What artistic technique is used in this example? Literary and poetic devices

What makes fiction different from other types of texts? If you think that this is a plot, then you are mistaken, because lyric poetry is a fundamentally “plotless” area of ​​literature, and prose is often plotless (for example, a prose poem). Initial “entertainment” is also not a criterion, since in different eras Fiction performed functions that were very far from entertainment (and even the opposite of it).

“Artistic techniques in literature are, perhaps, the main attribute that characterizes fiction.”

Why are artistic techniques needed?

Techniques in literature are intended to give the text

  • various expressive qualities,
  • originality,
  • identify the author’s attitude to what is written,
  • and also to convey some hidden meanings and connections between parts of the text.

At the same time, outwardly no new information does not seem to be introduced into the text, because main role play various ways combinations of words and parts of phrases.

Artistic techniques in literature are usually divided into two categories:

  • trails,
  • figures.

A trope is the use of a word in an allegorical, figurative sense. The most common trails:

  • metaphor,
  • metonymy,
  • synecdoche.

Figures are ways of syntactically organizing sentences that differ from the standard arrangement of words and give the text one or another additional meaning. Examples of figures include

  • antithesis (opposition),
  • internal rhyme,
  • isocolon (rhythmic and syntactic similarity of parts of the text).

But there is no clear boundary between figures and paths. Techniques such as

  • comparison,
  • hyperbola,
  • litotes, etc.

Literary devices and the emergence of literature

Most artistic techniques generally originate from primitive

  • religious ideas,
  • will accept
  • superstitions

The same can be said about literary devices. And here the distinction between tropes and figures takes on a new meaning.

The trails are directly related to ancient magical beliefs and rituals. First of all, this is the imposition of a taboo on

  • name of the item,
  • animal,
  • pronouncing a person's name.

It was believed that when designating a bear by its direct name, one could bring it upon the one who pronounces this word. This is how they appeared

  • metonymy,
  • synecdoche

(bear – “brown”, “muzzle”, wolf – “gray”, etc.). These are euphemisms (“decent” replacement for an obscene concept) and dysphemisms (“obscene” designation of a neutral concept). The first is also associated with a system of taboos on certain concepts (for example, the designation of genital organs), and the prototypes of the second were originally used to avoid the evil eye (according to the ideas of the ancients) or to etiquettely humiliate the named object (for example, oneself before a deity or a representative of a higher class). Over time, religious and social ideas were “debunked” and subjected to a kind of profanation (that is, the removal of sacred status), and paths began to play an exclusively aesthetic role.

The figures appear to have a more “mundane” origin. They could serve the purpose of memorizing complex speech formulas:

  • rules
  • laws,
  • scientific definitions.

Such techniques are still used in children's educational literature, as well as in advertising. And their most important function is rhetorical: to draw increased public attention to the content of the text by deliberately “violating” strict speech norms. These are

  • rhetorical questions
  • rhetorical exclamations
  • rhetorical appeals.

”Prototype fiction in the modern understanding of the word there were prayers and spells, ritual chants, as well as performances by ancient orators.”

Many centuries have passed, “magic” formulas have lost their power, but on a subconscious and emotional level they continue to influence a person, using our inner understanding of harmony and orderliness.

Video: Visual and expressive means in literature

Writing activity, as mentioned in this is the most interesting creative process with its own characteristics, tricks and subtleties. And one of the most effective ways highlighting a text from the general mass, giving it uniqueness, unusualness and the ability to arouse genuine interest and the desire to read it in full are literary writing techniques. They have been used at all times. First, directly by poets, thinkers, writers, authors of novels, stories and other works of art. Nowadays, they are actively used by marketers, journalists, copywriters, and indeed all those people who from time to time need to write vivid and memorable text. But with the help of literary techniques, you can not only decorate the text, but also give the reader the opportunity to more accurately feel what exactly the author wanted to convey, to look at things from a perspective.

It doesn’t matter whether you write texts professionally, are taking your first steps in writing, or creating a good text just appears on your list of responsibilities from time to time, in any case, it is necessary and important to know what literary techniques a writer has. The ability to use them is a very useful skill that can be useful to everyone, not only in writing texts, but also in ordinary speech.

We invite you to familiarize yourself with the most common and effective literary techniques. Each of them will be provided with a vivid example for a more precise understanding.

Literary devices

Aphorism

  • “To flatter is to tell a person exactly what he thinks about himself” (Dale Carnegie)
  • “Immortality costs us our lives” (Ramon de Campoamor)
  • “Optimism is the religion of revolutions” (Jean Banville)

Irony

Irony is a mockery in which the true meaning is contrasted with the real meaning. This creates the impression that the subject of the conversation is not what it seems at first glance.

  • A phrase said to a slacker: “Yes, I see you are working tirelessly today.”
  • A phrase said about rainy weather: “The weather is whispering”
  • A phrase said to a man in a business suit: “Hey, are you going for a run?”

Epithet

An epithet is a word that defines an object or action and at the same time emphasizes its peculiarity. Using an epithet, you can give an expression or phrase a new shade, make it more colorful and vibrant.

  • Proud warrior, be steadfast
  • Suit fantastic colors
  • beauty girl unprecedented

Metaphor

Metaphor is an expression or word based on the comparison of one object with another based on their common feature, but used in a figurative sense.

  • Nerves of steel
  • The rain is drumming
  • My eyes popped out of my head

Comparison

A comparison is a figurative expression that connects various objects or phenomena with the help of some common features.

  • From bright light sun Evgeny went blind for a minute as if mole
  • My friend's voice reminded creak rusty door loops
  • The mare was frisky How flaming fire bonfire

Allusion

An allusion is a special figure of speech that contains an indication or hint of another fact: political, mythological, historical, literary, etc.

  • You are truly a great schemer (reference to the novel by I. Ilf and E. Petrov “The Twelve Chairs”)
  • They made the same impression on these people as the Spaniards did on the Indians. South America(reference to historical fact conquest of South America by conquistadors)
  • Our trip could be called “The incredible movements of Russians across Europe” (a reference to the film by E. Ryazanov “ Incredible adventures Italians in Russia")

Repeat

Repetition is a word or phrase that is repeated several times in one sentence, giving additional semantic and emotional expressiveness.

  • Poor, poor little boy!
  • Scary, how scared she was!
  • Go, my friend, go ahead boldly! Go boldly, don’t be timid!

Personification

Personification is an expression or word used in a figurative sense, through which the properties of animate ones are attributed to inanimate objects.

  • Snowstorm howls
  • Finance sing romances
  • Freezing painted windows with patterns

Parallel designs

Parallel constructions are voluminous sentences that allow the reader to create an associative connection between two or three objects.

  • “The waves splash in the blue sea, the stars sparkle in the blue sea” (A.S. Pushkin)
  • “A diamond is polished by a diamond, a line is dictated by a line” (S.A. Podelkov)
  • “What is he looking for in a distant country? What did he throw in his native land? (M.Yu. Lermontov)

Pun

A pun is a special literary device in which, in one context, different meanings the same word (phrases, phrases), similar in sound.

  • The parrot says to the parrot: “Parrot, I’ll scare you.”
  • It was raining and my father and I
  • “Gold is valued by its weight, but by pranks - by the rake” (D.D. Minaev)

Contamination

Contamination is the creation of one new word by combining two others.

  • Pizzaboy - pizza delivery man (Pizza (pizza) + Boy (boy))
  • Pivoner – beer lover (Beer + Pioneer)
  • Batmobile – Batman's car (Batman + Car)

Streamlines

Streamlined expressions are phrases that do not express anything specific and hide the author’s personal attitude, veil the meaning or make it difficult to understand.

  • We will change the world for the better
  • Acceptable losses
  • It's neither good nor bad

Gradations

Gradations are a way of constructing sentences in such a way that homogeneous words in them increase or decrease their semantic meaning and emotional coloring.

  • “Higher, faster, stronger” (Yu. Caesar)
  • Drop, drop, rain, downpour, it’s pouring like a bucket
  • “He was worried, worried, going crazy” (F.M. Dostoevsky)

Antithesis

Antithesis is a figure of speech that uses rhetorical opposition between images, states, or concepts that are interconnected by a common semantic meaning.

  • “Now an academician, now a hero, now a navigator, now a carpenter” (A.S. Pushkin)
  • “He who was nobody will become everything” (I.A. Akhmetyev)
  • “Where there was a table of food, there is a coffin” (G.R. Derzhavin)

Oxymoron

An oxymoron is a stylistic figure that is considered a stylistic error - it combines incompatible (opposite in meaning) words.

  • Living Dead
  • Hot Ice
  • Beginning of the End

So, what do we see in the end? The number of literary devices is amazing. In addition to those we have listed, we can also name parcellation, inversion, ellipsis, epiphora, hyperbole, litotes, periphrasis, synecdoche, metonymy and others. And it is this diversity that allows anyone to apply these techniques everywhere. As already mentioned, the “sphere” of application of literary techniques is not only writing, but also oral speech. Supplemented with epithets, aphorisms, antitheses, gradations and other techniques, it will become much brighter and more expressive, which is very useful in mastering and development. However, we must not forget that the abuse of literary techniques can make your text or speech pompous and not as beautiful as you would like. Therefore, you should be restrained and careful when using these techniques so that the presentation of information is concise and smooth.

For a more complete assimilation of the material, we recommend that you, firstly, familiarize yourself with our lesson on, and secondly, pay attention to the manner of writing or speech outstanding personalities. There are examples great amount: from ancient Greek philosophers and poets to the great writers and rhetoricians of our time.

We will be very grateful if you take the initiative and write in the comments about what other literary techniques of writers you know, but which we have not mentioned.

We would also like to know if reading this material was useful for you?

TROPE

Trope is a word or expression used figuratively to create artistic image and achieving greater expressiveness. Paths include techniques such as epithet, comparison, personification, metaphor, metonymy, sometimes they include hyperboles and litotes. No work of art is complete without tropes. Artistic word- ambiguous; the writer creates images, playing with meanings and combinations of words, using the environment of the word in the text and its sound - all this constitutes the artistic possibilities of the word, which is the only tool of the writer or poet.
Note! When creating a trope, the word is always used in a figurative sense.

Let's consider different types tropes:

EPITHET(Greek Epitheton, attached) is one of the tropes, which is an artistic, figurative definition. An epithet can be:
adjectives: gentle face (S. Yesenin); these poor villages, this meager nature...(F. Tyutchev); transparent maiden (A. Blok);
participles: edge abandoned(S. Yesenin); frenzied dragon (A. Blok); takeoff illuminated(M. Tsvetaeva);
nouns, sometimes together with their surrounding context: Here he is, leader without squads(M. Tsvetaeva); My youth! My little dove is dark!(M. Tsvetaeva).

Any epithet reflects the uniqueness of the author’s perception of the world, therefore it necessarily expresses some kind of assessment and has a subjective meaning: a wooden shelf is not an epithet, so there is no artistic definition here, a wooden face is an epithet expressing the speaker’s impression of the interlocutor’s facial expression, that is, creating an image.
There are stable (permanent) folklore epithets: remote, portly, kind Well done, It's clear sun, as well as tautological, that is, repetition epithets, the same root with the defined word: Eh, bitter grief, boring boredom, mortal! (A. Blok).

IN work of art an epithet can perform various functions:

  • describe the subject figuratively: shining eyes, eyes- diamonds;
  • create an atmosphere, mood: gloomy morning;
  • convey the attitude of the author (storyteller, lyrical hero) to the subject being characterized: “Where will our prankster?" (A. Pushkin);
  • combine all previous functions in equal shares (in most cases of using the epithet).

Note! All color terms V literary text are epithets.

COMPARISON- This artistic technique(trope), in which an image is created by comparing one object with another. Comparison differs from other artistic comparisons, for example, likenings, in that it always has a strict formal sign: a comparative construction or a turnover with comparative conjunctions as if, as if, exactly, as if and the like. Expressions like he looked like... cannot be considered a comparison as a trope.

Examples of comparisons:

Comparison also plays certain roles in the text: sometimes authors use the so-called detailed comparison, revealing various signs of a phenomenon or conveying one’s attitude towards several phenomena. Often a work is entirely based on comparison, such as, for example, V. Bryusov’s poem “Sonnet to Form”:

PERSONALIZATION- an artistic technique (trope) in which an inanimate object, phenomenon or concept is given human properties (do not be confused, exactly human!). Personification can be used narrowly, in one line, in a small fragment, but it can be a technique on which the entire work is built (“You are my abandoned land” by S. Yesenin, “Mom and the evening killed by the Germans,” “The violin and a little nervously” by V. Mayakovsky, etc.). Personification is considered one of the types of metaphor (see below).

Impersonation task- to correlate the depicted object with a person, to make it closer to the reader, to figuratively comprehend the inner essence of the object, hidden from everyday life. Personification is one of the oldest figurative means of art.

HYPERBOLA(Greek Hyperbole, exaggeration) is a technique in which an image is created through artistic exaggeration. Hyperbole is not always included in the set of tropes, but by the nature of the use of the word in a figurative meaning to create an image, hyperbole is very close to tropes. A technique opposite in content to hyperbole is LITOTES(Greek Litotes, simplicity) is an artistic understatement.

Hyperbole allows the author to show the reader in an exaggerated form the most character traits depicted object. Often hyperbole and litotes are used by the author in an ironic way, revealing not just characteristic, but negative, from the author’s point of view, aspects of the subject.

METAPHOR(Greek Metaphora, transfer) - a type of so-called complex trope, a speech turn in which the properties of one phenomenon (object, concept) are transferred to another. A metaphor contains a hidden comparison, a figurative likening of phenomena using the figurative meaning of words; what the object is compared to is only implied by the author. No wonder Aristotle said that “to compose good metaphors means to notice similarities.”

Examples of metaphor:

METONYMY(Greek Metonomadzo, rename) - type of trope: figurative designation of an object according to one of its characteristics.

Examples of metonymy:

When studying the topic "Means artistic expression"and completing tasks, pay special attention to the definitions of the concepts given. You must not only understand their meaning, but also know the terminology by heart. This will protect you from practical mistakes: knowing for sure that the method of comparison has strict formal characteristics (see theory on topic 1), you will not confuse this technique with a number of other artistic techniques, which are also based on the comparison of several objects, but are not a comparison.

Please note that you must begin your answer either with the suggested words (by rewriting them) or with your own version of the beginning of the complete answer. This applies to all such tasks.


Recommended reading:
  • Literary criticism: Reference materials. - M., 1988.
  • Polyakov M. Rhetoric and literature. Theoretical aspects. - In the book: Questions of poetics and artistic semantics. - M.: Sov. writer, 1978.
  • Dictionary literary terms. - M., 1974.

When we talk about art, literary creativity, we are focused on the impressions that are created when reading. They are largely determined by the imagery of the work. In fiction and poetry, there are special techniques for enhancing expressiveness. A competent presentation, public speaking - they also need ways to construct expressive speech.

For the first time, the concept of rhetorical figures, figures of speech, appeared among speakers ancient Greece. In particular, Aristotle and his followers were engaged in their study and classification. Delving into the details, scientists have identified up to 200 varieties that enrich the language.

Means of expressive speech are divided according to language level into:

  • phonetic;
  • lexical;
  • syntactic.

The use of phonetics is traditional for poetry. The poem is often dominated by musical sounds, giving poetic speech a special melodiousness. In the drawing of a verse, stress, rhythm and rhyme, and combinations of sounds are used for emphasis.

Anaphora– repetition of sounds, words or phrases at the beginning of sentences, poetic lines or stanzas. “The golden stars dozed off...” - repetition of the initial sounds, Yesenin used phonetic anaphora.

And here is an example of lexical anaphora in Pushkin’s poems:

Alone you rush across the clear azure,
You alone cast a dull shadow,
You alone sadden the jubilant day.

Epiphora- a similar technique, but much less common, in which words or phrases are repeated at the end of lines or sentences.

The use of lexical devices associated with a word, lexeme, as well as phrases and sentences, syntax, is considered as a tradition of literary creativity, although it is also widely found in poetry.

Conventionally, all means of expressiveness of the Russian language can be divided into tropes and stylistic figures.

Trails

Tropes are the use of words and phrases in a figurative sense. Paths make speech more figurative, enliven and enrich it. Some tropes and their examples in literary work are listed below.

Epithetartistic definition. Using it, the author gives the word additional emotional overtones and his own assessment. To understand how an epithet differs from an ordinary definition, you need to understand when reading whether the definition gives a new connotation to the word? Here's a simple test. Compare: late fallGolden autumn, early spring- young spring, quiet breeze - gentle breeze.

Personification- transferring the signs of living beings to inanimate objects, nature: “The gloomy rocks looked sternly...”.

Comparison– direct comparison of one object or phenomenon with another. “The night is gloomy, like a beast...” (Tyutchev).

Metaphor– transferring the meaning of one word, object, phenomenon to another. Identifying similarities, implicit comparison.

“There is a red rowan fire burning in the garden...” (Yesenin). The rowan brushes remind the poet of the flame of a fire.

Metonymy– renaming. Transferring a property or meaning from one object to another according to the principle of contiguity. “The one in felt, let’s argue” (Vysotsky). In felt (material) - in a felt hat.

Synecdoche- a type of metonymy. Transferring the meaning of one word to another based on a quantitative connection: singular - plural, part - whole. “We all look at Napoleons” (Pushkin).

Irony- the use of a word or expression in an inverted, mocking sense. For example, the appeal to the Donkey in Krylov’s fable: “Are you crazy, smart one?”

Hyperbola- a figurative expression containing exorbitant exaggeration. It may relate to size, meaning, strength, and other qualities. Litota is, on the contrary, an exorbitant understatement. Hyperbole is often used by writers and journalists, and litotes is much less common. Examples. Hyperbole: “The sunset burned with one hundred and forty suns” (V.V. Mayakovsky). Litota: “a little man with a fingernail.”

Allegory- a specific image, scene, image, object that visually represents an abstract idea. The role of allegory is to suggest subtext, to force one to search hidden meaning when reading. Widely used in fable.

Alogism– deliberate violation of logical connections for the purpose of irony. “That landowner was stupid, he read the newspaper “Vest” and his body was soft, white and crumbly.” (Saltykov-Shchedrin). The author deliberately mixes logically heterogeneous concepts in the enumeration.

Grotesquespecial welcome, a combination of hyperbole and metaphor, a fantastic surreal description. Outstanding master Russian grotesque was N. Gogol. His story “The Nose” is based on the use of this technique. A special impression when reading this work is made by the combination of the absurd with the ordinary.

Figures of speech

Stylistic figures are also used in literature. Their main types are shown in the table:

Repeat At the beginning, end, at the junction of sentences This cry and strings,

These flocks, these birds

Antithesis Opposition. Antonyms are often used. Long hair, short mind
Gradation Arrangement of synonyms in increasing or decreasing order Smolder, burn, glow, explode
Oxymoron Connecting contradictions A living corpse, an honest thief.
Inversion Word order changes He came late (He came late).
Parallelism Comparison in the form of juxtaposition The wind stirred the dark branches. Fear stirred in him again.
Ellipsis Omitting an implied word By the hat and out the door (he grabbed it and went out).
Parcellation Dividing a single sentence into separate ones And I think again. About you.
Multi-Union Connecting through repeating conjunctions And me, and you, and all of us together
Asyndeton Elimination of unions You, me, he, she – together the whole country.
Rhetorical exclamation, question, appeal. Used to enhance feelings What a summer!

Who if not us?

Listen, country!

Default Interruption of speech based on a guess, to reproduce strong excitement My poor brother...execution...Tomorrow at dawn!
Emotional-evaluative vocabulary Words expressing attitude, as well as direct assessment of the author Henchman, dove, dunce, sycophant.

Test "Means of Artistic Expression"

To test your understanding of the material, take a short test.

Read the following passage:

“There the war smelled of gasoline and soot, burnt iron and gunpowder, it scraped with caterpillar tracks, screeched from machine guns and fell into the snow, and rose again under fire...”

What means of artistic expression are used in the excerpt from K. Simonov’s novel?

Swede, Russian - stabs, chops, cuts.

Drumming, clicks, grinding,

The thunder of guns, stomping, neighing, groaning,

And death and hell on all sides.

A. Pushkin

The answer to the test is given at the end of the article.

Expressive language is, first of all, internal image, which occurs when reading a book, listening to an oral presentation, presentation. To manipulate images, visual techniques are needed. There are enough of them in the great and mighty Russian. Use them, and the listener or reader will find their own image in your speech pattern.

Study expressive language and its laws. Determine for yourself what is missing in your performances, in your drawing. Think, write, experiment, and your language will become an obedient tool and your weapon.

Answer to the test

K. Simonov. The personification of war in the passage. Metonymy: howling soldiers, equipment, battlefield - the author ideologically connects them into a generalized image of war. Techniques used expressive language– polyunion, syntactic repetition, parallelism. Through this combination stylistic devices When reading, a revived, rich image of war is created.

A. Pushkin. The poem lacks conjunctions in the first lines. In this way the tension and richness of the battle are conveyed. In the phonetic drawing of the scene special role plays the sound “r” in different combinations. When reading, a rumbling, growling background appears, ideologically conveying the noise of battle.

If you were unable to give the correct answers while answering the test, do not be upset. Just re-read the article.

Antithesis is a means of expression that is often used in the Russian language and in Russian literature because of its powerful expressive capabilities. So, antithesis definition is such a technique in artistic language when one phenomenon is contrasted with another. Those who want to read about the antithesis of Wikipedia will certainly find there different examples from poems.

I would like to define the concept of “antithesis” and its meaning. She has great importance in language, because it is a technique that allows compare two opposites, for example, “black” and “white”, “good” and “evil”. The concept of this technique is defined as a means of expressiveness, which allows you to very vividly describe an object or phenomenon in poetry.

What is antithesis in literature

Antithesis is an artistic figurative and expressive means that allows you to compare one object with another based on oppositions. Usually she's like artistic medium, is very popular among many modern writers and poets. But you can also find a huge number of examples in the classics. Within the antithesis can be opposed in meaning or in their properties:

  • Two characters. This most often happens in cases where positive character opposed to negative;
  • Two phenomena or objects;
  • Different qualities of the same object (looking at the object from several aspects);
  • The qualities of one object are contrasted with the qualities of another object.

Lexical meaning of trope

The technique is very popular in literature because it allows you to most clearly express the essence of a particular subject through opposition. Typically, such oppositions always look lively and imaginative, so poetry and prose that use antithesis are quite interesting to read. She happens to be one of the most popular And known means artistic expressiveness of a literary text, be it poetry or prose.

The technique was actively used by the classics of Russian literature, and modern poets and prose writers use it no less actively. Most often, the antithesis underlies contrast between two characters in a work of art, When positive hero is opposed to negative. At the same time, their qualities are deliberately demonstrated in an exaggerated, sometimes grotesque form.

Skillful use of this artistic technique allows you to create a lively, imaginative description of characters, objects or phenomena found in a particular work of art (novel, story, story, poem or fairy tale). It is often used in folklore works(fairy tales, epics, songs and other genres of oral folk art). During runtime literary analysis text, you must pay attention to the presence or absence of this technique in the work.

Where can you find examples of antithesis?

Antithesis examples from literature can be found almost everywhere, in the most different genres fiction, ranging from folk art (fairy tales, epics, tales, legends, etc. oral folklore) and ending with works modern poets and writers of the twenty-first century. Due to its characteristics of artistic expression, the technique is most often found in the following genres of fiction:

  • Poems;
  • Stories:
  • Fairy tales and legends (folk and original);
  • Novels and stories. In which there are lengthy descriptions of objects, phenomena or characters.

Antithesis as an artistic device

As a means of artistic expression, it is built on the opposition of one phenomenon to another. A writer who uses antithesis in his work selects the most characteristic features of two characters (objects, phenomena) and tries to reveal them most fully by contrasting each other. The word itself, translated from ancient Greek, also means nothing more than “opposition.”

Active and appropriate use makes the literary text more expressive, lively, interesting, helps to most fully reveal the characters of the characters, the essence of specific phenomena or objects. This is what determines the popularity of the antithesis in the Russian language and in Russian literature. However, in others European languages this is a remedy artistic imagery is also used very actively, especially in classical literature.

In order to find examples of antithesis during the analysis of a literary text, you must first examine those fragments of the text where two characters (phenomena, objects) are not considered in isolation, but are opposed to each other with different points vision. And then finding a reception will be quite easy. Sometimes the whole meaning of a work is built on this artistic device. It should also be borne in mind that the antithesis can be explicit, but maybe hidden, veiled.

Finding a hidden antithesis in an artistic literary text is quite simple if you read and analyze the text thoughtfully and carefully. In order to teach how to correctly use a technique in your own literary text, you need to familiarize yourself with the most striking examples from Russian classical literature. However, it is not recommended to abuse it so that it does not lose its expressiveness.

Antithesis is one of the main means of artistic expression, widely used in the Russian language and in Russian literature. The technique can easily be found in many works of Russian classics. They actively use it and modern writers. Antithesis enjoys well-deserved popularity because it helps to most clearly express the essence of individual heroes, objects or phenomena by contrasting one hero (object, phenomenon) with another. Russian literature without this artistic device is practically unthinkable.