Literary Devices and Classical Themes in Literature

Common Rhetorical Figures and Devices

• Alliteration: Repetition of one or more sounds very close together.
• Onomatopoeia: Alliteration that tries to imitate real sounds.
• Paronomasia: Repetition of very similar-sounding words.
• Anaphora: Repetition of a word at the beginning of a sentence or verse.
• Parallelism: Repetition of syntactic structures.
• Anadiplosis: Repetition of the last words or syntagms of one verse at the beginning of another statement.
• Concatenation: Several consecutive instances of anadiplosis.
• Epanadiplosis: Repetition of a word at the beginning and end of a verse or prayer.
• Pun (Retruécano): Repetition of words by reversing the order or structures.
• Chiasmus: Repetition involving a cross-distribution of the same structural elements.
• Hyperbaton: Changing the natural or expected order of the elements of a sentence.
• Pun (Calambur): Repetition of words that sound alike, where some are composed of two terms.
• Epithet: An adjective expressing a quality implicit in the substantive it accompanies.
• Pleonasm: Redundancy by repetition, adding unnecessary terms.
• Enumeration: Expression of a series of successive elements belonging to the same category.
• Comparison (Simile): Identification of a real term with an imaginary one based on shared qualities.
• Metaphor: Changing the name of a reality for another that maintains a similarity.
• Allegory: A series of metaphors describing actions or events that correspond to imaginary facts.
• Synonymy: A sequence of continuous or near synonyms.
• Synesthesia: The union of two realities or characteristics that are perceived by different senses.
• Metonymy: Designation of a reality with a similar or related name.
• Symbol: A word or expression that refers to another reality that is difficult to define.
• Hyperbole: Excessive exaggeration.
• Understatement (Litotes): To deny what otherwise one wants to affirm.
• Synecdoche: Using a part for the whole, e.g., "Winning the bread" = food.
• Personification: Attribution of human qualities to inanimate objects.
• Antithesis: Confrontation or opposition of two antonymous terms.
• Paradox: Expression of a sentiment that seems absurd.
• Gradation: Enumeration in ascending or descending order.

Classical Literary Themes and Latin Topics

• Carpe diem: Seize the day; counseling to enjoy the present time.
• Collige, virgo, rosas: A call for women to enjoy their youth before they grow old.
• Beatus ille: Depreciation of tangible goods and praise of a life away from social events.
• Golden mean (Aurea mediocritas): A topic that deems it advisable to be in the middle ground in order not to arouse envy and thus live in peace.
• Locus amoenus: Description of a beautiful and ideal landscape; an ideal topic in the literature of all time.
• Ubi sunt?: The poet wonders about the whereabouts of those who have died.

Classification of Literary Genres

Epic and Narrative Genres

Epic: Epic poems, romances.

Narrative: The novel, short story, short fiction, and legend.

Lyric and Poetic Forms

Lyric Models: The poem, verse, measure, rhyme, rhythm, and stanza.

Lyrical Genres: The eclogue, the elegy, the ode, and satire.

Dramatic and Didactic Genres

Dramatic Genres: Major genres (tragedy, drama, comedy); minor genres (auto sacramental, the appetizer/entremés, the farce); and hybrid genres (the opera).

Didactic Genres: The fable, the epistle, dialogue, and the essay.