fleet feet sweep by sleeping geeks• “And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride.” -Edgar Allan Poe, "Annabel Lee"

DIACOPE

Definition:• A rhetorical term for the repetition of a word or phrase

broken up by one or more intervening words.

Function:• To show strong emotion

Examples:• Fire, hot fire, burned across the town. It will be done. By hook or by crook, it will be done. 'Why?' he asked, 'Why?' And well he might