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Alone Edgar Allan Poe Literary Devices: How the Poet Expresses His Loneliness and Difference



Think of literary devices as the spice to writing. To prevent your book or story from tasting dull and bland to the reader, make it pop with life by sprinkling in some effective literary elements throughout.


Some common examples of literary devices that most people are familiar with are metaphors, similes, personification, alliteration, and symbolism. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many more literary elements to consider, with more advanced or less-known devices such as aphorism, archetype, red herring, mood, and more.




alone edgar allan poe literary devices




Writing is a staple of your education and fundamental to nearly every profession, no matter what industry. How do you make your writing effective? One important component of great writing is the use of literary devices.


Whether you're a writer, reader, student, or all of the above, it's important to know how literary devices work. For writers, strong device usage can elevate prose from meager to magnificent. For readers, they can provide a greater understanding of the text. And for students, knowing a few literary devices might just be the key to an A+ English paper!


But first, some of you may be wondering: what is a literary device, anyway? So for those of you who are new to the concept, let's go over the definition of literary devices and how they're typically used in writing.


These devices serve a wide range of purposes in literature. Some might work on an intellectual level, while others have a more emotional effect. They may also work subtly to improve the flow and pacing of your writing. No matter what, if you're looking to inject something special into your prose, literary devices are a great place to start.


Of course, for readers, literary devices can be difficult to identify. But here's a good rule of thumb: if you're reading a book and you find the author using language or narrative structure in an unusual way, there's probably a literary device at work. Indeed, some devices show up so frequently, you may not even register them as you're reading!


We'll also note that some literary devices double as rhetorical devices, which are used to convey meaning and/or persuade readers on a certain point. The difference is that literary devices can be used to enhance writing in many different ways, not all of which involve trying to convince readers of something.


Basically, literary devices are artistic; rhetorical devices are informative and persuasive. That said, there can still be quite a bit of overlap between the two. Click here to learn more about rhetorical devices.


A metaphor compares two similar things by saying that one of them is the other. As you'd likely expect, when it comes to literary devices, this one is a heavy hitter. And if a standard metaphor doesn't do the trick, a writer can always try an extended metaphor: a metaphor that expands on the initial comparison through more elaborate parallels.


When you answer the question, "How does Poe use the literary devices of alliteration and rhyme throughout the poem," you should start by giving examples. Note several places whee alliteration is used. Note the rhyme scheme and if there is a pattern to it throughout the poem.


Literary analysis dives much more deeply into the text than summary does. Analysis encompasses tone, literary devices, and themes and allows readers to argue their own interpretation of what a poem or other literary work means. When you analyze a literary work, you examine all of the literary devices the poet used in order to create their central message, influence the tone, and establish the themes.


The first step is typically to consider the figurative language and literary devices and note how they work together on a micro level: What effect does this simile have? Why is an inanimate object speaking and what does that add to the story? This sounds very familiar, why is the writer alluding to the Bible? Once you start to see how each part of figurative language works together, you should be able to deduce the tone out of the literary devices (especially the imagery) and then decide on what the poet is saying at a macro level, combining all of the literary devices together to arrive at the meaning of the poem.


Pay special attention to the imagery in "Here" throughout your analysis. It influences the other literary devices, and the imagery itself shifts throughout the poem, controlling the tone and revealing the themes. 2ff7e9595c


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