LITERARY DEVICES

DICTION

• Definition: a speaker or writer's choice of words
• Example:“And the trees all died. They were orange trees. I don’t know why they died, they just died. Something wrong with the soil possibly or maybe the stuff we got from the nursery wasn’t the best. We complained about it. So we’ve got thirty kids there, each kid had his or her own little tree to plant and we’ve got these thirty dead trees. All these kids looking at these little brown sticks, it was depressing.”- The Excerpt from the school By Donald barthelme
• Diction is used here to convert the children's faces/ emotions after finding out their trees have died. The author uses words such as dead and depressing to show a gloomy and depressing tone.

EPIGRAPH

• Definition: a quotation or aphorism at the beginning of a literary work suggestive of a theme.
• Example: “Behind every great fortune there is a crime.”The Godfather by Mario Puzo.
• This is a great Epigraph, showing a gangster with great wealth but wielding great control over others. This theme is represent throughout the Godfather

EPISTROPHE

• Definition: Device of repetition I which the same expression (single word or phrase) is repeated at the end of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences.
• Example: “Then I’ll be all aroun’ in the dark. I’ll be ever’where – wherever you look. Wherever they’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever they’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there. . . . . An’ when our folk eat the stuff they raise an’ live in the houses they build – why, I’ll be there…."The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
• The author repeats "I'll be there" at the end of each clause, making the reader notice the words, which have a deeper meaning inside them.