ShmoopTube

00:03

literary devices....[mumbling]

00:18

okay these days it's all about what type of devices you have if you're like me a [Smartphone discussing devices]

00:25

popular handheld device you have no problem getting into the hands of nearly

00:31

everyone how would we even communicate without devices we can take everywhere [People communicating with smartphones]

00:36

with us in the world of literature there's another kind of devices the

00:41

literary device they might not sound as snazzy as the latest iPhone with a

00:46

million apps a 50 megapixel camera but it costs well nothing and literary [Woman walking with a smartphone]

00:51

devices are seriously awesome literary devices are different strategies and

00:56

tools that writers can use to tell a story yeah construction workers and [Tool box opens]

01:01

electricians aren't the only ones with a bunch of tools at their disposal instead

01:05

of wrenches and screwdrivers writers use tools like simile and metaphor hyperbole

01:11

and dialogue and those are just a few of literally hundreds of literary devices [literary device examples appear in a list]

01:16

writers can use but what's the point can someone just be left alone to write

01:21

something without having to worry about tools and stuff sure they can but it's

01:26

not nearly as much fun pretend this was the opening to a book [Paragraph of book appears]

01:29

there was a loud noise on the street last night

01:32

well, there's nothing wrong with this sentence we can certainly juice it up a

01:37

bit like this right after the grandfather clock chimed midnight an

01:42

ear-splitting whale crashed through the window... see the second topic is way more

01:49

fun to read it keeps the same meaning as the first passage but it's filled with

01:53

color and flavor all we did to liven things up was to add some specific

01:57

details and an onomatopoeia or sound word and that first sentence suddenly

02:02

makes you want to read the whole book without putting it down [Girl frantically reading book]

02:05

not only do literary devices make writing more fun

02:09

they give the writer that creative freedom to express their

02:12

ideas in new and unusual ways which also means the reader will be able to analyze [Person picks up a book]

02:16

and understand the writing in ways they never would have dreamed of say a writer

02:21

is tasked with discussing a really boring topic like watering your house [Person watering house plants]

02:25

plants snore town, yawn in order to make this otherwise lame subject a little

02:32

more fun the writer decides to use a little thing

02:34

called personification or giving non-human things human-like

02:38

characteristics we end up with something like it had been many hours since the

02:43

last watering and the long skinny arms of my fern implored me to water it I'm a

02:48

fern it called to me I need water for life sure this might sound dramatic but [Fern watered]

02:54

the author was able to take a dry relatively uninteresting topics and spin

02:59

it in a way that conveys the message that more people will want to read it

03:02

since as I mentioned there are hundreds of different types of literary devices

03:06

we can't get them all into one little video let's spend some time getting to [baseball player holding a bat]

03:10

know two of the big guns imagery and allegory first up to bat imagery the

03:17

definition is in the word imagery is created when authors use language that

03:21

creates images in your mind with the example we saw above there was a loud

03:26

noise on the street last night we changed it up by strategically placing

03:30

imagery into the passage which made it way more interesting right after the

03:34

grandfather clock chimed midnight an ear-splitting whale crashed through the

03:38

window here's still another way we could rewrite the first passage using imagery

03:43

crash the sound of shattering glass and metal startled me out of a dead sleep in [passage re-written example]

03:49

the middle of Saturday night all three of the passages mean the same thing but

03:53

the second two make clear pictures in your head when you read them imagery

03:57

doesn't only have to do with visual images either the images above also

04:02

included sounds that create images in our minds when we read them great

04:05

imagery plays with all five of the senses here's another example [Person holding shampoo bottle]

04:09

I knew Sheila had finished her shower as the overpowering aroma of rose water and

04:15

coconut shampoo invaded my nostrils this is so much better than if we simply said

04:20

I knew Sheila had finished her shower because I smelled bath products renowned

04:24

author F. Scott Fitzgerald was a master at writing vivid

04:28

and memorable imagery into his stories this is a snippet of the Great Gatsby [Great Gatsby book appears]

04:31

when he is describing one of Jay Gatsby's parties the lights grow

04:35

brighter as the earth lurches away from the Sun and now the orchestra is playing

04:39

yellow cocktail music and the opera voices pitch is a key higher awesome

04:45

you can see here and almost feel the energy Fitzgerald's describing here this

04:50

is exactly what great imagery should do symmetry isn't just a tool for [F. Scott writing a novel]

04:54

established professionals either every writer can work imagery into their own

04:58

writing start by having a basic understanding of how imagery works and

05:02

when to use it which is precisely what we're doing here once you've got a good

05:05

foundation just try it out write a sentence or two that describe something [Person writing a sentence on a piece of paper]

05:09

no really anything and read it back to yourself does what you wrote gives you a

05:14

mental picture can you see smell hear taste or touch the

05:19

thing with your mind not literally if so then you've likely written a good [Man eating chips]

05:24

bit of imagery a word of caution don't have abuse imagery like most things too

05:30

much of it can be bad example sure... say you want to spice up the sentence I saw

05:36

a brown dog sign that's the basic sentence that can easily be made more

05:40

intriguing with a splash of imagery this morning a shiny rotten smelling brown

05:44

dog nearly tripped me as I was standing in line for coffee that works now here

05:49

is an example of too much imagery at 9:22 this morning as I waited for my [Example of too much imagery appears]

05:55

triple half-caf no-whip non foam soy hazelnut latte a big mean Brown toothy

06:00

smelly horrible atrocious dog plowed into me and I almost died okay, wow

06:06

that's a lot of description and while as readers we know now your exact latte [Girl outside a coffee store]

06:10

preferences and how you feel about dogs this is simply too much creating good

06:15

imagery isn't about throwing 100 adjectives in front of every now and you

06:19

see it's about carefully selecting details to enhance and slightly changing

06:23

them to make your overall writing more colorful not every kind of writing [Girl writing on a PC]

06:27

benefit from imagery either so only use it in the right circumstances those

06:32

would be when you're doing creative writing projects like stories or poems

06:36

and descriptive essays in your humanities classes [Students sitting in classroom]

06:39

most often if you're writing for science or technology ya won't use imagery in

06:43

the same way and now you know as much fun as it is to talk about imagery let's

06:48

take a few and learn more about allegory allegories are stories or poems that [Allegory definition appears]

06:53

kind of sorta have hidden meanings to them they're written works that mean one

06:58

thing on the surface but when you dig into the meat of the story you see that

07:02

the author had a deeper agenda biblical and political allegories are two of [Bible and political document appear]

07:06

main types we come across the Lion, the witch and the wardrobe by CS Lewis is a

07:11

perfect example this is a story of some kids who figure out the Wardrobe or [Kids approach a wardrobe and girl appears inside]

07:15

clothing cabinet was actually a portal into another dimension of course they

07:20

travel over into the new world where they meet talking animals and a white witch who

07:24

enslaved one of the kids and turns him against his siblings by giving him candy [Witch hands candy to boy]

07:28

there's a fight between the witch in this great lion and a lot of creatures

07:32

died and the whole thing is just an extended metaphor for the life of Jesus

07:36

Christ wait what yeah on the surface Lewis wrote a really bizarre fantasy

07:41

story for children but after close examination we learned as a lion is

07:45

actually representative of Christ in that he sacrifices himself for the part [Lion attacks Witch]

07:50

of the children and is later resurrected just like Jesus the Bible is such a

07:55

widely read text that many authors use it as a source for creating allegory in [Person reading book in a hammock]

08:00

their own work politics is another topic that we see used in many allegorical

08:04

tales George Orwell's animal farm is another choice allegory in this story

08:09

we're presented with an entire farm filled with once again talking animals

08:13

the animals are trying to figure out what is the best way to do things where [Animals inspecting 7 commandments]

08:17

everyone is equal and no one has to do too much or too little this doesn't work

08:21

since the pigs assume leadership and begin fighting over how to govern the [Pigs fighting]

08:25

farm all in all the pigs kind of go mad with their power and the dream of

08:29

equality is forgotten Orwell's classic tale is an allegory for

08:33

the Russian Revolution that happened in 1917 and a subsequent rise of communism

08:38

the characters are stand-in for real people like Napoleon the meanest Pig is

08:43

Joseph Stalin the militant terrible leader of the former Soviet Union Stalin

08:48

is notorious for imprisoning millions of his own popular [Prisoners working in the field]

08:51

concentration camps and ruling by fear just like Napoleon the pig does in

08:56

Animal Farm why does an author choose to use

08:58

allegory well it's a specifically chosen literary strategy obvs... instead of just

09:03

saying hey my book has a secret meeting in the preface the author assumes that

09:08

the readers are intelligent and informed enough to figure it out that's pretty

09:11

nice on the author's part don't you think it's more interesting to write [Students writing in class]

09:15

allegories but not everyone feels comfortable doing it that's why we don't

09:18

see this device in action as often as other ones in the wide world and devices

09:23

literary devices are pretty useful they make writing more fun and help readers

09:27

to understand the layers of meaning cell phones and other personal handheld [Person picks up smartphone from trouser pocket]

09:32

devices might always be in pocket but literary devices have lasted for the

09:36

ages you can't say the same for all devices there's always a younger

09:40

better-looking version that comes around and replaces you

Full Transcript