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Literary Terms. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. Why is Jeannette’s glass castle more like a sand castle? (metaphor).
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Literary Terms The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls Why is Jeannette’s glass castle more like a sand castle? (metaphor) The glass castle represents the hopes of a positive future for the family. Those hopes can be represented in a sand castle because it can be built but it can easily be washed away, just like the children’s hopes are often washed away.
Figurative Language/Literary Terms Review Also known as descriptive language, or poetic language, figurative language helps the writer paint a picture in the reader’s mind.
Allusion • A casual reference in literature to a person, place, event, or another passage of literature. • Example: "Fluffy" -- the three headed dog in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. • In Greek Mythology, Cerberus guards the gate to the underworld. He is "a three-headed, dragon-tailed dog, who permits all spirits to enter, but none to return." -- from Edith Hamilton's Mythology • Hunger Games names
Colloquialism • A word or phrase used in everyday plain and relaxed speech, but rarely found in formal writing. • Example: The opening line from Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn • "You don’t know about me without you having read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, but that ain’t no matter."
Colloquialism cont’d • Another example: The first sentence of J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye • "If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth."
Hyperbole Exaggeration or overstatement for an effect. “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.” “This test is going to take forever to finish.” Now you write one: Begin with “My dog is so ugly…” and finish the sentence using hyperbole. (example: My dog is so ugly we had to pay the fleas to live on him!)
Idiom An expression in one language that cannot be matched or directly translated word-for-word in another language. “tough nut to crack” “piece of cake” Now you write one.
Verbal Irony • An implied discrepancy between what is said and what is meant • Example: From Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet • Mercutio (Romeo's best friend) receives a wound which he calls “a scratch,” but he knows it is fatal.
Symbol • Using an object or action that means something more than its literal meaning • Example: From The Glass Castle • The Joshua tree is a concrete object, but it represents the abstract concept of family relationships and Jeannette’s life experiences.
Metaphor A comparison of two unlike things, but does NOT use the words "like" or "as". “She was an ice cube before the heat kicked on.” “They are two peas in a pod.” Simile A comparison of two unlike things using the words "like" or "as". “She is as cold as ice.” “The stars shine like diamonds.”
Theme • the general idea or insight about life that a writer wishes to express • Example: From Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird,: • “Even if one person stands up for what is right, when all others are against him or her, it can make a positive difference.” • Examples from The Glass Castle?
The Appeals • Appeal to character: Ethos • To make an argument that is a persuasive appeal to someone’s moral and ethical nature. • Example: Charity commercials. “Just 5 cents a day will help end hunger in Africa.” • Makes you feel ethically/morally responsible for helping if the cost is so low
The Appeals cont’d • Appeal to reason: Logos • To use rational thinking to persuade by means of an argument “suitable to the case in question.” • Also known as rational appeal or logical proof • Example: Dr. Martin Luther King's speech • Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice.
The Appeals cont’d • Appeal to Pity: Pathos • To make an argument with emotional appeal that targets the audience’s altruism and mercy. • Example: From Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle • “Quixote landed with a screeching meow and a thud, Dad accelerated up the road, and I burst into tears” (18).