Literary Genres, Figures of Speech & Poetic Devices

Literary Genres

Sometimes the act is to criticize others with descriptive intent. Below are common literary genres and brief characteristics:

• Historical: Origin characterized by placing the action in a bygone era. It requires much documentation on the part of the author and portrays historical moments with fidelity.
• Romantic: Idealized love stories, usually with a happy ending.
• Science Fiction: A willingness to explore, through imagination, scientific possibilities that today are impossible.
• Detective: Always contains elements of mystery.
• Erotica: Marked by eroticism and explicit sexuality.
• Horror (Terror): Scary stories, often set in medieval castles or remote areas.

Figures of Speech and Rhetorical Devices

Figures of speech are resources used in literature to enhance meaning, emotion, and form.

Figures of Thought

• Antithesis: Contrasting two words or groups of words that represent opposing ideas. Example: "I watch while you sleep; I cry when you sing."
• Oxymoron: When two ideas or words that seem contradictory are combined to create a striking effect. When two ideas that would be described as impossible are juxtaposed, this creates an oxymoron.
• Irony: Mocking or highlighting the absurd. When irony is stark and mocking, it can carry sarcasm and may verge on cruelty.

Personification and Hyperbole

• Personification (Prosopopoeia): Attributes human qualities to an inanimate being or an animal. Example: "The memory of water."
• Hyperbole: Frequent use of exaggerated statements to emphasize a point.

Comparison and Metaphor

• Comparison (Simile): Comparing two elements for similarity to strengthen an image. Example: "as high as a tower."
• Metaphor: A term is used in place of another with which it has a relation of similarity, creating a direct comparison without using "like" or "as."

Figures of Diction (Sound and Form)

These devices alter the linguistic form—the external form of literary discourse—and enhance rhythm, sound, and emphasis.

• Alliteration: When phonemes recur with some frequency in the course of a verse or phrase. Example: "listen... sounded" (repetition of consonant sounds).
• Anaphora: Repetition of a word or group of words at the beginning of successive lines or phrases to strengthen meaning and give musicality and rhythm. Example: "When the day comes, when the time comes, when the hour sounds."

Metric, Syllable Count, and Stanzas

Metric (meter) refers to the length of a verse (number of syllables) and how verses are organized into stanzas. It concerns the number of syllables in a verse, caesuras (breaks), and stanza organization. Lines under eight syllables are considered arte menor (minor art).

All elements above—genres, figures of thought, diction, and metric—work together to shape literary texts and to convey tone, emotion, and meaning.