Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices

[GamerShadow]

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices

Yes, and all authors have their preferences.

I tend to use personification a lot, as I find it the simplest to use in my writing. I'm pretty positive that similes come in second.

[Zythus]

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices

Oh? I actually find similes one of the rarest out of all these devices in stories I read and (rarely, cause I'm more a poet) write. The reason I see because I find that as ___as or ___ like ___ gets wordy when writing imagery and doing a comparison.

[devonin]

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices

Simile lends itself more to brevity than wordiness. It lets you communicate a complex idea by drawing a comparison between your object and something the reader presumably already knows about. The most effective similes are usually also allusions.

If you draw a simile that also requires explanation, you generally would have been better off to just explain your original concept instead.

[GamerShadow]

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices

Oh? I actually find similes one of the rarest out of all these devices in stories I read and (rarely, cause I'm more a poet) write. The reason I see because I find that as ___as or ___ like ___ gets wordy when writing imagery and doing a comparison.

The only words I try to avoid overusing are verbs, and boring words like "said" and "go". Otherwise, I simply go to town with what I write.

I am listening to music as I write Chapter 15 of FFR: The Phantom Challenge. I am trying to finish as much as possible, because I know I won't get another chance to write for another week or so.

[MalReynolds]

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices

If you draw a simile that also requires explanation, you generally would have been better off to just explain your original concept instead.

"Her face looked like the stony steps in front of the courthouse, or like a bag of silverware that had been thrown into the washer and put on 'spin cycle' - that is to say, she had a face comprised of many spoons and polished rocks. Take from this what you will. I found her exceedingly beautiful."

[GamerShadow]

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices

"Her face looked like the stony steps in front of the courthouse, or like a bag of silverware that had been thrown into the washer and put on 'spin cycle' - that is to say, she had a face comprised of many spoons and polished rocks. Take from this what you will. I found her exceedingly beautiful."

The literature forum now belongs to you. Excellent simile, by the way. I enjoyed reading those four lines quite a bit. =)

[igotrhythm]

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices

Some new ones I came across as I was studying Latin:

Praeteritio (Latin for "I shall pass over"): The act of mentioning something to an audience while saying you won't mention it. Usually used in oratory.
Example: I don't think I even need to mention the amount of media attention my opponent's recent affairs with one of his staff members has received.

Zeugma: Using one verb in two different senses at the same time.
Example: He could navigate a multimillion-dollar business deal and the new Black Diamond slope at his private ski resort.

[Zythus]

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices

Paralipsis is English for Praeteritio.
I'll add this one in because it does seem pretty distinctive to be called its own device.

Zeugma is a bit uncertain, and obscure. It seems just like a more condensed style of writing a longer sentence.

[All_That_Chaz]

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices

Tokzic, your writing style has a certain almost improvisational charm to it because you think less about the use of these literary devices. However usually there's a few places in your works that don't have the effect you want them to have because they don't strike the reader as they strike the writer. Often after a first draft I'll immediately throw it at friends and peers to see what they think. If they miss important things, I think of ways to draw more attention to them. The way I usually accomplish this is through these devices. It's not that it's easier or anything but when the reader sees a literary device a flag goes up in a reader's mind to pay attention.

[aquaaa]

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices

I think you're missing a couple of good ones such as allegory, ellipsis, hyperbole, synecdoche, metonymy, etc. Also the 3 main basic types of rhetorical appeals; ethos, pathos, logos.