Creative Writing - Rhetorical Devices

A recurring device, formula or sutuation that often serves as the signal for the appearance of a character or event

• epiphany

• Bildungstoman

• Motif

• foil

"If I know one thing, it's that I know nothing"

This statement is a clear example of ....

• allusion

• paradox

• hyperbole

• allegory

A person falls out of a high window, and just before he is crushed on the pavement, an open flatbed truck filled with mattresses drives by and catches him.

This is an example of

• hyperbole

• bildungsroman

• paradox

• deus ex machina

the author's choice of words

• motif

• perspective

• diction

• hyperbol

The opening scene depicts the main character's death, and narrative proceeds in flashbacks that tell the story of how the character meets his demise.

This is an example of .....

• in medias res

• epigraph

• motif

• persona

The voice or figure of the author who tells and structures the story, and who may, or may not, share the values of the actual author.

• perspective

• paradox

• persona

• epiphany

Huckleberry Finn is an example of __________________ because the thirteen year old title character experiences moral and psychological growth as he travels down the Mississippi River with the slave Jim.

• paradox

• bildungsroman

• allegory

• in medias res

Placing George and Lenny from Of Mice and Men side by side employs _________that highlights the differences and similarities between Steinbeck's characters in the novel.

• Satire

• epistolary

• Juxtaposition

• ambiguity

A piece of writing in praise of a deceased person

• Epistolary

• Epigraph

• Epitaph

• expository

Use of language that has multiple meaning. Authors often employ it intentionally to add nuance to their writing.

• Juxtaposition

• Satire

• Ambiguity

• perspective