handling direct speech
TRANSCRIPT
Handling Direct Speech What is direct speech? It’s what a person actually says – the exact words they use. Often, it’s mixed in with a lot of other words, words not belonging to the speaker. The
speaker’s words, therefore, are marked out for the reader by use of speech mark (also called quotation marks). This helps avoid confusion.
Here’s an example:
“I hate you,” she screamed.
I hate you is direct speech. These are the words spoken aloud. The words “she
screamed” belong to the storyteller. They are written words, part of the story, not words that were spoken aloud.
When you’re writing a story, or a newspaper report, direct speech adds life and colour. However, a writer can also report a person’s words indirectly. Here’s an example:
She told him that she hated him.
Here, her exact words aren’t used, so there are no speech marks. All the same, the reader knows just what she said. Often, you’ll find a mixture of direct and indirect (or
reported) speech.
Direct speech uses speech marks.
Indirect, or reported speech doesn’t use speech marks.
The whole business of handling direct speech is complicated. On the following pages you’ll find some exercises designed to help your understanding and let you practise.
Check your answers to each one before you move on to the next.
Exercise 1 In the following sentences, decide whether the writer is using direct or indirect (reported) speech. Mark each sentence with a D (for direct speech) or an R (reported speech).
You can check the answers when you’ve finished.
1. She told me she wasn’t coming under any circumstances. 2. He replied, “You can go out with someone else then!” 3. “Who do you think you’re talking to?” she said. 4. The men under the bridge said they’d been there all day and hadn’t
seen anything strange. 5. He said he was fond of her. 6. “Do you really mean it?” she asked. 7. He hadn’t meant to tell her he loved her but the words just slipped out. 8. Her voice was low and suggestive as she whispered, “Come home with
me. Come home with me now.” 9. He didn’t see the knife until it was too late and she’d told him what she
was intending to do with it. 10. “I hate Communication!” the girl said. “I’ve always hated it. And I hated
English at school as well!”
Exercise 2 The following sentences include both direct and indirect speech, but the speech marks have been missed out. Put them in again. But be careful! If there is other punctuation
inside the direct speech – a question mark or a comma, for example – it must fit inside the speech marks, not outside e.g. “I am not coming back!” she cried. “I don’t love you.”
1. Don’t go, she said. I love you. 2. He told her he was never coming back. 3. George said he didn’t want any cake but Mary said, I’d love some. 4. Are you my mother? asked the girl. 5. I didn’t kill your dog, cried Bill. It was an accident. 6. I thought she’d told me her friend’s name but it turned out to be a lie. 7. Do you think you could pass me the butter? asked Millie. 8. I hate him, spat Reginald. I’ve always hated him. 9. Are you quite sure? asked the Inspector. You can still change your mind,
you know. 10 The witness said the man had told him to put his head down the toilet.
More about punctuating direct speech It’s clear then that you have to use speech marks to indicate which words were actually spoken. But that’s not the whole story! People still get confused about the other punctuation in a sentence that includes direct speech. And it is complicated! Look at 3 possible patterns.
1. She said, “I need you.” 2. “I need you,” she said. 3. “I need you.” Her tone was pleading.
Pattern 1: She said, “I need you.” If she said, he said, I said, you cried etc comes before the direct speech, you must put a comma before the speech marks.
e.g. He cried, “Get off my car!” She replied, “Not on your nellie!” Pattern 2: “I need you,” she said. If the direct speech comes first and is followed by she said, she cried, he replied etc, then you must put a piece of punctuation before the speech marks close. It can be a comma, a question mark or an exclamation mark. It cannot ever be a full stop, because the sentence hasn’t finished yet.
e.g. “Do you mean you’re pregnant?” he asked. “That’s exactly what I mean,” she smiled.
Pattern 3: “I need you.” Her tone was pleading. If a writer is describing a whole conversation with at least two people speaking, they won’t keep saying he said, she said etc. There’s no need to do that, and anyway, it gets boring. They simply write the spoken words – inside speech marks – and start a new paragraph each time the speaker changes. Or sometimes, they write the spoken words, and follow with a description of the speaker’s face, voice or actions. Look at the examples below:
They had been arguing for over an hour. He couldn’t stand it much longer. Suddenly he got up and went over to her, taking her firmly by the shoulders. “Don’t go.”
“Why not?”
“Because I love you.”
“It’s not enough.” She picked up her coat and moved quickly toward the door.
“It used to be enough.”
“Well it’s not now!”
Exercise 4, on the next page requires you to identify all three patterns and put in the right punctuation. Not just the speech marks but the question marks, commas etc too. Try it! If you find this confusing, keep looking at examples. Look in newspaper articles or stories in magazines. And practise!
Exercise 3 She wasn’t feeling well that morning and when he told her he was going away for the week-end – again – that just put the lid on it. What do you mean she demanded You can’t just announce you’re off. I might not be here when you get back That’s your choice he shrugged, picking up his jacket. No, it’s not. Yes, it is. No it’s not. It’s your choice. You’re the one who’s leaving, aren’t you? His eyes narrowed. In a voice that was practically a whisper, he said Yes I’m leaving. I’m going right NOW. And there’s nothing you can do to keep me here. Are you quite sure of that she hissed. Quite sure. Perhaps you should think again. She opened her handbag and took out a small revolver – a lady’s gun with a pearly handle. This might make you change your mind she said. What on earth do you think you’re doing Stopping you He dropped his jacket on the floor. His face was ashen. I d- d- didn’t think he stammered. That’s your problem. You never think, do you? Put the gun down he pleaded. I’ll stay.
Diction
Diction Definition
Diction can be defined as style of speaking or writing determined by the choice of words by a
speaker or a writer.
Diction or choice of words separates good writing from bad writing. It depends on a number of factors. Firstly, the word has to be right and accurate. Secondly, words should be appropriate to
the context in which they are used. Lastly, the choice of words should be such that the listener or readers understand easily. Besides, proper diction or proper choice of words is important to get
the message across. On the contrary, the wrong choice of words can easily divert listeners or readers which results in misinterpretation of the message intended to be conveyed.
Types of Diction
Individuals vary their diction depending on different contexts and settings. Therefore, we come
across various types of diction. It may be “formal” where formal words are used in formal situations e.g. press conferences, presentations etc. Similarly, we use “informal” diction in informal situations like writing or talking to our friends. Moreover, a “colloquial” diction uses
words common in everyday speech. “Slang” is the use of words that are impolite or newly coined.
Diction Examples in Literature
Depending on the topics at hand, writers tend to vary their diction. Let us see some examples of diction in literature:
Example #1
Keats in his “Ode to the Grecian Urn” uses formal diction to achieve a certain effect. He goes:
“Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter: therefore, ye soft pipes, play on”
Notice the use of formal “ye” instead of informal “you”. The formality here is due to the respect the urn inspires in Keats. In the same poem he says:
“Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed
Your leaves, nor ever bid the spring adieu.”
It is more formal to use “adieu” than to say “goodbye”.
Example #2
In sharp contrast to Keats, John Donne uses colloquialism in his poem “The Sun Rising”:
“Busy old fool, unruly Sun,
Why dost thou thus, Through windows, and through curtains, call on us?
Must to thy motions lovers’ seasons run? Saucy pedantic wretch,”
Treating the sun as a real human being, the poet speaks to the sun in an informal way using colloquial expressions. He rebukes the sun because the sun has appeared to spoil the good time
he is having with his beloved. Further, he orders the “saucy pedantic sun” to go away.
Example #3
Writers’ skillfully choose words to develop a certain tone and atmosphere in their works. Read the following excerpt from a short story “The School” by Donald Barthelme:
“And the trees all died. They were orange trees. I don’t know why they died, they just died.
Something wrong with the soil possibly or maybe the stuff we got from the nursery wasn’t the best. We complained about it. So we’ve got thirty kids there, each kid had his or her own little
tree to plant and we’ve got these thirty dead trees. All these kids looking at these little brown sticks, it was depressing.”
The use of the words “died”, “dead”, “brown sticks” and “depressing” gives a gloomy tone to the
passage.
Example #4
Sometimes writers repeat their chosen words or phrases to achieve an artistic effect. Read the following example from “ A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens:
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of
foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”
By repeating the phrase “It was…” throughout the passage, the writer ensures that the readers
will give more consideration to characteristic of the “age” they are going to read about in the novel.
Function of Diction
In literature, writers choose words to create and convey a typical mood, tone and atmosphere to
their readers. A writer’s choice of words and his selection of graphic words not only affects the reader’s attitude but also conveys the writer’s feelings toward the literary work. Moreover,
poetry is known for its unique diction that separates it from prose. Usually, a poetic diction is marked by the use of figures of speech, rhyming words etc.
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Tone Definition
Tone, in written composition, is an attitude of a writer toward a subject or an audience. Tone is
generally conveyed through the choice of words or the viewpoint of a writer on a particular subject.
Every written piece comprises a central theme or subject matter. The manner in which a writer
approaches this theme and subject is the tone. The tone can be formal, informal, serious, comic, sarcastic, sad, and cheerful or it may be any other existing attitudes. Consider the following examples of tone:
“I want to ask the authorities what is the big deal? Why do not they control the epidemic? It is eating up lives like a monster.”
“I want to draw the attention of the concerned authorities toward damage caused by an
epidemic. If steps were not taken to curb it, it will further injure our community”
The theme of both tone examples is the same. The only way we can differentiate between them is their separate tone. The tone in the first example is casual or informal while, it is more formal in
the second.
Tone Examples in Everyday Speech
We adopt variety of tones in our day-to-day speech. This intonation of our speech determines what message we desire to convey. Read a few examples below:
Example #1
Father: “We are going on a vacation.” Son: “That’s great!!!”
– The tone of son’s response is very cheerful.
Example #2
Father: “We can’t go on vacation this summer.” Son: “Ok. Great! That’s what I expected.”
– The son’s tone is sarcastic in the given response.
Example #3
“You will get good grades like in the previous exams”
– The tone is pessimistic in this example.
Example #4
“Can someone tell me what the hell is going on here?”
-This has an aggressive tone.
Examples of Tone in Literature
Tone has a significant place in literature as it manifests writers’ attitude toward different
subjects.
Example #1
Holden Caulfield in J.D Salinger’s “Catching the Rye” unfolds his personality through the tone
he adopts throughout the novel. Let us have a look at some of his remarks:
“All morons hate it when you call them a moron.” “If a girl looks swell when she meets you, who gives a damn if she’s late? Nobody.” “Goddamn money. It always ends up making you blue as hell.”
“Catholics are always trying to find out if you’re Catholic.”
Holden’s tone is bitterly sarcastic as he criticizes the nature of things in real life. His character may reveal the attitude of the writer towards life as it is common for writers to use their
characcters as their mouthpieces.
Example #2
Observe the tone of a short story “The School” by Donald Barthelme:
“And the trees all died. They were orange trees. I don’t know why they died, they just died.
Something wrong with the soil possibly or maybe the stuff we got from the nursery wasn’t the best. We complained about it. So we’ve got thirty kids there, each kid had his or her own little tree to plant and we’ve got these thirty dead trees. All these kids looking at these little brown
sticks, it was depressing.”
The use of adjectives “dead” and “depressing” sets a gloomy tone in the passage. As trees signify life here, their unexpected “death” from an unknown cause gives the above passage an unhappy
and pessimistic tone.
Example #3
Robert Frost in the last stanza of his poem The Roads Not taken gives us an insight into the effect
of tone:
“I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”
Frost tells us about his past with a “sigh”, this gives the above lines an unhappy tone. This tone
leads us into thinking that the speaker in the poem had to make a difficult choice.
Function of Tone
Tone, in a piece of literature, decides how they readers read a literary piece and how they should feel while they are reading it. It stimulates the readers to read a piece of literature as a serious,
comical, spectacular or distressing. In addition, tone lends shape and life to a piece of literature because it creates a mood.
Moreover, tone bestows voice to characters and it throws light on the personalities and
dispositions of characters that readers understand better.
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101 Best Similes in Literature
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Similes
Similes and metaphors are similar but not quite the same. A simile is a figure of speech that draws a comparison between two different things, especially a phrase
containing the word “like” or “as”. Socrates' method of teaching is like that of online
schools in which students learn and grow on their own time
You can get free demos for exam 70-685 and 70-662 pdf with 100% guarantee. We
provide quality 70-646 testlets and examcollection 70-647 that prepare you well
before appearing in the final exam 70-642.
Metaphors
A metaphor is used to describe somebody or something with a word or phrase
that is not meant literally but by means of a vivid comparison expresses something
about him, her, or it. For example, “That Parker is a snake,” is a metaphor, whereas “That Parker leaves a trail like a drunken snake,” is a simile.
These are our picks for the 101 best similes in literature. If you know of a good one,
send it to us. We’ll add it to the list, or replace one of those on the list.
You can write to Ariion at
The List of 101 greatest similes
1. “Only then did he find himself rolling head over heels like a shot rabbit.” The
Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad.
2. “Sometime during my thirties the nickname and I mysteriously parted company, Stingo merely evaporating like a wan ghost out of my existence, leaving me
indifferent to the loss.” Sophie's Choice by William Styron.
3. “The café was like a battleship stripped for action.” The Sun Also Rises by Ernest
Hemingway.
4. “Some starlings had alighted on a wire overhead in perfect progression like a piece
of knotted string fallen slantwise.” Suttree by Cormac McCarthy.
5. “Jimmy Smith was moving through the room like an enormous trained mole collecting the empty cans.” Suttree by Cormac McCarthy.
6. “This is the large iceberg; while the small and distant islands, floating on the
smooth sea, in the light of a clear day, look like little floating fairy isles of sapphire.”
Two Years Before The Mast by Richard Henry Dana Jr.
7. “She is, as sailors say, like a lady's watch, always out of repair.” Two Years Before
The Mast by Richard Henry Dana Jr.
8. “Moments before sleep are when she feels most alive, leaping across fragments of the day, bringing each moment into the bed with her like a child with schoolbooks and
pencils.” The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje.
9. “A hot wind was blowing around my head, the strands of my hair lifting and
swirling in it, like ink spilled in water.” The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood.
10. “The air smelled sharp as new-cut wood, slicing low and sly around the angles of
buildings.” Chocolat by Joanne Harris.
11. “The late afternoon sky bloomed in the window for a moment like the blue honey
of the Mediterranean .” The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
12. “They were both in white and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in after a short flight around the house.” The Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
13. “The rain crust broke and the dust lifted up out of the fields and drove gray plumes
into the air like sluggish smoke.” The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.
14. “The full green hills are round and soft as breasts.” The Grapes of Wrath by John
Steinbeck.
15. “Her face was quiet and a curious look was in her eyes, eyes like the timeless eyes
of a statue.” The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.
16. “Elderly American ladies leaning on their canes listed toward me like towers of Pisa.” Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov.
17. “Time has not stood still. It has washed over me, washed me away, as if I’m
nothing more than a woman of sand, left by a careless child too near the water.” The
Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood.
18. “There was a quivering in the grass which seemed like the departure of souls.” Les
Miserables by Victor Hugo.
19. “Warmish-cool, with a faint taste like the hot July wind in cedar trees smells.” As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner.
20. “Her eyes look like lamps blaring up just before the oil is gone.” As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner.
21. “He looks like right after the maul hits the steer and it no longer alive and don’t
yet know that it is dead.” As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner.
22. “The lumps of white coral shone round the dark mound like a chaplet of bleached
skulls, and everything around was so quiet that when I stood still all sound and all
movement in the world seemed to come to an end.” Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad.
23 “I would have given anything for the power to soothe her frail soul, tormenting
itself in its invincible ignorance like a small bird beating about the cruel wires of a cage.” Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad.
24 “All at once he sprang into jerky agitation, like one of those flat wooden figures
that are worked by a string.” Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad.
25 “The day passed away thus: Edmond felt a species of stupor creeping over him; the
gnawing pain at his stomach had ceased; his thirst had abated; when he closed his
eyes he saw myriads of lights dancing before them, like the meteors that play about the marshes.” The Count Of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumans.
26. “There shall not be one a minute longer than you please,” said Dantes, who had
followed the working of his thoughts as accurately as though his brain were enclosed
in crystal, so clear as to display its minutest operations.” The Count Of Monte Cristo
by Alexandre Dumans.
27. “With that I drew my traces hard, and set my ashen staff into the snow, and struck out with my best foot foremost (the best one at snow-shoes, I mean), and the sledd
came after me as lightly as a dog might follow; and Annie, with the lanthorn, seemed
to be left behind and waiting like a pretty lamp-post.” Lorna Doone, A Romance of Exmoor by R. D. Blackmore.
28. “And the misty breath of frost, piercing through the ribs of rock, striking to the pith of trees, creeping to the heart of man, lay along the hollow places, like a serpent
sloughing.” Lorna Doone, A Romance of Exmoor by R. D. Blackmore.
29. “The other was fair, as fair as can be, with great masses of golden hair and eyes
like pale sapphires.” Dracula by Bram Stoker.
30 “His face was deathly pale, and the lines of it were hard like drawn wires.” Dracula
by Bram Stoker.
31. “The ride was actually over in six and a half minutes, and I had no choice but to
hobble like an off-balance giraffe on my one flat, one four-inch heel arrangement.” The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger.
32. “Kate inched over her own thoughts like a measuring worm.” East Of Eden by
John Steinbeck.
33. “She was a pale blonde with a skin like clean and polished bone.” East Of Eden by
John Steinbeck.
34. “A beardless, boyish face, very fair, no features to speak of, nose peeling, little
blue eyes, smiles and frowns chasing each other over that open countenance like sunshine and shadow on a wind-swept plain.” Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad,
35. “...being quicker of mind than I am (who leave more than half behind me, like a man sowing wheat, with his dinner laid in the ditch too near his dog)...” Lorna Doone,
A Romance of Exmoor by R. D. Blackmore.
36. “...and snow lay here and there in patches in the hollow of the banks, like a lady's
gloves forgotten.” Lorna Doone, A Romance of Exmoor by R. D. Blackmore.
37. “All from her waist to her neck was white, plaited in close like a curtain, and the
dark soft weeping of her hair, and the shadowy light of her eyes (like a wood rayed through with sunset), made it seem yet whiter, as if it were done on purpose.” Lorna
Doone, A Romance of Exmoor by R. D. Blackmore.
38. “Climbing back, as the stones glid down, I heard the cold greedy wave go japping,
like a blind black dog, into the distance of arches and hollow depths of darkness.”
Lorna Doone, A Romance of Exmoor by R. D. Blackmore.
39. “In the eastern sky there was a yellow patch like a rug laid for the feet of the coming sun...” The Red Badge Of Courage by Stephen Crane.
40. “Near him, her black form merged in the night, like a figure half chiselled out of a
block of black stone.” The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad.
41.”...and stood looking up at her, his drowsy gray eyes wide with a smile and the sun
so bright on his blond hair that it seemed like a cap of shining silver.” Gone With The
Wind by Margaret Mitchell.
42. “The very mystery of him excited her curiosity like a door that had neither lock nor key.” Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell.
43. “The muddy Flint River, running silently between walls of pine and water oak covered with tangled vines, wrapped about Gerald's new land like a curving arm and
embraced it on two sides.” Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell.
44. “Scarlett looked about her for the little town she remembered so well. It was gone.
The town she was now seeing was like a baby grown overnight into a busy, sprawling giant.” Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell.
45. “By this time Scarlett was boiling, ready to rear like a horse at the touch of a strange rough hand on its bridle.” Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell.
46. “...impressions poured in upon her of those two men, and to follow her thought
was like following a voice which speaks too quickly to be taken down by one's
pencil...” To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf.
47. “A shutter, like the leathern eyelid of a lizard, flickered over the intensity of his
gaze...” To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf.
48. “...while there throbbed through her, like a pulse in a spring which has expanded
to its full width and now gently ceases to beat...” To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf.
49. “The lights of the town and of the harbour and of the boats seemed like a phantom
net floating there to mark something which had sunk.” To the Lighthouse by Virginia
Woolf.
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50. “...and they turned back over the plain toward the rocket, whose ports gleamed afar like a row of staring eyes.” The Lotus Eaters by Stanley G. Weinbaum.
51. “A parson is like a doctor, my boy: he must face infection as a soldier must face
bullets.” Candida by George Bernard Shaw.
52. “Eugene divines her meaning at once: his face whitens like steel in a furnace that
cannot melt it.” Candida by George Bernard Shaw.
53. “The water made a sound like kittens lapping.” The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan
Rawlings.
54. “He had stood among the Forresters one day, like an ash sapling among giant
oaks.” The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.
55. “The sink-hole was set in the arid scrub, at the core of the pine island, like a lush green heart.” The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.
56. “A red-bird swung in an arc across the sink-hole. It turned and dropped down to
the pool, like a bright leaf falling.” The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.
57. “The young quail, each no bigger than the end of his thumb, scattered like small
wind-blown leaves.” The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.
58. “It was Françoise, motionless and erect, framed in the small doorway of the
corridor like the statue of a saint in its niche.” Swann's Way by Marcel Proust.
59. “…a reflection of the sunlight had contrived to slip in on its golden wings,
remaining motionless, between glass and woodwork, in a corner, like a butterfly poised upon a flower.” Swann's Way by Marcel Proust.
60. “Camperdown, Copenhagen, Trafalgar—these names thunder in memory like the
booming of great guns.” Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James
Norman Hall.
61. “…shoals of flying fish rose under the ship's cutwater to skim away and plunge
into the sea like whiffs of grapeshot.” Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall.
62. “…and that to form an impression of the ladies of Tahiti from the women who visited his ships would be like judging the virtue of Englishwomen from a study of the
nymphs of Spithead.” Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman
Hall.
63. “The girls meantime spread the table, set the children round the fire, and fed them
like so many hungry birds...” Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.
64. “...she tried to get rid of the kitten which had scrambled up her back and stuck like a burr just out of reach.” Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.
65. “...from the depths of the veil in which she had shrouded herself like a nun sick of
the world.” Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.
66. “All sorts of pleasant things happened about that time, for the new friendship
flourished like grass in spring.” Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.
67. “Her romantic mind was like the tiny boxes, one within the other, that come from
the puzzling East...” Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie.
68. “They sat thus night after night recalling that fatal Friday, till every detail of it was
stamped on their brains and came through on the other side like the faces on a bad coinage.” Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie.
69. “It was not really a happy question to ask him; it was like an examination paper
that asks grammar, when what you want to be asked is Kings of England.” Peter Pan
by J. M. Barrie.
70. “The unhappy Hook was as impotent as he was damp, and he fell forward like a
cut flower.” Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie.
71. “All day Tarzan followed Kulonga, hovering above him in the trees like some
malign spirit.” Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
72. “The back of his short neck was as a single lump of iron sinew which bulged beyond the base of his skull, so that his head seemed like a small ball protruding from
a huge mountain of flesh.” Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
73. “Then she loosened the soft mass of golden hair which crowned her head. Like a
shimmering waterfall turned to burnished metal by a dying sun it fell about her oval
face; in waving lines, below her waist it tumbled.” Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
74. “On the fore part lay sacks of oats covered with canvas, and the cannon itself was
hung all over with kettles, soldiers' knapsacks, bags, and looked like some small
harmless animal surrounded for some unknown reason by men and horses.” The Kiss
by Anton Chekhov.
75. “...the sun was casting what looked like scarlet dust upon the venerable tops of four rows of elms...” An Historical Mystery (The Gondreville Mystery) by Honore De
Balzac.
76. “Malin, an inferior man, incapable of comprehending Fouche's hidden genius, or
of distrusting his own perceptions, burned himself, like a moth in a candle, by asking
him confidentially to send agents to Gondreville...” An Historical Mystery (The Gondreville Mystery) by Honore De Balzac.
77. “But such feelings lay in her soul like a treasure hidden at a great depth beneath a
block of granite.” An Historical Mystery (The Gondreville Mystery) by Honore De
Balzac.
78. “...when I laid down the paper, I was aware of a flash--rush--flow--I do not know
what to call it--no word I can find is satisfactorily descriptive--in which I seemed to see that bedroom passing through my room, like a picture impossibly painted on a
running river. To be Taken with a Grain of Salt by Charles Dickens
79. “...but she waved us into our respective chairs like a reverend abbess receiving
two rather leprous mendicants.” The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle.
80. “Holmes's eyes, as he gazed at him, contracted and lightened until they were like
two menacing points of steel.” The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
81. “Holmes looked at him thoughtfully like a master chess-player who meditates his
crowning move.” The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
82. “She entered with ungainly struggle like some huge awkward chicken, torn,
squawking, out of its coop.” The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle.
83. “The glorious sunlight filled the valley with purple fire. Before him, to left, to right, waving, rolling, sinking, rising, like low swells of a purple sea, stretched the
sage.” Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey.
84. “Sharp notches of the rim-wall, biting like teeth into the blue, were landmarks by
which Venters knew where his camping site lay.” Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane
Grey.
85. “Scrawled mounds of stone, like mountain waves, seemed to roll up to steep bare
slopes and towers.” Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey.
86. “Her father had inherited that temper; and at times, like antelope fleeing before
fire on the slope, his people fled from his red rages.” Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey.
87. “...and how at that word a half-dozen of his supple blackamoors sprang upon the
knight like greyhounds upon a hare and bore him writhing to the ground.” The Sea-
Hawk by Rafael Sabatini.
88. “Lithe brown arms encircled him like a legion of snakes.” The Sea-Hawk by
Rafael Sabatini.
89. “...the vast yellow oars standing out almost horizontally from the sides of each vessel like the pinions of some gigantic bird.” The Sea-Hawk by Rafael Sabatini.
90. “He swung a great scimitar, before which Spaniards went down like wheat to the
reaper's sickle.” The Sea-Hawk by Rafael Sabatini.
91. “In a marvelous great voice, with a flavor of German accent, he inquired for Dr.
Silva, and sailed into the dean's group like a frigate among fishing- smacks.”
Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis.
92. “Past him, ten feet from his front wheels, flung the Seattle Express like a flying volcano.” Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis.
93. “The guinea pigs, awake and nibbling, were making a sound like that of a wet cloth rubbed on glass in window-cleaning.” Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis.
94. “Aboard, it seemed to him that the forward deck looked like the backyard of an
old-iron dealer, that the St. Buryan leaned too much to one side, and that even in the
dock she swayed undesirably.” Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis.
95. “She looked at him, smiling, with the stretched corners of her lips like tiny flung
arrows.” Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis.
96. “...utterly absorbed by the curious experience that still clung to him like a
garment.” Magnificent Obsession by Lloyd C. Douglas.
97. “They regard the soul as a sort of congenital disease that ought to be cured. The soul has been passed along, from one common carrier to another, like a trunk with a
bent lock and a broken hinge, labelled 'Received in Bad Order.'“ Magnificent
Obsession by Lloyd C. Douglas.
98. “Miss Brinklow was sitting bolt upright with her eyes closed, like some rather
dingy and outmoded idol.” Lost Horizon by James Hilton.
99. “On putting the probing knife carefully to that kind of abscess one immediately discovered, like a maggot in a putrescent body, a little Jew who was often blinded by
the sudden light.” Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler.
100. “...the jewel-eyed harlots of his imagination, fled before the hurricane, squeaking
like mice in their terror and huddled under a mane of hair.” A Portrait of the Artist as
a Young Man by James Joyce.
101. “Smoke lowering down from chimney pots, making a soft black drizzle, with flakes of soot in it as big as full-grown snow-flakes-gone into mourning, one might
imagine, for the death of the sun....” Bleak House by Charles Dickens.
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Assonance Definition
Assonance takes place when two or more words close to one another repeat the same vowel
sound but start with different consonant sounds.
For instance,
“Men sell the wedding bells.”
The same vowel sound of the short vowel “-e-” repeats itself in almost all the words excluding the definite article. The words do share the same vowel sounds but start with different consonant
sounds unlike alliteration that involves repetition of the same consonant sounds. Below are a few assonance examples that are more common:
Common Assonance Examples
We light fire on the mountain. I feel depressed and restless.
Go and mow the lawn. Johnny went here and there and everywhere. The engineer held the steering to steer the vehicle.
Examples of Assonance in Literature
Assonance is primarily used in poetry in order to add rhythm and music, by adding an internal rhyme to a poem. Let us look at some examples of assonance from literature.
Example #1
Try to notice the use of assonance in Robert Frosts poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy
Evening”:
“He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dar and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.”
The underlined bold letters in the above extract are vowels that are repeated to create assonance.
Example #2
Assonance sets the mood of a passage in Carl Sandburg’s Early Moon:
“Poetry is old, ancient, goes back far. It is among the oldest of living things. So old it is that no
man knows how and why the first poems came.”
Notice how the long vowel “o” in the above extract helps emphasize the idea of something being old and mysterious.
Example #3
The sound of long vowels slows down the pace of a passage and sets an atmo
Antithesis
Antithesis Definition
Antithesis, literal meaning opposite, is a rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect.
Antithesis emphasizes the idea of contrast by parallel structures of the contrasted phrases or
clauses, i.e. the structures of phrases and clauses are similar in order to draw the attention of the listeners or readers. For example:
“Setting foot on the moon may be a small step for a man but a giant step for mankind.”
The use of contrasting ideas, “a small step” and “a giant step”, in the sentence above emphasizes
the significance of one of the biggest landmarks of human history.
Common Antithesis Examples
Some famous antithetical statements have become part of our everyday speech and are frequently used in arguments and discussions. Below is the list of some antithetical statements:
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.
Man proposes, God disposes. Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing.
Speech is silver, but silence is gold. Patience is bitter, but it has a sweet fruit. Money is the root of all evils: poverty is the fruit of all goodness.
You are easy on the eyes, but hard on the heart.
Examples of Antithesis in Literature
In literature, writers employ antithesis not only in sentences but also in characters and events. Thus, its use is extensive; below are a few examples of antithesis in literature:
Example #1
The opening lines of Charles Dickens’ novel “ A Tale of Two Cities” provides an unforgettable antithesis example:
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of
foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we
had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.”
The contrasting ideas, set in parallel structures, markedly highlight the conflict that existed in the time which was discussed in the novel.
Example #2
In Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” we notice antithesis in characters of “Mark Antony” and “Marcus Brutus”. Brutus is portrayed as a “noblest of Romans” close to Caesar and a person who
loved Rome and Caesar. Antony, on the contrary, is shown as a man with evil intentions of harming Caesar and taking charge of Rome. These antithetical characters highlight the conflict in the play.
Example #3
Alexander Pope in his “An Essay on Criticism” says:
“To err is human; to forgive divine.”
Fallibility is a trait of humans and God, his creator, is most forgiving. Through these antithetical ideas, Pope reveals the basic nature of human beings. He wants to say that God is forgiving
because his creation is erring.
Example #4
We find antithesis in John Donne’s poem “Community”:
“Good we must love, and must hate ill,
For ill is ill, and good good still; But there are things indifferent, Which we may neither hate, nor love,
But one, and then another prove, As we shall find our fancy bent.”
Two contrasting words “love” and “hate” are combined in the above lines. It emphasizes that we
love good because it is always good and we hate bad because it is always bad. It is a matter of choice to love or hate things which are neither good nor bad.
Example #5
John Milton in “Paradise Lost” says:
“Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav’n.”
The contrasting ideas of “reign”/ “serve” and “Hell”/ “Heav’n” are placed in a sentence to achieve an antithetical effect.
Function of Antithesis
A literary device like antithesis uses words to convey ideas in different ways from the common
words and expressions of daily life. Thus, it conveys meaning more vividly than ordinary speech. When contrasting ideas are brought together, the idea is expressed more emphatically.
As a literary device, antithesis makes contrasts in order to examine pros and cons of a subject
under discussion and helps to bring forth judgment on that particular subject.
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Ad Hominem Adage Allegory
Alliteration Allusion Ambiguity
Anachronism Anagram
Analogy Anapest Anaphora
Anecdote Antagonist
Antecedent
Antimetabole Antithesis
Aphorism Aposiopesis
Apostrophe Archaism Archetype
Argument Assonance
Biography Cacophony Cadence
Caricature Catharsis
Characterization Cliché Climax
Colloquialism Comparison
Conflict Connotation Consonance
Denotation Deus Ex Machina
Dialect Dialogue Diction
Didacticism Discourse
Doppelganger Double Entendre Ellipsis
Epiphany Epitaph
Essay Ethos Eulogy
Euphemism Evidence
Exposition Fable Fallacy
Flash Forward Foil
Foreshadowing Genre
Haiku Half Rhyme
Hubris Hyperbaton
Hyperbole Idiom Imagery
Induction Inference
Innuendo Internal Rhyme Irony
Jargon Juxtaposition
Limerick Line Break Logos
Meiosis Memoir
Metaphor Meter Mood
Motif Narrative
Nemesis Non Sequitur Ode
Onomatopoeia Oxymoron
Palindrome Parable Paradox
Parallelism Parataxis
Parody Pathetic Fallacy Pathos
Pentameter Persona
Personification Plot Poem
Poetic Justice Point of View
Portmanteau Propaganda
Prose Protagonist
Pun Red Herring
Reductio Ad Absurdum Repetition Rhetoric
Rhetorical Question Rhyme
Rhythm Sarcasm Satire
Simile Soliloquy
Sonnet Style Superlative
Syllogism Symbolism
Synecdoche Synesthesia Syntax
Tautology Theme
Thesis Tone Tragedy
Tragicomedy Tragic Flaw
Transition Utopia Verisimilitude
Transcript
1. WHAT IS A NARRATIVE ESSAY? A narrative essay is a “fake” story. 2. ELEMENTS OF A NARRATIVE ESSAY:1. SETTING – The setting is the location
where the actionin a story happens.2. THEME – The theme will deal with a topic that isuniversal in life or human nature, such as love,independence, greed, envy, jealousy, hatred, etc.3. CHARACTERS – The characters are the people in thestory. They are
affected by the mood, and they react tothe events in which they are involved.4. PLOT – The plot is what happens in a story, that is, thesequence of events, climax, and
resolution.5. MOOD – The mood is the feeling or atmosphere thatthe writer creates for
the story. It could be happy,hopeful, suspenseful, or scary. Both the setting anddescriptive vocabulary create the mood in a narrative.
3. UNDERSTANDING THE PROMPT1. Read the prompt at least two to three times before you write. If it is necessary, break down the prompt into parts so that you will be
able to write an effective narrative.2. Underline or circle important words to help you remember EXACTLY what you need to write about.3. NEVER write a narrative or any essay without reading the prompt.
4. HOW MANY PARAGRAPHS DO I NEED? Essentially, there should be at least 5 to 6 paragraphs in a narrative. Although there should be no limit to the number of
paragraphs that you can write, given the limited amount of time foryou to write, writing a six paragraph narrative is an accomplishment.
5. 1. WRITING A NARRATIVE HOOK What is a HOOK? The hook in a narrative is
the part of the introduction- usually the first sentence or two – that grabs the reader’s attention. HOOKS are especially important in narrative essays because they help set the
stage for the story. The hook makes readers start guessing what will happen next. 6. TYPES OF HOOK a). Ask a question b). Sound effectsExample: c). Striking
Statementa.Have you ever been without technology for 24 hours?Well, I have.b.Boom!
The noise was so loud outside my bedroomwindow that I just had to go look.c.I had never been more anxious in my life. I had justspent the last three endless hours trying to
get to theairport so that I could travel home. 7. 2. CONNECTING INFORMATIONAfter writing the hook, make sure that youwrite
enough information to address theprompt before you narrate the story. It willgive the
readers a clear understanding ofthe background information of the story. Where is the background information? From the prompt!
8. 3. DEVELOP YOUR SETTING When you write your setting it is always an excellent practice to add description of the timeand location of the story. Setting involves time, place, weather, and surroundings, which allhelp to create a specific mood or atmosphere.
To reveal these elements, writers depend on descriptive writing—ADJECTIVES! 9. WRITING THE THESIS STATEMENTIn a narrative essay, the thesis introducesthe
action that the story will be about.Remember it is your Road Map to yourwhole essay. 10. Examples of a Good Thesis1. Because his pride wouldn’t allow him to apologize,
Ken now had to fight the bully, and he was pretty sure that he wouldn’t win.2. I wanted
my mother to watch me race down the steep hill, so I called out her name and then nudged my bike forward.
11. H.I.S.S.HookBackground InformationSettingThesis StatementLike a s na ke ’s bite , y o u wa nt to s urp ris e a nd “s ting ” y o ur re a d e r!
12. DEVELOPING YOUR CHARACTERSIt is always important to fully develop
yourcharacters in order to make them believable andreal. Use descriptive words (adjectives) to fullydevelop the characters in your story.Example: I met a homeless man
named John. Heis a twenty-one-year-old-guy towering 6 foot and 7inches. I still remember his dark brown moustacheand long uncombed, blond hair that looked likeskinny ropes in the jungle.
13. TOPIC SENTENCEThe topic sentence is the Road Map forthis paragraph. Remember, your topicsentence needs to set the stage for therest of the
paragraph.Example: My friends and I had justfinished lunch, and wewere meandering around thecafeteria, bored out of our minds.
14. SUPPORT SENTENCE #1 and #2Using narrative action, advance the plotof your story. What happens, who doesit, character’s feelings and mood.
Usedescription!Example: We ambled up to a door that led tooutside of the building, where a concrete pathled to another building. I, being the onemanclown troop of the
group, decided to entertainmy friends with a little physical humor. 15. Possible DIALOGUEAfter your Narrative Action, put in somedialogue to move the
story along.Example: An idea popped into myhead, and I exclaimed to the group,“Hold
on; I will be back shortly.” 16. WRITING DIALOGUEThere should be a new paragraph whenever there is a change
of speaker.The actual words of the speaker are marked as quotations by beingplaced between inverted commas (“quote”), and the two parts of thesentence are usually separated by a punctuation mark, traditionally acomma. The first letter of the speech
being reported is a CAPITAL (uppercase) letter, even after a comma; the first letter of the reporting clause isonly a capital if it comes after a full stop, exclamation mark or
questionmark (or if the first word is a proper noun, like the speakers name).Examples: 1.He said, "Good morning!" 2."Its a lovely day," she replied. 3. "I think," he said, "that its going to be a fine day for the match.”
17. More WRITING DIALOGUEPunctuation marks that belong to the speech, such as question marks becausethe speaker is asking a question, should be inside the speech
marks. If thereporter asks a question, then the question mark is outside the speech marks:Examples: 1. "Do you think so?" he asked. 2. Had I heard her right when she said "I want to go now"?Punctuation marks that belong to the speech, such as exclamation
pointbecause the speaker is suggesting a strong feeling, should be inside the speechmarks.Examples: 1. "Don’t even dare do that!" I warned him. 2. “Stop! You
should not lift it!” she screamed at her classmate. 18. WRITING DIALOGUE Exercise1. I am not sure if I did it right Mary told everyone2.
She said Are you willing to join our group3. I might join you she replied but I have to
check with my mom first4. This is awesome exclaimed Andrey5. Who asked you to come here John Mrs. Smith asked6. I responded Well we need to figure out how to solve it7.
My mom I told him is not here8. It’s really amazing I exclaimed9. They screamed Help10. Where did you hide my wallet she asked
19. TRANSITION SENTENCE After your dialogue, you need a transition to the next
paragraph. Example: Then, I proceeded to run out of the building.CHRONOLOGICAL PREPOSITIONS Time words that Begin ClausesFirst (second, third, etc.) After (a
moment) afterNext at (9:00am) as soon asFinally by (bedtime) beforeLater during (two days) laterNow until from then onThen when while whenever until
20. PUT IT ALL TOGETHERMy friends and I had just finished eating anamazing lunch
of sandwiches, fruit andchips. We were meandering around thecafeteria, bored out of our minds. An ideapopped into my head, and I exclaimed tothe group, “Hold on; I will be
back shortly.”Then, I proceeded to run out of thebuilding.