Test “Means of artistic expression. Tag Archives: Artistic techniques

05.05.2019

Literary devices have been widely used at all times, not only by classics or authors but also by marketers, poets and even ordinary people for a more vivid recreation of the story being told. Without them, it will not be possible to add liveliness to prose, poetry or an ordinary sentence; they decorate and allow us to feel as accurately as possible what the narrator wanted to convey to us.

Any work, regardless of its size or artistic direction, is based not only on the features of the language, but also directly on the poetic sound. This does not mean that certain information should be conveyed in rhyme. It is necessary that it be soft and beautiful, flow like poetry.

Of course, literary ones are quite different from those that people use in everyday life. An ordinary person As a rule, he will not choose words; he will give out a comparison, metaphor or, for example, an epithet that will help him explain something faster. As for the authors, they do it more beautifully, sometimes even too pretentiously, but only when this is required by the work as a whole or by its individual character in particular.

Literary Devices, Examples, and Explanation

Techniques	Explanation	Examples
Epithet	A word that defines an object or action, while emphasizing its characteristic property.	“A convincingly deceitful story” (A.K. Tolstoy)
Comparison	that connect two different objects by some common features.	“It’s not the grass that bends to the ground—it’s the mother who yearns for her dead son.”
Metaphor	An expression that is transferred from one object to another based on the principle of similarity. Moreover, the second object does not have a specific action or adjective.	"The Snow Lies", "The Moon Is Shedding Light"
Personification	Attributing certain human feelings, emotions, or actions to an object to which they are not characteristic.	"The sky is crying", "It's raining"
Irony	Ridicule, which usually reveals a meaning that contradicts the real one.	An ideal example is " Dead souls"(Gogol)
Allusion	The use of elements in a work that point to other text, action, or historical facts. Most often used in foreign literature.	Of the Russian writers, Akunin uses allusion most successfully. For example, in his novel "All the World's a Stage" there is a reference to a theatrical production " Poor Lisa"(Karamzin)
Repeat	A word or phrase that is repeated several times in one sentence.	"Fight, my boy, Fight, and become a man" (Lawrence)
Pun	Several words in one sentence that sound similar.	“He is an apostle, and I am a dunce” (Vysotsky)
Aphorism	A short saying that contains a generalizing philosophical conclusion.	On at the moment phrases from many works became aphorisms classical literature. “A rose smells like a rose, call it a rose or not” (Shakespeare)
Parallel designs	A cumbersome sentence that allows readers to formulate	Most often used when composing advertising slogans. "Mars. Everything will be in chocolate"
Streamlines	Universal epigraphs that are used by schoolchildren when writing essays.	Most often used when composing advertising slogans. "We will change lives for the better"
Contamination	Composing one word from two different ones.	Most often used when composing advertising slogans. "FANTASTIC bottle"

Let's sum it up

Thus, literary techniques are so diverse that authors have a wide scope for using them. It should be noted that excessive enthusiasm for these elements will not make a beautiful work. It is necessary to be restrained in their use in order to make the reading smooth and soft.

It should be said about one more function that literary devices have. It lies in the fact that only with the help of them is it often possible to revive a character and create the necessary atmosphere, which is quite difficult without visual effects. However, in this case, you should not be zealous, because when the intrigue grows, but the denouement does not approach, the reader will certainly begin to run his eyes ahead in order to calm himself down. In order to learn how to skillfully use literary techniques, you need to familiarize yourself with the works of authors who already know how to do this.

Genres (types) of literature

Ballad

A lyric-epic poetic work with a clearly expressed plot of a historical or everyday nature.

Comedy

Type of dramatic work. Displays everything ugly and absurd, funny and absurd, ridicules the vices of society.

Lyric poem

A type of fiction that emotionally and poetically expresses the author's feelings.

Peculiarities: poetic form, rhythm, lack of plot, small size.

Melodrama

A type of drama in which the characters are sharply divided into positive and negative.

Novella

Narrative prose genre, which is characterized by brevity, a sharp plot, a neutral style of presentation, lack of psychologism, and an unexpected denouement. Sometimes used as a synonym for story, sometimes called a type of story.

A poetic or musical-poetic work characterized by solemnity and sublimity. Famous odes:

Lomonosov: “Ode on the capture of Khotin, “Ode on the day of accession to the All-Russian throne of Her Majesty Empress Elizabeth Petrovna.”

Derzhavin: “Felitsa”, “To Rulers and Judges”, “Nobleman”, “God”, “Vision of Murza”, “On the Death of Prince Meshchersky”, “Waterfall”.

Essay

The most reliable type of narrative, epic literature, displaying facts from real life.

Song or chant

The most ancient type of lyric poetry. A poem consisting of several verses and a chorus. Songs are divided into folk, heroic, historical, lyrical, etc.

Tale

Between a short story and a novel epic genre, which presents a number of episodes from the life of the hero (heroes). The story is larger in scope than a short story and depicts reality more broadly, depicting a chain of episodes that make up a certain period in the life of the main character. It contains more events and characters than a short story. But unlike a novel, a story usually has one storyline.

Poem

A type of lyric epic work, a poetic plot narration.

Play

Common name dramatic works (tragedy, comedy, drama, vaudeville). Written by the author for performance on stage.

Story

Small epic genre: a short prose work, which, as a rule, depicts one or more events in the hero’s life. The circle of characters in the story is limited, the action described is short in time. Sometimes a work of this genre may have a narrator. The masters of the story were A.P. Chekhov, V.V. Nabokov, A.P. Platonov, K.G. Paustovsky, O.P. Kazakov, V.M. Shukshin.

Novel

A large epic work that comprehensively depicts the lives of people during a certain period of time or over the course of an entire human life.

Characteristic properties novel:

Multilinearity of the plot, covering the fates of a number of characters;

The presence of a system of equivalent characters;

Coverage great circle life phenomena, formulation of socially significant problems;

Significant duration of action.

Examples of novels: “The Idiot” by F.M. Dostoevsky, “Fathers and Sons” by I.S. Turgenev.

Tragedy

A type of dramatic work telling about the unfortunate fate of the main character, often doomed to death.

Epic

The largest genre of epic literature, an extensive narrative in verse or prose about outstanding national historical events.

There are:

1. ancient folklore epics different nations- works on mythological or historical subjects, telling about the heroic struggle of the people against the forces of nature, foreign invaders, witchcraft, etc.

2. a novel (or a series of novels) depicting a large period of historical time or a significant, fateful event in the life of a nation (war, revolution, etc.).

The epic is characterized by:
- wide geographical coverage,
- a reflection of the life and everyday life of all layers of society,
- nationality of content.

Examples of epics: "War and Peace" by L.N. Tolstoy, " Quiet Don"M. A. Sholokhov, "The Living and the Dead" by K. M. Simonov, "Doctor Zhivago" by B. L. Pasternak.

Literary movements Classicism Artistic style and movement in European literature and art of the 17th - early 19th centuries. The name is derived from the Latin "classicus" - exemplary. Features: 1. Appeal to images and forms ancient literature and art as an ideal aesthetic standard. 2. Rationalism. A work of art, from the point of view of classicism, should be built on the basis of strict canons, thereby revealing the harmony and logic of the universe itself. 3. Classicism is interested only in the eternal and unchangeable. He discards individual characteristics and traits. 4. The aesthetics of classicism attaches great importance to the social and educational function of art. 5. A strict hierarchy of genres has been established, which are divided into “high” and “low” (comedy, satire, fable). Each genre has strict boundaries and clear formal characteristics. The leading genre is tragedy. 6. Classical dramaturgy approved the so-called principle of “unity of place, time and action,” which meant: the action of the play should take place in one place, the duration of the action should be limited to the duration of the performance, the play should reflect one central intrigue, not interrupted by side actions . Classicism originated and received its name in France (P. Corneille, J. Racine, J. Lafontaine, etc.). After the Great French Revolution, with the collapse of rationalist ideas, classicism went into decline, and romanticism became the dominant style of European art. Romanticism One of the largest movements in European and American literature late 18th - first half of the 19th century. In the 18th century, everything factual, unusual, strange, found only in books and not in reality, was called romantic. Main features: 1. Romanticism is the most striking form of protest against the vulgarity, routine and prosaicness of bourgeois life. The social and ideological prerequisites are disappointment in the results of the Great French Revolution and the fruits of civilization in general. 2. General pessimistic orientation - ideas of “cosmic pessimism”, “world sorrow”. 3. Absolutization of the personal principle, the philosophy of individualism. In the center romantic work There is always a strong, exceptional personality opposing society, its laws and moral standards. 4. “Dual world”, that is, the division of the world into real and ideal, which are opposed to each other. To the romantic hero subject to spiritual insight and inspiration, thanks to which he penetrates into this ideal world. 5. "Local color." A person who opposes society feels a spiritual closeness with nature, its elements. This is why romantics so often use exotic countries and their nature as a setting. Sentimentalism A movement in European and American literature and art of the second half of the 18th – early 19th centuries. Starting from Enlightenment rationalism, he declared that the dominant of “human nature” is not reason, but feeling. He sought the path to an ideal-normative personality in the release and improvement of “natural” feelings. Hence the great democracy of sentimentalism and its discovery of the rich spiritual world of ordinary people. Close to pre-romanticism. Main features: 1. True to the ideal of a normative personality. 2. In contrast to classicism with its educational pathos, he declared feeling, not reason, to be the main thing in human nature. 3. The condition for the formation of an ideal personality was considered not by the “reasonable reorganization of the world,” but by the release and improvement of “natural feelings.” 4. Sentimentalism opened up the rich spiritual world of the common people. This is one of his conquests. 5. Unlike romanticism, the “irrational” is alien to sentimentalism: he perceived the inconsistency of moods, the impulsiveness of mental impulses as accessible to rationalistic interpretation. Features Russian sentimentalism: a) Rationalistic tendencies are quite clearly expressed; b) Strong moralizing attitude; c) Educational trends; d) Improving literary language, Russian sentimentalists turned to colloquial norms and introduced colloquialisms. The favorite genres of sentimentalists are elegy, epistle, epistolary novel (novel in letters), travel notes, diaries and other types of prose in which confessional motifs predominate. Naturalism Literary direction, which developed in the last third of the 19th century in Europe and the USA. Characteristics: 1. Striving for an objective, accurate and dispassionate portrayal of reality and human character. The main task of naturalists was to study society with the same completeness with which a scientist studies nature. Artistic knowledge was likened to science. 2. A work of art was considered as a “human document”, and the main aesthetic criterion was the completeness of the act of cognition carried out in it. 3. Naturalists refused to moralize, believing that reality depicted with scientific impartiality was in itself quite expressive. They believed that there were no unsuitable subjects or unworthy topics for a writer. Hence, plotlessness and social indifference often arose in the works of naturalists. Realism A truthful depiction of reality. A literary movement that developed in Europe at the beginning of the 19th century and remains one of the main directions of modern world literature. The main features of realism: 1. The artist depicts life in images that correspond to the essence of the phenomena of life itself. 2. Literature in realism is a means of a person’s knowledge of himself and the world around him. 3. Cognition of reality occurs with the help of images created by typing the facts of reality. Character typification in realism is carried out through the “truthfulness of details” of the specific conditions of the characters’ existence. 4. Realistic art is life-affirming art, even with a tragic resolution to the conflict. Unlike romanticism, the philosophical basis of realism is Gnosticism, the belief in the knowability of the surrounding world. 5. Realistic art is characterized by the desire to consider reality in development. It is capable of detecting and capturing the emergence and development of new social phenomena and relationships, new psychological and social types. Symbolism Literary and artistic movement of the late 19th - early 20th centuries. The foundations of the aesthetics of symbolism were formed in the late 70s. gg. 19th century in creativity French poets P. Verlaine, A. Rimbaud, S. Mallarmé and others. Symbolism arose at the junction of eras as an expression of the general crisis of Western-type civilization. He had a great influence on all subsequent development of literature and art. Main features: 1. Continuity with romanticism. The theoretical roots of symbolism go back to the philosophy of A. Schopenhauer and E. Hartmann, to the work of R. Wagner and some ideas of F. Nietzsche. 2. Symbolism was primarily aimed at the artistic symbolization of “things in themselves” and ideas that are beyond sensory perceptions. A poetic symbol was considered as a more effective artistic tool than an image. The symbolists proclaimed an intuitive comprehension of world unity through symbols and the symbolic discovery of correspondences and analogies. 3. The musical element was declared by the Symbolists to be the basis of life and art. Hence the dominance of the lyrical-poetic principle, the belief in the suprareal or irrational-magical power of poetic speech. 4. Symbolists turn to ancient and medieval art in search of genealogical relationships. Acmeism A movement in Russian poetry of the 20th century, which was formed as the antithesis of symbolism. The Acmeists contrasted the mystical aspirations of symbolism towards the “unknowable” with the “element of nature”, declared a concrete sensory perception of the “material world”, and returned the word to its original, non-symbolic meaning. This literary movement established in theoretical works and artistic practice N.S. Gumilev, S.M. Gorodetsky, O.E. Mandelstam, A.A. Akhmatova, M.A. Zenkevich, G.V. Ivanov and other writers and poets. All of them united into the group "Workshop of Poets" (operated from 1911 - 1914, resumed in 1920 - 22). In 1912 - 13 published the magazine "Hyperborea" (editor M.L. Lozinsky). Futurism (Derived from the Latin futurum - future). One of the main avant-garde movements in European art beginning of the 20th century. Greatest development received in Italy and Russia. The general basis of the movement is a spontaneous feeling of the “inevitability of the collapse of old things” (Mayakovsky) and the desire to anticipate and realize through art the coming “world revolution” and the birth of a “new humanity.” Main features: 1. Break with traditional culture, affirmation of the aesthetics of modern urban civilization with its dynamics, impersonality and immorality. 2. The desire to convey the chaotic pulse of a technicalized “intensive life”, an instantaneous change of events and experiences, recorded by the consciousness of the “man of the crowd”. 3. Italian futurists were characterized not only by aesthetic aggression and shocking conservative taste, but also by a general cult of power, an apology for war as “hygiene of the world,” which later led some of them to Mussolini’s camp. Russian Futurism arose independently of Italian and, as an original artistic phenomenon, had little in common with him. The history of Russian futurism consisted of a complex interaction and struggle of four main groups: a) “Gilea” (cubo-futurists) - V.V. Khlebnikov, D.D. and N.D. Burlyuki, V.V. Kamensky, V.V. Mayakovsky, B.K. Lifshits; b) “Association of Ego-Futurists” - I. Severyanin, I. V. Ignatiev, K. K. Olimpov, V. I. Gnedov and others; c) “Mezzanine of Poetry” - Khrisanf, V.G. Shershenevich, R. Ivnev and others; d) “Centrifuge” - S.P. Bobrov, B.L. Pasternak, N.N. Aseev, K.A. Bolshakov and others. Imagism A literary movement in Russian poetry of the 20th century, whose representatives stated that the goal of creativity is creating an image. The main expressive means of imagists is metaphor, often metaphorical chains that compare various elements of two images - direct and figurative. The creative practice of Imagists is characterized by shocking and anarchic motives. The style and general behavior of Imagism was influenced by Russian Futurism. Imagism as a poetic movement arose in 1918, when the “Order of Imagists” was founded in Moscow. The creators of the “Order” were Anatoly Mariengof, who came from Penza, former futurist Vadim Shershenevich, and Sergei Yesenin, who was previously part of the group of new peasant poets. Imagism virtually collapsed in 1925. In 1924, Sergei Yesenin and Ivan Gruzinov announced the dissolution of the “Order”; other imagists were forced to move away from poetry, turning to prose, drama, and cinema, largely for the sake of making money. Imagism was criticized in the Soviet press. Yesenin, according to the generally accepted version, committed suicide, Nikolai Erdman was repressed

Literary and poetic devices

Allegory

Allegory is the expression of abstract concepts through concrete artistic images.

Examples of allegory:

The stupid and stubborn are often called the Donkey, the coward - the Hare, the cunning - the Fox.

Alliteration (sound writing)

Alliteration (sound writing) is the repetition of identical or homogeneous consonants in a verse, giving it a special sound expressiveness (in versification). At the same time great value has a high frequency of these sounds in a relatively small speech area.

However, if entire words or word forms are repeated, as a rule, we are not talking about alliteration. Alliteration is characterized by irregular repetition of sounds, and this is precisely the main feature of this literary device.

Alliteration differs from rhyme primarily in that the repeating sounds are not concentrated at the beginning and end of the line, but are absolutely derivative, albeit with high frequency. The second difference is the fact that, as a rule, consonant sounds are alliterated. The main functions of the literary device of alliteration include onomatopoeia and the subordination of the semantics of words to associations that evoke sounds in humans.

Examples of alliteration:

"Where the grove neighs, guns neigh."

"About a hundred years
grow
we don't need old age.
Year after year
grow
our vigor.
Praise,
hammer and verse,
the land of youth."

(V.V. Mayakovsky)

Anaphora

Repeating words, phrases, or combinations of sounds at the beginning of a sentence, line, or paragraph.

For example:

« Not in vain the winds were blowing,

Not in vain there was a thunderstorm"

(S. Yesenin).

Black ogling the girl

Black maned horse!

(M. Lermontov)

Quite often, anaphora, as a literary device, forms a symbiosis with such a literary device as gradation, that is, increasing the emotional character of words in the text.

For example:

“Cattle die, a friend dies, a man himself dies.”

Antithesis (opposition)

Antithesis (or opposition) is a comparison of words or phrases that are sharply different or opposite in meaning.

Antithesis makes it possible to make a particularly strong impression on the reader, to convey to him the strong excitement of the author due to the rapid change of concepts of opposite meanings used in the text of the poem. Also, opposing emotions, feelings and experiences of the author or his hero can be used as an object of opposition.

Examples of antithesis:

I swear first on the day of creation, I swear by it last in the afternoon (M. Lermontov).

Who was nothing, he will become everyone.

Antonomasia

Antonomasia is an expressive means, when used, the author uses a proper name instead of a common noun to figuratively reveal the character of the character.

Examples of antonomasia:

He is Othello (instead of "He is very jealous")

A stingy person is often called Plyushkin, an empty dreamer - Manilov, a man with excessive ambitions - Napoleon, etc.

Apostrophe, address

Assonance

Assonance is a special literary device that consists of repeating vowel sounds in a particular statement. This is the main difference between assonance and alliteration, where consonant sounds are repeated. There are two slightly different uses of assonance.

1) Assonance is used as an original tool that gives literary text, especially poetic, has a special flavor. For example:

Our ears are on top of our heads,
A little morning the guns lit up
And the forests are blue tops -
The French are right there.

(M.Yu. Lermontov)

2) Assonance is widely used to create imprecise rhyme. For example, “hammer city”, “incomparable princess”.

One of the textbook examples of the use of both rhyme and assonance in one quatrain is an excerpt from the poetic work of V. Mayakovsky:

I won’t turn into Tolstoy, but into a thick one -
I eat, I write, I’m a fool from the heat.
Who hasn't philosophized over the sea?
Water.

Exclamation

An exclamation can appear anywhere in a work of poetry, but, as a rule, authors use it to intonationally highlight particularly emotional moments in the verse. At the same time, the author focuses the reader’s attention on the moment that particularly excited him, telling him his experiences and feelings.

Hyperbola

Hyperbole is a figurative expression containing an exorbitant exaggeration of the size, strength, or significance of an object or phenomenon.

Example of a hyperbole:

Some houses are as long as the stars, others as long as the moon; baobabs to the skies (Mayakovsky).

Inversion

From Lat. inversio - permutation.

Changing the traditional order of words in a sentence to give the phrase a more expressive tone, intonation highlighting of a word.

Inversion examples:

The lonely sail is white
In the blue sea fog... (M.Yu. Lermontov)

The traditional order requires a different structure: A lonely sail is white in the blue fog of the sea. But this will no longer be Lermontov or his great creation.

Another great Russian poet, Pushkin, considered inversion one of the main figures of poetic speech, and often the poet used not only contact, but also remote inversion, when, when rearranging words, other words are wedged between them: “The old man obedient to Perun alone...”.

Inversion in poetic texts performs an accent or semantic function, a rhythm-forming function for building poetic text, as well as the function of creating a verbal-figurative picture. IN prose works inversion serves to place logical stresses, to express the author’s attitude towards the characters and to convey their emotional state.

Irony

Irony is a powerful means of expression that has a hint of mockery, sometimes light mockery. When using irony, the author uses words with opposite meanings so that the reader himself guesses about the true properties of the described object, object or action.

Pun

A play on words. A witty expression or joke based on the use of words that sound similar but have different meanings or different meanings of one word.

Examples of puns in literature:

A year for three clicks for you on the forehead,
Give me some boiled food spelt.
(A.S. Pushkin)

And previously served me poem,
Broken string poem.
(D.D. Minaev)

Spring will drive anyone crazy. Ice - and that got under way.
(E. Meek)

Litotes

The opposite of hyperbole, a figurative expression containing an exorbitant understatement of the size, strength, or significance of any object or phenomenon.

Example of litotes:

The horse is led by the bridle by a peasant in big boots, a short sheepskin coat, and large mittens... and he himself from marigold! (Nekrasov)

Metaphor

Metaphor is the use of words and expressions in a figurative sense based on some kind of analogy, similarity, comparison. Metaphor is based on similarity or resemblance.

Transferring the properties of one object or phenomenon to another based on the principle of their similarity.

Examples of metaphors:

Sea problems.

Eyes are burning.

Boiling desire.

Noon was burning.

Metonymy

Examples of metonymy:

All flags will be visiting us.

(here flags replace countries).

I'm three plates ate.

(here the plate replaces the food).

Address, apostrophe

Oxymoron

A deliberate combination of contradictory concepts.

Look, she it's fun to be sad

Such elegantly naked

(A. Akhmatova)

Personification

Personification is the transference of human feelings, thoughts and speech to inanimate objects and phenomena, as well as to animals.

These signs are selected according to the same principle as when using metaphor. Ultimately, the reader has a special perception of the described object, in which the inanimate object has the image of a certain living being or is endowed with qualities inherent in living beings.

Impersonation examples:

What, a dense forest,

Got thoughtful,
Sadness dark
Foggy?

(A.V. Koltsov)

Be careful of the wind
From the gate came out,

Knocked through the window,
Ran on the roof...

(M.V.Isakovsky)

Parcellation

Parcellation is a syntactic technique in which a sentence is intonationally divided into independent segments and highlighted in writing as independent sentences.

Parcelation example:

“He went too. To the store. Buy cigarettes” (Shukshin).

Periphrase

A paraphrase is an expression that conveys the meaning of another expression or word in a descriptive form.

Examples of paraphrase:

King of beasts(instead of lion)
Mother of Russian rivers(instead of Volga)

Pleonasm

Verbosity, the use of logically unnecessary words.

Examples of pleonasm in everyday life:

In May month(suffice it to say: in May).

Local aborigine (suffice it to say: aborigine).

White albino (suffice it to say: albino).

I was there personally(suffice it to say: I was there).

In literature, pleonasm is often used as a stylistic device, a means of expression.

For example:

Sadness and melancholy.

Sea-ocean.

Psychologism

An in-depth depiction of the hero’s mental and emotional experiences.

Refrain

A repeated verse or group of verses at the end of a song verse. When a refrain extends to an entire stanza, it is usually called a chorus.

Rhetorical question

A sentence in the form of a question to which no answer is expected.

Example:

Or is it new for us to argue with Europe?

Or is the Russian unaccustomed to victories?

(A.S. Pushkin)

Rhetorical appeal

An appeal addressed to an abstract concept, an inanimate object, an absent person. A way to enhance the expressiveness of speech, to express an attitude towards a particular person or object.

Example:

Rus! where are you going?

(N.V. Gogol)

Comparisons

Comparison is one of the expressive techniques, when used, certain properties that are most characteristic of an object or process are revealed through similar qualities of another object or process. In this case, such an analogy is drawn so that the object whose properties are used in comparison is better known than the object described by the author. Also, inanimate objects, as a rule, are compared with animate ones, and the abstract or spiritual with the material.

Comparison example:

then my life sang - howled -

Buzzed - like the autumn surf –

And she cried to herself.

(M. Tsvetaeva)

Symbol

Symbol- an object or word that conventionally expresses the essence of a phenomenon.

The symbol contains a figurative meaning, and in this way it is close to a metaphor. However, this closeness is relative. Symbol contains a certain secret, a hint that allows one to only guess what is meant, what the poet wanted to say. The interpretation of a symbol is possible not so much by reason as by intuition and feeling. The images created by symbolist writers have their own characteristics; they have a two-dimensional structure. In the foreground - a certain phenomenon and real details, in the second (hidden) plane - the inner world lyrical hero, his visions, memories, pictures born of his imagination.

Examples of symbols:

dawn, morning - symbols of youth, the beginning of life;

night is a symbol of death, the end of life;

snow is a symbol of cold, cold feeling, alienation.

Synecdoche

Replacing the name of an object or phenomenon with the name of a part of this object or phenomenon. In short, replacing the name of a whole with the name of a part of that whole.

Examples of synecdoche:

Native hearth (instead of “home”).

Floats sail (instead of “a sailboat is sailing”).

“...and it was heard until dawn,
how he rejoiced Frenchman..." (Lermontov)

(here “French” instead of “French soldiers”).

Tautology

Repetition in other words of what has already been said, which means it does not contain new information.

Examples:

Car tires are tires for a car.

We have united as one.

Trope

A trope is an expression or word used by the author in a figurative, allegorical sense. Thanks to the use of tropes, the author gives the described object or process a vivid characteristic that evokes certain associations in the reader and, as a result, a more acute emotional reaction.

Types of trails:

metaphor, allegory, personification, metonymy, synecdoche, hyperbole, irony.

Default

Silence is a stylistic device in which the expression of a thought remains unfinished, is limited to a hint, and the speech that has begun is interrupted in anticipation of the reader’s guess; the speaker seems to announce that he will not talk about things that do not require detailed or additional explanation. Often the stylistic effect of silence is that unexpectedly interrupted speech is complemented by an expressive gesture.

Default examples:

This fable could be explained more -

Yes, so as not to irritate the geese...

Gain (gradation)

Gradation (or amplification) is a series of homogeneous words or expressions (images, comparisons, metaphors, etc.) that consistently intensify, increase or, conversely, reduce the semantic or emotional significance of the conveyed feelings, expressed thoughts or described events.

Example of ascending gradation:

Not I'm sorry Not I'm calling Not I'm crying...

(S. Yesenin)

In sweetly misty care

Not an hour, not a day, not a year will leave.

(E. Baratynsky)

Example of descending gradation:

He promises him half the world, and France only for himself.

Euphemism

A neutral word or expression that is used in conversation to replace other expressions that are considered indecent or inappropriate in a given case.

Examples:

I'm going to powder my nose (instead of going to the toilet).

He was asked to leave the restaurant (instead, He was kicked out).

Epithet

A figurative definition of an object, action, process, event. An epithet is a comparison. Grammatically, an epithet is most often an adjective. However, other parts of speech can also be used, for example, numerals, nouns or verbs.

Examples of epithets:

velvet leather, crystal ringing

Epiphora

Repeating the same word at the end of adjacent segments of speech. The opposite of anaphora, in which words are repeated at the beginning of a sentence, line, or paragraph.

Example:

“Scallops, all scallops: a cape from scallops, on the sleeves scallops, Epaulettes from scallops..." (N.V.Gogol).

Poetic meter Poetic meter is a certain order in which stressed and unstressed syllables are placed in a foot. A foot is a unit of verse length; repeated combination of stressed and unstressed syllables; a group of syllables, one of which is stressed. Example: A storm covers the sky with darkness 1) Here, after a stressed syllable, one unstressed syllable follows - a total of two syllables. That is, it is a two-syllable meter. A stressed syllable can be followed by two unstressed syllables - then this is a three-syllable meter. 2) There are four groups of stressed-unstressed syllables in the line. That is, it has four feet. MONOSYLLABLE SIZE Brachycolon is a monocotyledonal poetic meter. In other words, a verse consisting of only stressed syllables. Example of brachycolon: Forehead – Chalk. Bel Coffin. Pop sang. Sheaf of Arrows – Holy Day! Crypt Blind. Shadow - To hell! (V. Khodasevich) BISYLLABLE MEASURES Trochaic A two-syllable poetic foot with stress on the first syllable. That is, the first, third, fifth, etc. syllables are stressed in a line. Main sizes: - 4-foot - 6-foot - 5-foot An example of a trochaic tetrameter: A storm covers the sky with darkness ∩́ __ / ∩́ __ /∩́ __ / ∩́ __ Whirling snow whirlwinds; ∩́ __ / ∩́ __ / ∩ __ / ∩́ (A.S. Pushkin) Iambic A two-syllable poetic foot with stress on the second syllable. That is, the second, fourth, sixth, etc. syllables are stressed in a line. A stressed syllable can be replaced by a pseudo-stressed one (with secondary stress in the word). Then the stressed syllables are separated not by one, but by three unstressed syllables. Main sizes: - 4-foot (lyrics, epic), - 6-foot (poems and dramas of the 18th century), - 5-foot (lyrics and dramas of the 19-20th centuries), - free multi-foot (fable of the 18th-19th centuries ., comedy 19th century) Example of iambic tetrameter: My uncle of the most honest rules, __ ∩́ / __ ∩́ / __ ∩́ / __ ∩́ / __ When he was seriously ill, __ ∩́ / __ ∩́ / __ ∩ / __ ∩́ / He Respect forced myself __ ∩ / __ ∩́ / __ ∩́ / __ ∩́ / __ And I couldn’t think of anything better. __ ∩́ / __ ∩́ / __ ∩ / __ ∩́ / (A.S. Pushkin) An example of iambic pentameter (with pseudo-stressed syllables, they are highlighted in capital letters): We are dressed up to know the city together, __ ∩́ / __ ∩ / __ ∩́ / __ ∩́ / __ ∩́ / __ But, it seems, we have no one to look after... __ ∩́ / __ ∩ / __ ∩́ / __ ∩ / __ ∩́ (A.S. Pushkin) THREE-SYLLABLE METERS Dactyl Three-syllable poetic foot with stress on the first syllable. Main sizes: - 2-foot (in the 18th century) - 4-foot (from the 19th century) - 3-foot (from the 19th century) Example: Heavenly clouds, eternal wanderers! ∩́ __ __ /∩́ __ __ / ∩́ __ __ / ∩́ __ __ / The azure steppe, the pearl chain... ∩́ __ __ /∩́ __ __ / ∩́ __ __ / ∩́ __ __ / (M.Yu .Lermontov) Amphibrachium A three-syllable poetic foot with stress on the second syllable. Main dimensions: - 4-foot (early 19th century) - 3-foot (with mid-19th V.) Example: It is not the wind that rages over the forest, __ ∩́ __ / __ ∩́ __ / __ ∩́ __ / It is not the streams that run from the mountains - __ ∩́ __ / __ ∩́ __ / __ ∩́ / Frost-voivode on patrol __ ∩́__ / __ ∩́ __ / __ ∩́ __ / Walks around his possessions. __ ∩́ __ / __ ∩́ __ / __ ∩́ / (N.A. Nekrasov) Anapest A three-syllable poetic foot with stress on the last syllable. Main sizes: - 4-foot (from the middle of the 19th century) - 3-foot (from the middle of the 19th century) Example of a 3-foot anapest: Oh, spring without end and without edge - __ __ ∩́ / __ __ ∩́ / __ __ ∩́ / __ Without end and without edge dream! __ __ ∩́ / __ __ ∩́ / __ __ ∩́ / I recognize you, life! I accept! __ __ ∩́ / __ __ ∩́ / __ __ ∩́ / __ And I greet you with the ringing of the shield! __ __ ∩́ / __ __ ∩́ / __ __ ∩́ / (A. Blok) How to remember the features of two- and three-syllable meters? You can remember using this phrase: Dombai is walking! Lady, lock the gate in the evening! (Dombay is not only a mountain; translated from some Caucasian languages it means “lion”).

Now let's move on to three-syllable feet.

The word LADY is formed from the first letters of the names of three-syllable feet:

D– dactyl

AM– amphibrachium

A– anapest

And in the same order, the following words of the sentence belong to these letters:

You can also imagine it this way:

Plot. Plot elements

Plot A literary work is a logical sequence of actions of the characters.

Plot elements:

exposition, beginning, climax, resolution.

Exposition- the introductory, initial part of the plot, preceding the plot. Unlike the plot, it does not affect the course of subsequent events in the work, but outlines the initial situation (time and place of action, composition, relationships of characters) and prepares the reader’s perception.

The beginning- the event from which the development of action in the work begins. Most often, conflict is outlined in the beginning.

Climax- the moment of the highest tension of the plot action, in which the conflict reaches a critical point in its development. The culmination can be a decisive clash between the heroes, a turning point in their fate, or a situation that reveals their characters as fully as possible and especially clearly reveals a conflict situation.

Denouement– final scene; the position of the characters that has developed in the work as a result of the development of the events depicted in it.

Elements of Drama

Remarque

The explanation given by the author in dramatic work, describing how he imagines the appearance, age, behavior, feelings, gestures, intonations of the characters, and the situation on stage. Directions are instructions for the performers and the director staging the play, an explanation for readers.

Replica

An utterance is a phrase a character says in response to the words of another character.

Dialogue

Communication, conversation, statements of two or more characters, whose remarks follow in turn and have the meaning of actions.

Monologue

Speech actor, addressed to oneself or to others, but, unlike dialogue, does not depend on their remarks. Way to reveal state of mind character, to show his character, to acquaint the viewer with the circumstances of the action that did not receive stage embodiment.

Related information.

Literary and poetic devices

Allegory

Allegory is the expression of abstract concepts through concrete artistic images.

Examples of allegory:

The stupid and stubborn are often called the Donkey, the coward - the Hare, the cunning - the Fox.

Alliteration (sound writing)

Alliteration (sound writing) is the repetition of identical or homogeneous consonants in a verse, giving it a special sound expressiveness (in versification). In this case, the high frequency of these sounds in a relatively small speech area is of great importance.

Examples of alliteration:

"Where the grove neighs, guns neigh."

"About a hundred years
grow
we don't need old age.
Year after year
grow
our vigor.
Praise,
hammer and verse,
the land of youth."

(V.V. Mayakovsky)

Repeating words, phrases, or combinations of sounds at the beginning of a sentence, line, or paragraph.

For example:

“The winds did not blow in vain,

It wasn’t in vain that the storm came.”

(S. Yesenin).

The black-eyed girl

Black-maned horse!

(M. Lermontov)

Quite often, anaphora, as a literary device, forms a symbiosis with such a literary device as gradation, that is, increasing the emotional character of words in the text.

For example:

“Cattle die, a friend dies, a man himself dies.”

Antithesis (opposition)

Antithesis (or opposition) is a comparison of words or phrases that are sharply different or opposite in meaning.

Examples of antithesis:

I swear by the first day of creation, I swear by its last day (M. Lermontov).

He who was nothing will become everything.

Antonomasia

Antonomasia is an expressive means, when used, the author uses a proper name instead of a common noun to figuratively reveal the character of the character.

Examples of antonomasia:

He is Othello (instead of "He is very jealous")

A stingy person is often called Plyushkin, an empty dreamer - Manilov, a man with excessive ambitions - Napoleon, etc.

Apostrophe, address

Assonance

1) Assonance is used as an original tool that gives an artistic text, especially poetic text, a special flavor. For example:

Our ears are on top of our heads,
A little morning the guns lit up
And the forests are blue tops -
The French are right there.

(M.Yu. Lermontov)

2) Assonance is widely used to create imprecise rhyme. For example, “hammer city”, “incomparable princess”.

One of the textbook examples of the use of both rhyme and assonance in one quatrain is an excerpt from the poetic work of V. Mayakovsky:

I won’t turn into Tolstoy, but into a thick one -
I eat, I write, I’m a fool from the heat.
Who hasn't philosophized over the sea?
Water.

Exclamation

Hyperbola

Hyperbole is a figurative expression containing an exorbitant exaggeration of the size, strength, or significance of an object or phenomenon.

Example of a hyperbole:

Some houses are as long as the stars, others as long as the moon; baobabs to the skies (Mayakovsky).

Inversion

From Lat. inversio - permutation.

Changing the traditional order of words in a sentence to give the phrase a more expressive tone, intonation highlighting of a word.

Inversion examples:

The lonely sail is white
In the blue sea fog... (M.Yu. Lermontov)

The traditional order requires a different structure: A lonely sail is white in the blue fog of the sea. But this will no longer be Lermontov or his great creation.

Inversion in poetic texts performs an accent or semantic function, a rhythm-forming function for building a poetic text, as well as the function of creating a verbal-figurative picture. In prose works, inversion serves to place logical stresses, to express the author’s attitude towards the characters and to convey their emotional state.

Pun

A play on words. A witty expression or joke based on the use of words that sound similar but have different meanings or different meanings of one word.

Examples of puns in literature:

In a year, for three clicks on your forehead,
Give me some boiled spelt.
(A.S. Pushkin)

And the verse that served me before,
A broken string, a verse.
(D.D. Minaev)

Spring will drive anyone crazy. The ice - and it started to move.
(E. Meek)

The opposite of hyperbole, a figurative expression containing an exorbitant understatement of the size, strength, or significance of any object or phenomenon.

Example of litotes:

The horse is led by the bridle by a man in big boots, in a short sheepskin coat, in big mittens... and he himself is as tall as a fingernail! (Nekrasov)

Metaphor

Metaphor is the use of words and expressions in a figurative sense based on some kind of analogy, similarity, comparison. Metaphor is based on similarity or resemblance.

Transferring the properties of one object or phenomenon to another based on the principle of their similarity.

Examples of metaphors:

A sea of problems.

The eyes are burning.

Desire is boiling.

The afternoon was blazing.

Metonymy

Examples of metonymy:

All flags will be visiting us.

(here flags replace countries).

I ate three plates.

(here the plate replaces the food).

Address, apostrophe

Oxymoron

A deliberate combination of contradictory concepts.

Look, she has fun being sad

So elegantly naked

(A. Akhmatova)

Personification

Personification is the transference of human feelings, thoughts and speech to inanimate objects and phenomena, as well as to animals.

Impersonation examples:

What, a dense forest,

Got thoughtful
Dark sadness
Foggy?

(A.V. Koltsov)

Be careful of the wind
Came out of the gate

Knocked on the window
Ran across the roof...

(M.V.Isakovsky)

Parcellation

Parcellation is a syntactic technique in which a sentence is intonationally divided into independent segments and highlighted in writing as independent sentences.

Parcelation example:

“He went too. To the store. Buy cigarettes” (Shukshin).

Periphrase

A paraphrase is an expression that conveys the meaning of another expression or word in a descriptive form.

Examples of paraphrase:

King of beasts (instead of lion)
Mother of Russian rivers (instead of Volga)

Pleonasm

Verbosity, the use of logically unnecessary words.

Examples of pleonasm in everyday life:

In the month of May (suffice it to say: in May).

Local aborigine (suffice it to say: aborigine).

White albino (suffice it to say: albino).

I was there personally (suffice it to say: I was there).

In literature, pleonasm is often used as a stylistic device, a means of expression.

For example:

Sadness and melancholy.

Sea-ocean.

Psychologism

An in-depth depiction of the hero’s mental and emotional experiences.

A repeated verse or group of verses at the end of a song verse. When a refrain extends to an entire stanza, it is usually called a chorus.

Rhetorical question

A sentence in the form of a question to which no answer is expected.

Or is it new for us to argue with Europe?

Or is the Russian unaccustomed to victories?

(A.S. Pushkin)

Rhetorical appeal

An appeal addressed to an abstract concept, an inanimate object, an absent person. A way to enhance the expressiveness of speech, to express an attitude towards a particular person or object.

Rus! where are you going?

(N.V. Gogol)

Comparisons

Comparison example:

Then my life sang - howled -

It hummed like an autumn surf -

And she cried to herself.

(M. Tsvetaeva)

A symbol is an object or word that conventionally expresses the essence of a phenomenon.

The symbol contains a figurative meaning, and in this way it is close to a metaphor. However, this closeness is relative. The symbol contains a certain secret, a hint that allows one to only guess what is meant, what the poet wanted to say. The interpretation of a symbol is possible not so much by reason as by intuition and feeling. The images created by symbolist writers have their own characteristics; they have a two-dimensional structure. In the foreground there is a certain phenomenon and real details, in the second (hidden) plane there is the inner world of the lyrical hero, his visions, memories, pictures born of his imagination.

Examples of symbols:

Dawn, morning - symbols of youth, the beginning of life;

Night is a symbol of death, the end of life;

Snow is a symbol of cold, cold feeling, alienation.

Synecdoche

Replacing the name of an object or phenomenon with the name of a part of this object or phenomenon. In short, replacing the name of a whole with the name of a part of that whole.

Examples of synecdoche:

Native hearth (instead of “home”).

A sail floats (instead of “a sailboat floats”).

“...and it was heard until dawn,
how the Frenchman rejoiced..." (Lermontov)

(here “French” instead of “French soldiers”).

Tautology

Repetition in other words of what has already been said, which means it does not contain new information.

Examples:

Car tires are tires for a car.

We have united as one.

Types of trails:

Metaphor, allegory, personification, metonymy, synecdoche, hyperbole, irony.

Default

Default examples:

This fable could be explained more -

Yes, so as not to irritate the geese...

Gain (gradation)

Example of ascending gradation:

I don’t regret, I don’t call, I don’t cry...

(S. Yesenin)

In sweetly misty care

It will not take an hour, not a day, not a year.

(E. Baratynsky)

Example of descending gradation:

He promises him half the world, and France only for himself.

Euphemism

A neutral word or expression that is used in conversation to replace other expressions that are considered indecent or inappropriate in a given case.

Examples:

I'm going to powder my nose (instead of going to the toilet).

He was asked to leave the restaurant (instead, He was kicked out).

Examples of epithets:

Velvet skin, crystal ringing.

Repeating the same word at the end of adjacent segments of speech. The opposite of anaphora, in which words are repeated at the beginning of a sentence, line, or paragraph.

“Scallops, all scallops: a cape made of scallops, scallops on the sleeves, epaulettes made of scallops...” (N.V. Gogol).

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 others 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 bright.

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
Eyes on my forehead

Comparison

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

Evgeny went blind for a minute from the bright light of the sun 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.

Blizzard 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 the same context, different meanings of the same word (phrases, phrases) that are similar in sound are used.

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
The 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 huge 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?

for copywriter texts

The arsenal of techniques is quite large: metaphor, oxymoron, metonymy, synecdoche, hyperbole, litotes, allegory, comparison, epithet, allusion, paraphrase, anaphora, epiphora, anticipation, antithesis, paronym, permutation, gradation, etc.

Metaphor is the transfer of the properties of one object (phenomenon) to another based on a feature common to both compared members (“speaking waves”, “bronze of muscles”, “Keeping money at home means freezing it!”, etc.)

Personification is a type of metaphor, transferring the properties of animate objects onto inanimate ones (“her nurse is silence”).

Oxymoron (oxymoron) - a relationship by contrast, a combination of words with opposite meanings, a connection of concepts that is logically excluded (“living corpse”, “avant-garde tradition”, “small big car", etc.).

Metonymy is the replacement of one word with another based on the connection of their meanings by contiguity (“the theater applauded” - instead of “the audience applauded”).

Synecdoche is a type of metonymy, the name of a part (smaller) instead of the whole (larger) or vice versa (“my little head is missing” - instead of “I’m missing”).

Hyperbole is a deliberate exaggeration (“rivers of blood”, “mountains of money”, “ocean of love”, etc.).

Litota is a deliberate understatement (“a small man”).

Allegory is the depiction of an abstract idea (concept) through an image. In this case, the connection between meaning and image is established by analogy or contiguity (“love is the heart,” “justice is a woman with scales,” etc.).

Comparison is the likening of one object to another (“huge, like an elephant”). When comparing objects, the stronger one (explaining) transfers part of its positive ones and already known characteristics on an unknown subject (explained). In this way, it is easier to explain the unfamiliar through the familiar, the complex through the simple. With the help of comparisons, you can achieve greater clarity and originality.

However, comparisons often fall short and can be misinterpreted. A person will begin to think about the explanatory subject and will be distracted from the main idea.

It would be useful to evaluate whether the object is being compared with an object worse than itself, and whether the comparison will bring negative results. If in doubt, it is better not to use comparison.

An epithet is a figurative definition that gives additional artistic description object (phenomenon) in the form of a hidden comparison (“open field”, “lonely sail”, etc.) It should be borne in mind that small epithets weaken the text (“very”, “too”, “a little”, “enough” etc.).

Allusion - a hint through a similar-sounding word or mention of a well-known real fact, historical event, literary work, etc. (“Secrets of the Madrid Court”).

Paraphrase is an abbreviated statement, a descriptive conveyance of the meaning of another expression or word (“The writer of these lines” - instead of “I”).

Anaphora is the repetition of identical letters, identical parts of a word, whole words or phrases at the beginning of a sentence (“Outside of politics! Out of competition!”).

Epiphora is the repetition of identical words or phrases at the end of a sentence.

Anticipation is a deviation from the usual linear sequence of elements in which the sign necessary to understand another precedes it instead of following it, resulting in the effect of anticipation (“It’s not so new, this phenomenon called patriotism” or “ And what conversations these were – historical!”)

Antithesis is opposition in meaning, contrast. (“Small computers for big people” White Wind Company). For example, I. Ehrenburg often resorted to the antithesis: “The workers continue to stand at the levers: cold, heat, screeching, darkness. Mr. Eastman, far from the bustle of the world, eats an ostrich egg.”

Paronyms are words that are similar in sound, but different in meaning (“base” and “basis”, “hot” and “fiery.” V. Vysotsky: “And whoever does not honor quotations is a renegade and a bastard”).

Permutation is a change in the places occupied by words. ("Heart Mediterranean Sea. Mediterranean Sea in the Heart").

Gradation - sequential increase or decrease in the strength of homogeneous expressive means artistic speech (“I don’t regret, I don’t call, I don’t cry...”).

A rhetorical question is a question that does not require an answer, a question to which the answer is known in advance, or a question to which the person asking himself gives the answer (“Who are the judges?”)

Often, phraseological units (idioms) are effectively used in the text - stable combinations of words that are metaphors, figurative expressions of a certain concept or phenomenon (“A mosquito will not undermine your nose,” “Seven troubles - one answer,” etc.)

Phraseologisms are easily recognized by the reader. With their help, the memorability of individual phrases and the perception of the entire text are improved.

Proverbs and sayings also “work” on the imagery and conciseness of the text. M. Gorky spoke about them:

“It is proverbs and sayings that express the thinking of the masses in a particularly instructive completeness, and it is extremely useful for beginning writers to become acquainted with this material, not only because it excellently teaches economy of words, speech conciseness and imagery, but here’s why: the quantitatively predominant population of the Land of Soviets is the peasantry , the clay from which history created workers, townspeople, merchants, priests, officials, nobles, scientists and artists...

I learned a lot from proverbs, or, in other words, from thinking in aphorisms.”

Catch words are also effective. These are apt expressions, quotes, aphorisms that have become widespread in living speech as proverbs and sayings (“To be or not to be!”, “The ears of a dead donkey,” “And finally I will say,” etc.).

The use of phraseological units, proverbs, sayings and winged words in texts of various types of copywriting is based on the preservation of semantic and evaluative associations evoked in a stable way. This image is not destroyed even when freely arranged by the author. At the same time, a formal, superficial use of phraseological units and catchwords is often observed. In such cases, either the meaning is completely distorted or semantic contradictions arise.

Often authors resort to reminiscence - a reference to well-known literary facts or works. Reminiscence can be in the form of an exact or inaccurate quotation, “quoted” or remaining implicit, subtextual. Reminiscences link the text with a general cultural and social context and also allow authors not to repeat themselves and make do with a more laconic description of events or facts. One of the most frequently used reminiscences is a reference to a particular fragment of the Bible text. Reminiscence is one of the favorite techniques of postmodernists.

(It is curious that, by and large, each text is a set of explicit or implicit quotes and references to other texts.)

Unfinished sentences, indicated in the text by ellipsis, are successfully used. Humans have an inherent desire for completeness. In this regard, he tries to finish the sentence and is thus drawn into active reading text.

Very often, well-known sayings, popular expressions, quotes from literary works(“Fisherman of fishermen...”, “Without difficulty...”, “I gave birth to you...”, etc.) Naturally, the reader must complete the sentence exclusively with the variant of words provided by the copywriter.

One of the frequently used techniques is repetition (complementary and clarifying reminders of what has already been said). With the help of repetitions, the most important, especially significant points of the text are highlighted and emphasized.

Puns are also used in various texts - a play on words based on the sound similarity of different sounding words or phrases (“Osip is hoarse, and Arkhip is hoarse”).

A play on words can be based not only on the sound content, but also on the spelling.

Examples of using written puns in advertising:

AT LEAST COUTURE

(Sign on the store)

THIS is who he is!

(Trading house "Oton")

Connotation is an additional, accompanying meaning that can inspire the desired attitude towards an object. For example, Putinka vodka, President vodka, Kremlin vodka.

The additional value may change in strength over time. For example, in Soviet era the word “imported” gave the product additional attractiveness, but lost it over time.

Often, striving for novelty and originality, copywriters create neologisms - their own words and expressions, the unusualness of which is clearly felt by native speakers. So, for example, the words “substance” and “thermometer” were invented by M. Lomonosov, “industry” - N. Karamzin, “bungling” - M. Saltykov-Shchedrin, “to shy away” - F. Dostoevsky, “mediocrity” - I. Severyanin , “exhausted” - V. Khlebnikov, “hulk” - V. Mayakovsky, etc.

It is curious that the first person in history to use the word “gay” in literature was Gertrude Stein. She gave the world the definition of “ lost generation" This lesbian writer hated punctuation. Her most famous quote is “A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.”

Sometimes, in the pursuit of originality, words are created that, without special explanation, are not understood by a significant part of the audience or no one at all.

In cases where it is necessary to replace a rude, aggressive or too direct expression with a softer one, a euphemism is used. It is necessary to ensure that the technique does not complicate perception or lead to misunderstanding. After all, one word can mean different things to different people.

Such a “tool” as cacofemism is also used in copywriting - reduced, replacing the normative, decent. For example, instead of “die,” in some cases you can write “glue your fins,” “throw away your skates,” “play the box,” etc.

A very interesting technique is defamiliarization (from the word “strange”). This term was introduced by V. Shklovsky:

“Distamiliarization is seeing the world through different eyes.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau defamiliarized the world in his own way; he seemed to live outside the state.

The world of poetry includes the world of defamiliarization.

Gogol's troika, which rushes over Russia, is a Russian troika, because it is sudden. But at the same time, it is a global troika, it rushes over Russia, and over Italy, and over Spain.

This is a movement of new, self-affirming literature.

A new vision of the world.

Defamiliarization is a matter of time.

Defamiliarization is not only a new vision, it is a dream of a new and only therefore sunny world. And Mayakovsky’s colored shirt without a belt is the festive clothing of a man who firmly believes in tomorrow.”

Striving for originality and defamiliarization, copywriters sometimes use techniques that are more like tricks. For example, the writer Ernest Vincent Wright has a novel called Gadsby, which consists of more than 50,000 words. In the entire novel there is not a single letter E, the most common letter in the English language.

More detailed information on this topic can be found in the books of A. Nazaikin