Is The Literary Device Automatic?
I first became aware of the literary device in seventh grade English, and, I confess, without much enthusiasm. It was a beautiful spring day. As the teacher was droning on about the different uses of metaphor and simile in poetry, l was probably staring out the window, trying to stay awake, and planning the afternoon’s excursion upon dismissal from the last period of the day. It’s curious to consider how unimportant a concept can seem at the time and how important it later becomes, emerging after a long slumber from mere daydream and to hands-0n application.
Fast forwarding to the present, during a recent walk, the term, “literary device,” popped into my head. It was like an epiphany. I realized I made use of literary devices throughout my memoir without even realizing it, as if the literary device served as a cognitive built-in. Methods such as foreshortening, imagery, and hyperbole are sprinkled throughout the book.
One of my favorite quotes, for instance, occurs at the end of Chapter One, “And that is where the rest of my narration into the field of psychiatry and then onto the world of beauty begins,” an example of foreshortening. You can also probably find hyperbole with phrases such as “Then it hit me front and center…” (page 39.) It makes me wonder whether other authors have had similar experiences, drawing on literary devices during their writing without overthinking it.
Ms. Cathy S., who teaches Eighth Grade English, observes “The literary device? It’s 100%! By eighth grade the students should know the definition, types and uses within a text.” Ms. S. engages students through the use of social media-supervised, of course- and she observes that they love finding examples and posting creatively. “The easiest literary devices to understand are the hyperbole and the simile, in part, because we use them so frequently in speech. The metaphor is a bit harder to grasp in conversation as well as in writing. And irony, well that is an acquired taste, as there are different types of irony.”
Why study the literary device at all? As with a physical infrastructure that holds up a building, these tricks of the trade play a vital role in enriching the quality of writing, while often taking a modest bow. They transform a finished manuscript from blah to highly compelling without necessarily being noticed, kind of like a building’s foundation, unnoticed unless you happen to be an architect or construction engineer. How many times have you read a great novel, and exclaimed,” Go0d God, I just loved the use of personification in Chapter Five!” I doubt it. You were following the plot line and character development, not the humanization of setting details.
I was amazed to learn that there are over 250 reported literary devices. My personal favorite is In Medias Res, obviously derived from Latin and translated as “in the midst of things.” As a narrative device, In Medias Res means to start at mid- plot and chronologically work backward. That takes real talent! I imagine it’s probably easier to do through film or in conversation than in print. But time shifts are certainly a great technique to develop your characters, as we see their journey from multiple perspectives.
A final consideration is that one becomes more attuned to the conversational forms or figures of speech, as they are known. You may agree that the extent to which people use metaphor in everyday language can greatly vary, some people so immersed in “metaphor speak” that the signal gets lost in the noise. I particularly recall one dinner guest in an earlier life who spoke in scientific non- sequiturs to the point where even my parents, who were reasonably accepting, scratched their heads when he left and asked me what the deuce he had been talking about. They then requested a translation into English.
Written by Jane B. Sofair
Author, The Beauty World Through The Lens Of A Psychiatrist
Special thanks to Ms. Cathy S for educational expertise.