I'm glad we all have a better grasp on repetition (although most of us can't spell it 
).
We also seem to get personification -- although we need to remember that a phrase only counts as personification if the action is a "human" action. To say "the sun melts" CANNOT be personification; although the sun cannot really melt, a human can't either. This could be symbolism or a metaphor, depending on how it is used.
Remember, a metaphor is a comparison of two unlike things, saying one is equal to the other (my love is a red, red rose). Similes, however, compare two unlike things using like or as. (my love is like a red, red rose OR my love is as red as a rose).
Irony comes in three packages: verbal, situational, and dramatic. Verbal irony is like sarcasm: saying something and meaning another. Situational irony involves the event itself; what happens is not what is expected to happen. Dramatic irony usually occurs in plays; the audience knows what's happening (or what already happened) but the characters do not.
Now that we've got those four literary devices mastered (or close to it), let's try to find the following ones in song lyrics. Feel free to use children's songs too! If you can't remember what some of these lit devices are, refer to your notes from last semester or visit the links provided on the original post below this one.
- alliteration (read "Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts" -- not for the weak stomachs)
- anthropomorphism (read "Gorilla You're a Desperado" Warren Zevon)
- foreshadowing (read "Frankie and Johnny" or see/listen to a variation by Johnny Cash)
- hyperbole
- imagery
- apostrophe
- onomatopoeia
- oxymoron
- paradox
- allusion (view a really cool flash video for "We Didn't Start the Fire" or read the lyrics)
- palindrome (see or read Weird Al Yankovic's song "Bob")
- anagram (read "Anagram" lyrics by Rush)
- assonance
- cacophony
- consonance
- internal rhyme
- inversion
- rhythm
- rhyme
Another great resource: http://www.thewallflowersweb.com/glossary.htm
http://www.northern.edu/wild/dany/mxthea05/Mt_Lyrics_s03.pdf
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=115
3 comments:
A palindrome is a word or set of words which say the same thing frontwards and backwards (for example, "racecar"). Weird Al Yankovic's song "Bob" is composed entirely of palindromes. Each of the following lines is from the song:
Never odd or even
If I had a hi-fi
Madam, I'm Adam
Too hot to hoot
I'm sure this song took a very long time to write.
An anagram, on the other hand, is a total re-arrangement of letters of a word to create a new word.
i.e., If you re-arrange the letters in "'Romeo and Juliet' by W. Shakespeare"
you get -> "Said, 'Weep my jealous broken heart!'"
Thank you, Anagram Genius
Where's the air?
Where's the air?
Where's the air?
This is a repetition from the song Carbon Monoxide by Cake. It talks about how there is not enough oxygen in the air.
Post a Comment