the essay is a literary device for saying almost anything

The Essay: History and Definition

Attempts at Defining Slippery Literary Form

• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

"One damned thing after another" is how Aldous Huxley described the essay: "a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything."

As definitions go, Huxley's is no more or less exact than Francis Bacon's "dispersed meditations," Samuel Johnson's "loose sally of the mind" or Edward Hoagland's "greased pig."

Since Montaigne adopted the term "essay" in the 16th century to describe his "attempts" at self-portrayal in prose , this slippery form has resisted any sort of precise, universal definition. But that won't an attempt to define the term in this brief article.

In the broadest sense, the term "essay" can refer to just about any short piece of nonfiction  -- an editorial, feature story, critical study, even an excerpt from a book. However, literary definitions of a genre are usually a bit fussier.

One way to start is to draw a distinction between articles , which are read primarily for the information they contain, and essays, in which the pleasure of reading takes precedence over the information in the text . Although handy, this loose division points chiefly to kinds of reading rather than to kinds of texts. So here are some other ways that the essay might be defined.

Standard definitions often stress the loose structure or apparent shapelessness of the essay. Johnson, for example, called the essay "an irregular, indigested piece, not a regular and orderly performance."

True, the writings of several well-known essayists ( William Hazlitt and Ralph Waldo Emerson , for instance, after the fashion of Montaigne) can be recognized by the casual nature of their explorations -- or "ramblings." But that's not to say that anything goes. Each of these essayists follows certain organizing principles of his own.

Oddly enough, critics haven't paid much attention to the principles of design actually employed by successful essayists. These principles are rarely formal patterns of organization , that is, the "modes of exposition" found in many composition textbooks. Instead, they might be described as patterns of thought -- progressions of a mind working out an idea.

Unfortunately, the customary divisions of the essay into opposing types --  formal and informal, impersonal and familiar  -- are also troublesome. Consider this suspiciously neat dividing line drawn by Michele Richman:

Post-Montaigne, the essay split into two distinct modalities: One remained informal, personal, intimate, relaxed, conversational and often humorous; the other, dogmatic, impersonal, systematic and expository .

The terms used here to qualify the term "essay" are convenient as a kind of critical shorthand, but they're imprecise at best and potentially contradictory. Informal can describe either the shape or the tone of the work -- or both. Personal refers to the stance of the essayist, conversational to the language of the piece, and expository to its content and aim. When the writings of particular essayists are studied carefully, Richman's "distinct modalities" grow increasingly vague.

But as fuzzy as these terms might be, the qualities of shape and personality, form and voice, are clearly integral to an understanding of the essay as an artful literary kind. 

Many of the terms used to characterize the essay -- personal, familiar, intimate, subjective, friendly, conversational -- represent efforts to identify the genre's most powerful organizing force: the rhetorical voice or projected character (or persona ) of the essayist.

In his study of Charles Lamb , Fred Randel observes that the "principal declared allegiance" of the essay is to "the experience of the essayistic voice." Similarly, British author Virginia Woolf has described this textual quality of personality or voice as "the essayist's most proper but most dangerous and delicate tool."

Similarly, at the beginning of "Walden, "  Henry David Thoreau reminds the reader that "it is ... always the first person that is speaking." Whether expressed directly or not, there's always an "I" in the essay -- a voice shaping the text and fashioning a role for the reader.

Fictional Qualities

The terms "voice" and "persona" are often used interchangeably to suggest the rhetorical nature of the essayist himself on the page. At times an author may consciously strike a pose or play a role. He can, as E.B. White confirms in his preface to "The Essays," "be any sort of person, according to his mood or his subject matter." 

In "What I Think, What I Am," essayist Edward Hoagland points out that "the artful 'I' of an essay can be as chameleon as any narrator in fiction." Similar considerations of voice and persona lead Carl H. Klaus to conclude that the essay is "profoundly fictive":

It seems to convey the sense of human presence that is indisputably related to its author's deepest sense of self, but that is also a complex illusion of that self -- an enactment of it as if it were both in the process of thought and in the process of sharing the outcome of that thought with others.

But to acknowledge the fictional qualities of the essay isn't to deny its special status as nonfiction.

Reader's Role

A basic aspect of the relationship between a writer (or a writer's persona) and a reader (the implied audience ) is the presumption that what the essayist says is literally true. The difference between a short story, say, and an autobiographical essay  lies less in the narrative structure or the nature of the material than in the narrator's implied contract with the reader about the kind of truth being offered.

Under the terms of this contract, the essayist presents experience as it actually occurred -- as it occurred, that is, in the version by the essayist. The narrator of an essay, the editor George Dillon says, "attempts to convince the reader that its model of experience of the world is valid." 

In other words, the reader of an essay is called on to join in the making of meaning. And it's up to the reader to decide whether to play along. Viewed in this way, the drama of an essay might lie in the conflict between the conceptions of self and world that the reader brings to a text and the conceptions that the essayist tries to arouse.

At Last, a Definition—of Sorts

With these thoughts in mind, the essay might be defined as a short work of nonfiction, often artfully disordered and highly polished, in which an authorial voice invites an implied reader to accept as authentic a certain textual mode of experience.

Sure. But it's still a greased pig.

Sometimes the best way to learn exactly what an essay is -- is to read some great ones. You'll find more than 300 of them in this collection of  Classic British and American Essays and Speeches .

• What Are the Different Types and Characteristics of Essays?
• Rhetorical Analysis Definition and Examples
• What Is a Personal Essay (Personal Statement)?
• The Writer's Voice in Literature and Rhetoric
• Point of View in Grammar and Composition
• What Is Expository Writing?
• The Difference Between an Article and an Essay
• What Is Tone In Writing?
• How to Write a Narrative Essay or Speech
• What is a Familiar Essay in Composition?
• Writers on Writing: The Art of Paragraphing
• Topical Organization Essay
• What Does "Persona" Mean?
• Mood in Composition and Literature
• Compose a Narrative Essay or Personal Statement

Definition of Essay

Essay is derived from the French word essayer , which means “ to attempt ,” or “ to try .” An essay is a short form of literary composition based on a single subject matter, and often gives the personal opinion of the author. A famous English essayist, Aldous Huxley defines essays as, “a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything. ” The Oxford Dictionary describes it as “ a short piece of writing on a particular subject. ” In simple words, we can define it as a scholarly work in writing that provides the author’s personal argument .

• Types of Essay

There are two forms of essay: literary and non-literary. Literary essays are of four types:

• Expository Essay – In an expository essay , the writer gives an explanation of an idea, theme , or issue to the audience by giving his personal opinions. This essay is presented through examples, definitions, comparisons, and contrast .
• Descriptive Essay – As it sounds, this type of essay gives a description about a particular topic, or describes the traits and characteristics of something or a person in detail. It allows artistic freedom, and creates images in the minds of readers through the use of the five senses.
• Narrative Essay – Narrative essay is non- fiction , but describes a story with sensory descriptions. The writer not only tells a story, but also makes a point by giving reasons.
• Persuasive Essay – In this type of essay, the writer tries to convince his readers to adopt his position or point of view on an issue, after he provides them solid reasoning in this connection. It requires a lot of research to claim and defend an idea. It is also called an argumentative essay .

Non-literary essays could also be of the same types but they could be written in any format.

Examples of Essay in Literature

Example #1: the sacred grove of oshogbo (by jeffrey tayler).

“As I passed through the gates I heard a squeaky voice . A diminutive middle-aged man came out from behind the trees — the caretaker. He worked a toothbrush-sized stick around in his mouth, digging into the crevices between algae’d stubs of teeth. He was barefoot; he wore a blue batik shirt known as a buba, baggy purple trousers, and an embroidered skullcap. I asked him if he would show me around the shrine. Motioning me to follow, he spat out the results of his stick work and set off down the trail.”

This is an example of a descriptive essay , as the author has used descriptive language to paint a dramatic picture for his readers of an encounter with a stranger.

Example #2: Of Love (By Francis Bacon)

“It is impossible to love, and be wise … Love is a child of folly. … Love is ever rewarded either with the reciprocal, or with an inward and secret contempt. You may observe that amongst all the great and worthy persons…there is not one that hath been transported to the mad degree of love: which shows that great spirits and great business do keep out this weak passion…That he had preferred Helena, quitted the gifts of Juno and Pallas. For whosoever esteemeth too much of amorous affection quitted both riches and wisdom.”

In this excerpt, Bacon attempts to persuade readers that people who want to be successful in this world must never fall in love. By giving an example of famous people like Paris, who chose Helen as his beloved but lost his wealth and wisdom, the author attempts to convince the audience that they can lose their mental balance by falling in love.

Example #3: The Autobiography of a Kettle (By John Russell)

“ I am afraid I do not attract attention, and yet there is not a single home in which I could done without. I am only a small, black kettle but I have much to interest me, for something new happens to me every day. The kitchen is not always a cheerful place in which to live, but still I find plenty of excitement there, and I am quite happy and contented with my lot …”

In this example, the author is telling an autobiography of a kettle, and describes the whole story in chronological order. The author has described the kettle as a human being, and allows readers to feel, as he has felt.

Function of Essay

The function of an essay depends upon the subject matter, whether the writer wants to inform, persuade, explain, or entertain. In fact, the essay increases the analytical and intellectual abilities of the writer as well as readers. It evaluates and tests the writing skills of a writer, and organizes his or her thinking to respond personally or critically to an issue. Through an essay, a writer presents his argument in a more sophisticated manner. In addition, it encourages students to develop concepts and skills, such as analysis, comparison and contrast, clarity, exposition , conciseness, and persuasion .

Related posts:

• Elements of an Essay
• Narrative Essay
• Definition Essay
• Descriptive Essay
• Analytical Essay
• Argumentative Essay
• Cause and Effect Essay
• Critical Essay
• Expository Essay
• Persuasive Essay
• Process Essay
• Explicatory Essay
• An Essay on Man: Epistle I
• Comparison and Contrast Essay

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Saying almost everything about almost anything

Essays: on dolls, edited by kenneth gross, notting hill editions, £12, 186pp; i remember, by joe brainard, notting hill editions….

ESSAYS: On Dolls, Edited by Kenneth Gross, Notting Hill Editions, £12, 186pp; I Remember, By Joe Brainard, Notting Hill Editions, £12, 186pp

‘There is something called the essay,” wrote the novelist and critic Elizabeth Hardwick in 1986, but “it is not altogether genuine in its shape, like fiction or poetry.” Hardwick intended no slight on the form of the essay, at which she excelled; she meant rather that it was not quite a form at all but an experiment or adventure with the idea of a coherent style or genre. An essay could take any shape whatever, and its subject might be anything under the sun.

Of course essays have certain things in common: a personal voice, some commitment to style or self-consciousness regarding their means of expression, a notion (even if ultimately rejected) of truth in nonfiction writing. But if there is indeed a thing called the essay, it must be defined by its freedom – as Aldous Huxley had it, “the essay is a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything”.

I thought of Huxley’s and Hardwick’s efforts at indefinition while surveying these latest arrivals from Notting Hill Editions (NHE). Since 2011, this small London publisher has been reprinting some classic essays and commissioning new ones, and there have been familiar names and genuine discoveries among both groups. So far, the highlights have been Roland Barthes’s Mourning Diary (written in the weeks following his mother’s death, in 1977), Thomas Bernhard’s scabrous account of being feted by the literary establishment in My Prizes, and the poet Wayne Koestenbaum’s lively and self-revealing essay on humiliation. Among the most recent volumes are a new edition of WG Sebald’s On the Natural History of Destruction and an anthology, Say What You Mean, of writing from the New York literary and political magazine n+1.

Perhaps the clearest (because least obvious) picture of the literary scope of the essay, at least as NHE conceives it, may be discerned by setting two of these new books alongside each other. Kenneth Gross’s On Dolls is a fascinating and intermittently creepy compilation of writings on dolls, puppets and other lifelike toys. Here is Baudelaire, in The Philosophy of Toys (1853), contemplating the infant urge to destroy the most treasured plaything: “Finally he prises it open, for he is the stronger party. But where is its soul? This moment marks the beginning of stupor and melancholy.”

Predictably, Freud’s 1919 essay on the uncanny is included, though he ultimately uncovers that unsettling sensation not in everyday objects that seem like living things but in more grisly images, courtesy of a bravura reading of ETA Hoffmann’s story The Sandman. Lesser-known essays include Kleist’s odd narrative reflection On the Marionette Theatre, Rilke on curious wax dolls made by Lotte Pritzel and a section from Marina Warner’s Phantasmagoria, about the oldest waxwork at Madame Tussaud’s: a Sleeping Beauty based on Louis XV’s mistress Madame du Barry.

Compact form

The essay seems an apt vehicle for writing and thinking about these mostly diminutive simulacra, and not only because the essay itself is frequently a compact literary form, covering a great deal of discrepant ground by the shortest route.

It’s also because essayists as a breed appear temperamentally attached to the littlest things. On Dolls includes Walter Benjamin’s delicate and rigorous divagation on the attraction of old toys, but a thorough anthology of essayistic miniaturism would also have to excerpt Xavier de Maistre’s Journey Around My Room and Georges Perec’s excellent essay on the objects habitually arrayed on his desk. And it would need to include the American artist and writer Joe Brainard, whose fragmented autobiography (of sorts), I Remember, evolved from an earlier booklet consisting of 10 drawings of individual hairs from different portions of his body, with captions identifying the parts.

I Remember, first published in 1970 and followed by More I Remember and More I Remember More, is composed entirely of discrete micromemories, often just a sentence long and all prefaced with the same phrase: “I remember a boy who could pull the underside of his eyelids down over his eyeballs . . . I remember stamp hinges . . . I remember rainbows that didn’t live up to my expectations.”

Brainard grew up gay in the 1950s, and many of his memories are tender, unembarrassed recollections of his early sexual experiences. In his preface to this new edition – Brainard himself died of Aids in 1994 – Paul Auster tries to make an inventory of the book’s range of subjects; they include family, food, clothes, movies, school, church, bodies, daydreams, holidays, objects (many of these), jokes and sex.

I Remember, says Auster, is “one of those books that can never be used up”. That’s a banal observation, but it does at least hint at some of the contradictions of the essay form – Brainard’s book is a small masterpiece, at once charmingly casual, or seemingly so, and rigorously arrived at in its repetitive and madly encyclopaedic structure. (Perec spotted its avant-garde heart, and borrowed the technique for his Je me souviens in 1978.)

It’s unlikely that Brainard would have conceived of his little litany as an essay, if he thought of it as literature at all. But like the best examples of the genre, it invents eccentric rules for a form that has none. There are undoubtedly conservative versions of the taste for essays today – a sense that the essay is something well made, or that it represents merely fine writing – but as Elizabeth Hardwick also put it, “there is no end to the essay, and no beginning”.

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Essaying a genre

• September 3, 2020

Gerald Warner

The classical essay - with all its ease, polished prose, and trivial subjects - is a medium we would do well to re-capture.

The essay, as a literary genre, will celebrate its four hundred and fiftieth birthday next year. How well has it weathered its four and a half centuries of existence since  Michel de Montaigne  put quill to paper in 1571 to produce the first composition in the format he created? Is it thriving? Is it maintaining the standards of excellence set for it by its inventor and his many imitators? Or is it, as some would suggest, moribund or even dead?

Manifestly, the essay is not extinct, since it still has many practitioners, including some on this platform. Yet in many respects, in common with the whole of Western culture, it is undergoing a crisis of identity. Granted that the essay has been eclectic in its subject matter from birth (among his output  Montaigne  wrote  On   Smells  and  On Thumbs ), critics have defined so many varieties of essay that, by such promiscuous attribution of the title to a wide diversity of articles, papers, theses, et al., they have annihilated its distinctive identity.

In essence, the informal, familiar discourse dealing with a subject either abstract or concrete, with the author virtually thinking aloud and coaxing the reader, via the flattery of apparently taking him into his confidence, to reach the same conclusion, is the most authentic form of the essay. There are indisputably other legitimate variations, more focused and more serious, but the classical essay, even if making a serious point, will often be characterised by whimsy.

From its earliest days the essay form was subjected to extravagant distortion, straining the meaning of the term to the utmost.  Alexander Pope  wrote two verse contributions to the genre,  An Essay on Criticism  and  An Essay on Man , yet the content was so appropriate to the essay form that any reasonable critic must concede their legitimacy. The same does not apply to the profusion of book-length theses, manifestos and academic papers that have increasingly usurped the title of essay, an abuse first perpetrated by  John Locke  ( An Essay Concerning Human Understanding ).

Following its first begetting by Montaigne, who gave the world a total of 107 essays, Francis Bacon contributed a further 60 and thereafter the genre proliferated across Europe, though it became particularly prominent in English letters. Addison and Steele, through the  Tatler  and the  Spectator , popularised the essay among a wider public. Dr Samuel Johnson was another eighteenth-century essayist who further promoted the genre as a vehicle of good prose style.

The essay in England experienced a golden age in the nineteenth century, with exponents including Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Hazlitt, Charles Lamb (“Elia”), Thomas De Quincey, Robert Louis Stevenson and many others. The genre made a spirited entry into the twentieth century, courtesy of G K Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc, later succeeded by writers such as Aldous Huxley and George Orwell. In the post-War years the essay became diminished as a literary form, its character increasingly vaguely defined. Although, for example, A S Byatt is often described as an essayist, her works are more accurately categorised as literary studies.

The essay continued to feature in French literature in the nineteenth century, notably from the pens of Sainte-Beuve, Anatole France, Théophile Gautier and, of course, Marcel Proust. Other European countries contributed to the essay tradition in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including August Strindberg in Sweden and Miguel de Unamuno in Spain. It is in America, however, that the essay has found its modern home, beginning with its nineteenth-century interpreters, notably Ralph Waldo Emerson and Mark Twain, succeeded in the twentieth century by such practitioners as Gore Vidal, in a literary environment more hospitable to this classical form of writing than any other country in the present day.

The perennial question remains: what is an essay? Aldous Huxley provided one of the best definitions when he wrote that ‘the essay is a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything’ and contended that ‘by tradition, almost by definition, the essay is a short piece’. He categorised essays under three types: the personal, the objective-factual and the abstract-universal. That division, more restrictive than later multiple categories, is persuasive.

Contemporary literature needs to recapture the soul of the essay, even if that  élan vital  is alien to the contemporary Zeitgeist. Although one of the most accessible literary genres, the essay is patrician in character. It is the product of leisured minds untrammelled by material concerns; it has a flavour of the opulent life of a Roman villa – Montaigne had his château in the Dordogne decorated in that style and was greatly influenced by Plutarch who had written essays a millennium and a half earlier, arguably making Montaigne a reviver rather than the creator of that medium. A traditional discursive essay may resemble a prose version of one of Horace’s Odes.

The most effective essays are often personal and even trivial. Montaigne wrote: ‘I first of all found that radishes agreed with me; then they did not; now they do again.’ Charles Lamb wrote  A Dissertation Upon Roast Pig  and  The Praise of Chimney-Sweepers . It is in discoursing on such whimsical themes that a writer finds opportunity to give free rein to the creative imagination and to hone his prose style to perfection. The essay is the most effectual vehicle for the perfection of style.

That, in turn, can produce great economy of expression and penetrating analysis, executed with patrician elegance. Sir Max Beerbohm, mainly remembered as the author of  Zuleika Dobson , that satirical evocation of Oxford when its spires were still ‘dreaming’ – an excursion in which he almost wandered onto Firbank’s turf – was also an accomplished essayist. In his essay on  Dandies and Dandies , with the facility of the consummate stylist he conveyed, more concisely than any biographer, the means by which ‘Beau’ Brummell produced his effect: ‘In certain incongruities of dark cloth, in the rigid perfection of his linen, in the symmetry of his glove with his hand, lay the secret of Mr Brummell’s miracles.’

In its purest distillation the essay, in an English context, might be regarded as the literary equivalent of the Tory cult of the amateur, a flâneur manner disguising underlying purposefulness. Yet its character is decidedly Whig, the majority of its practitioners ( pace  Samuel Johnson) tending towards a sceptical, subversive, ‘progressive’ worldview; but it is the radicalism of the Palladian mansion with chequerboard marble tiles in the entrance hall, housing the Whig oligarch.

Arguably, the last authentic exponents of the essay were schoolchildren writing compositions on such topics as  A Day in the Life of a Penny . The essay is a delicate miniature that must not be enlarged into a garish poster. While the epics of world literature created by Tolstoy or Proust flow like great rivers across continents, the essay is a slight, babbling stream, musical to the ear and crystalline to the eye, occasionally punctuated by deep pools in which perceptive  aperçus  lurk like silvered trout. It is a literary medium to be cherished.

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Definition of Essay Essay is derived from the French phrase essayer, which means “to attempt,” or “to try.” An essay is a quick form of literary composition based on a unmarried subject matter, and frequently offers the non-public opinion of the author. A famous English essayist, Aldous Huxley defines essays as, “a literary device for saying almost the whole lot about almost anything.” The Oxford Dictionary describes it as “a quick piece of writing on a particular problem.” In easy words, we are able to define it as a scholarly work in writing that presents the author’s private argument. Types of Essay There are two forms of essay: literary and non-literary. Literary essays are of 4 types: Expository Essay – In an expository essay, the writer offers a proof of an idea, theme, or difficulty to the target market by giving his private opinions. This essay is presented via examples, definitions, comparisons, and contrast. Descriptive Essay – As it sounds, this type of essay offers an outline about a specific topic, or describes the traits and characteristics of something or a person in detail. It allows artistic freedom, and creates pix inside the minds of readers through the usage of the 5 senses. Narrative Essay – Narrative essay is non-fiction, however describes a tale with sensory descriptions. The creator now not only tells a tale, but additionally makes a factor by means of giving reasons. Persuasive Essay – In this sort of essay, the writer tries to convince his readers to adopt his function or point of view on an problem, after he presents them strong reasoning on this connection. It requires a lot of research to claim and shield an idea. It is additionally referred to as an argumentative essay. Non-literary essays may also be of the same types but they can be written in any format. Examples of Essay in Literature Example #1: The Sacred Grove of Oshogbo (By Jeffrey Tayler) “As I passed thru the gates I heard a squeaky voice. A diminutive middle-aged man got here out from behind the trees — the caretaker. He labored a toothbrush-sized stick round in his mouth, digging into the crevices among algae’d stubs of teeth. He turned into barefoot; he wore a blue batik shirt called a buba, baggy pink trousers, and an embroidered skullcap. I asked him if he would show me across the shrine. Motioning me to follow, he spat out the outcomes of his stick work and set off down the trail.” This is an instance of a descriptive essay, as the writer has used descriptive language to color a dramatic picture for his readers of an encounter with a stranger. Example #2: Of Love (By Francis Francis Bacon) “It is impossible to love, and be wise … Love is a child of folly. … Love is ever rewarded either with the reciprocal, or with an inward and secret contempt. You may study that among all the wonderful and worth persons…there isn't always one that hath been transported to the mad diploma of love: which suggests that extraordinary spirits and incredible enterprise do hold out this susceptible passion…That he had preferred Helena, quitted the presents of Juno and Pallas. For whosoever esteemeth an excessive amount of of amorous affection quitted both riches and wisdom.” In this excerpt, 1st Baron Beaverbrook attempts to steer readers that human beings who need to achieve success in this global must by no means fall in love. By giving an example of famous humans like Paris, who chose Helen as his beloved but misplaced his wealth and wisdom, the writer attempts to convince the target audience that they can lose their mental stability by way of falling in love. Example #3: The Autobiography of a Kettle (By John Russell) “I am afraid I do no longer appeal to attention, and yet there isn't always a single domestic wherein I could completed without. I am best a small, black kettle however I have plenty to interest me, for something new occurs to me each day. The kitchen isn't always continually a cheerful region wherein to live, but nonetheless I find plenty of excitement there, and I am quite satisfied and contented with my lot …” In this example, the author is telling an autobiography of a kettle, and describes the whole story in chronological order. The author has described the kettle as a human being, and permits readers to feel, as he has felt. Function of Essay The feature of an essay depends upon the situation matter, whether the author desires to inform, persuade, explain, or entertain. In fact, the essay increases the analytical and intellectual skills of the writer in addition to readers. It evaluates and exams the writing abilties of a author, and organizes his or her wondering to respond personally or critically to an issue. Through an essay, a writer affords his argument in a more sophisticated manner. In addition, it encourages students to develop standards and skills, together with analysis, contrast and contrast, clarity, exposition, conciseness, and persuasion.

• Alliteration
• Anachronism
• Antimetabole
• Aposiopesis
• Characterization
• Colloquialism
• Connotation
• Deus Ex Machina
• Didacticism
• Doppelganger
• Double Entendre
• Flash Forward
• Foreshadowing
• Internal Rhyme
• Juxtaposition
• Non Sequitur
• Onomatopoeia
• Parallelism
• Pathetic Fallacy
• Personification
• Poetic Justice
• Point of View
• Portmanteau
• Protagonist
• Red Herring
• Superlative
• Synesthesia
• Tragicomedy
• Tragic Flaw
• Verisimilitude

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Aldous Huxley said, “The essay is a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything." 1 Huxley's description of an essay may seem a bit vague. Still, he captures the element of what makes essays so gratifying. They are the complete package: wisdom draped in pretty language.

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What is a thesis and definition of an essay

An essay is an article whose thesis explores a theme, provides information about a subject, or tries to persuade. The parts of an essay may look different depending on the type of essay, but each one has an introduction, a body made up of paragraphs, and a conclusion. A close reading of an essay examines its voice, tone, and style.

The voice of an essay is the way vocabulary, point-of-view, and syntax work together.

• Vocabulary : The types of words the author uses in the essay. Does the essay include technical terms or figurative writing? What age level is the author writing the essay for?
• Point-of-View : The essay's perspective. Is it in first-person (uses "I"), second-person (uses "you"), or third-person (uses "he/she/they")?
• Syntax : The way words are organized into sentences. Is the essay written in simple, compound, or complex sentences?

A simple sentence is a complete thought (I went home). A compound sentence connects two simple sentences (I went home, and I cooked dinner). A complex sentence connects a sentence that makes sense by itself to a subordinate clause that depends on the other sentence to make sense (Because I was hungry, I cooked dinner).

The tone of an essay is comparable to a speaker's tone of voice while having a conversation.

• Neutral : Objective, has no opinion on the topic.
• Emotional : Is the essay supposed to make the reader feel happy, sad, angry, etc.?
• Authoritative : Does the author appear to be knowledgeable about the subject?
• Informal : Conversational, written as if the author is close to the audience.
• Formal : Academic writing, written as if the author is addressing the audience professionally.

The style of an essay is the language the author uses that depends on the type of essay they are writing.

• Narrative : Uses a story to explore a theme
• Expository : Explains or defines a subject
• Persuasive : The author shares their opinion and tries to convince the reader it's correct
• Descriptive : Uses imagery that evokes the five senses to create a picture in the audience's mind

An image of a corrected essay on a student's desk, representing a close reading, pexels.com

Types of Essays

The genre of essays contains four broad formats that reflect the author's purpose for writing them:

Narrative Essay Format

A narrative essay uses a personal account to examine a theme, such as a moral question or universal truth. Features of narrative essays include:

• Characters : The people who are a part of the story.
• Dialogue : Direct (exact words) and indirect (paraphrases) conversations between the characters.
• Theme : The thesis and overall point of the essay. Usually, it examines something about the human experience.
• Setting : Where the story takes place. Examine how the location's time period and social environment provide context for the theme of the essay.
• Plot : What happens in the story. Does the author move effectively between sharing their story and discussing the theme?
• Conflict : The way the characters struggle teaches them a lesson related to the theme.

Narrative essays and short stories share many of the same characteristics. However, the characters, dialogue, setting, etc. in a narrative essay are based on real people and events, while a short story is a work of fiction.

Expository Essay Format

An expository essay "exposes" information about a subject to educate an audience. Expository essays are logical and analytical, meaning they use critical thinking to perform an in-depth examination of a subject. They share information in an unbiased and explanatory tone. In other words, an expository essay informs its audience about a topic, avoiding emotional or opinionated language. An expository essay formats its thesis by doing the following:

• Looking at cause and effect : How an action or idea caused something to happen or affected something
• Explaining : "How To" articles are a good example. This type of expository essay is written in chronological order to explain how something works.
• Defining and exploring : Provides an in-depth definition that explores a specific angle of the subject, such as its history.
• Comparing and contrasting : Discusses how two objects or ideas are alike and different.

Persuasive Essay Format

A persuasive essay attempts to convince the reader of something. Along with facts, a persuasive essay uses an emotional appeal to sway the audience. The thesis of a persuasive essay is usually called a claim, and the style of the essay depends on what type of claim the author is making:

• Definitional : Argues whether something "is" or "is not"
• Factual: Argues whether something is true or false
• Policy : Defines an issue and its best solution
• Passive agreement : Seeks audience agreement without expecting them to do anything
• Immediate action : Seeks audience agreement and expects them to do something
• Value : Judges whether something is right or wrong

It's also important to consider the purpose of the essay. At the outset, determine whether the persuasive essay is:

• Defending a position by providing proof that supports its claim
• Challenging a claim to prove it is invalid, or
• Qualifying a claim that has both valid and invalid points.

Descriptive Essay Format

A descriptive essay uses sensory and figurative language to write a picture for an audience. A descriptive essay shares some of the same characteristics as a narrative essay. Still, they are different because a narrative essay explores a theme, while a descriptive essay aims to use its thesis to illustrate an object, place, or concept thoroughly. Descriptive essays are written as :

• Personal essays that describe an event that affected the author's life
• Formal descriptions in which author writes an impersonal and precise report of the subject's characteristics, or
• Impressionistic definitions that attempt to create an emotional reaction in the reader with their description.

An image of a prism refracting white light, representing the different types of essays, wikimedia.com

Essay Examples

This excerpt of "Goodbye to All That," written by Joan Didion and published in Slouching Toward Bethlehem (1968), is an example of a narrative essay.

I remember once, one cold bright December evening in New York, suggesting to a friend who complained of having been around too long that he come with me to a party where there would be, I assured him with the bright resourcefulness of twenty-three, "new faces." He laughed literally until he choked, and I had to roll down the taxi window and hit him on the back. "New faces," he said finally, "don't tell me about new faces. " It seemed that the last time he had gone to a party where he had been promised "new faces," there had been fifteen people in the room, and he had already slept with five of the women and owed money to all but two of the men. I laughed with him, but the first snow had just begun to fall and the big Christmas trees glittered yellow and white as far as I could see up Park Avenue and I had a new dress, and it would be a long while before I would come to understand the particular moral of the story .

Didion uses a personal story to explore the theme of reality versus illusion in this narrative essay. She uses herself and a friend as characters , and their d ialogue highlights their personality differences. The setting of the essay mirrors her youthful idealism. Christmas lights are temporary, and sparkling white snow will turn to gray slush by the following day in the city. Including details of the young Didion laughing with her friend while focusing on the twinkling lights and falling snow sets up the conflict of the essay by showing the reader that she's not focused on reality.

Wallace provides a quick cultural study of the lobster to inform readers that opinions about consuming lobsters have changed over time, which validates the essay's question of whether it's time to change society's thinking about how they're prepared. He asks that since opinions on consumption and preparation have changed previously, should they change again? Using scientific details to describe lobsters provides a neutral viewpoint on just what a lobster is. Wallace uses precedence and scientific language to avoid the appearance of emotional involvement in the subject. He dives deep into the issue to provide enough information to allow the reader to come to a conclusion.

An image of cooking pots over an open fire, pixabay

This excerpt of "A Modest Proposal," (1729) a pamphlet written by Jonathan Swift , is a satirical example of a persuasive essay. Satire uses humor to criticize. In this case, Swift was criticizing the British Parliament for the way they were treating the poor.

I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout.

I do therefore humbly offer it to public consideration that of the hundred and twenty thousand children already computed, twenty thousand may be reserved for breed, whereof only one-fourth part to be males; which is more than we allow to sheep, black cattle or swine; and my reason is, that these children are seldom the fruits of marriage, a circumstance not much regarded by our savages, therefore one male will be sufficient to serve four females. That the remaining hundred thousand may, at a year old, be offered in the sale to the persons of quality and fortune through the kingdom; always advising the mother to let them suck plentifully in the last month, so as to render them plump and fat for a good table. A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends; and when the family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned with a little pepper or salt will be very good boiled on the fourth day, especially in winter.

Swift's thesis is an immediate action claim, and his essay defends a position. He uses statistics and facts about raising and preparing livestock to discuss how many children will be needed to create a sustainable system. Describing poor children as livestock and discussing how best to eat them operates as an emotional appeal that they should be treated better. By using such an extreme solution to starvation, Swift opens the door to a more level-headed discussion about how to better help the poor.

E. B. White's essay, "Once More to the Lake," reprinted in Essays of E. B. White (1977), is an example of a descriptive essay. This excerpt captures many of a descriptive essay's characteristics, including the way it describes things in great detail to help the reader relate to the experience:

We went fishing the first morning. I felt the same damp moss covering the worms in

the bait can, and saw the dragonfly alight on the tip of my rod as it hovered a few

inches from the surface of the water . It was the arrival of this fly that convinced me

beyond any doubt that everything was as it always had been, that the years were a

mirage and there had been no years. The small waves were the same, chucking the

rowboat under the chin as we fished at anchor, and the boat was the same boat, the

same color green and the ribs broken in the same places, and under the floor-boards

the same freshwater leavings and debris--the dead helgramite, the wisps of moss, the

rusty discarded fishhook, the dried blood from yesterday's catch . We stared silently at

the tips of our rods, at the dragonflies that came and wells. I lowered the tip of mine

into the water, tentatively, pensively dislodging the fly, which darted two feet away ,

poised, darted two feet back , and came to rest again a little farther up the rod. There

had been no years between the ducking of this dragonfly and the other one--the one

that was part of memory. I looked at the boy, who was silently watching his fly, and it

was my hands that held his rod, my eyes watching. I felt dizzy and didn't know which

rod I was at the end of.

'Once More to the Lake' is an example of a personal essay because it describes a place that had an effect on White's life, which he later shared with his son. He emphasizes that the place he loved as a boy hadn't changed by describing familiar details like the flitting dragonfly. The sensory images appeal to the reader's senses so they can relate to the scene. Concrete details , such as "two feet away," bring the reader into the experience.

Essays - Key takeaways

• An essay explores a theme, provides information, or tries to persuade.
• When performing a close read of an essay, examine its voice, tone, and style.
• A narrative essay uses a story to explore a universal theme, usually about some part of the human experience.
• An expository essay digs deep into a subject to educate its audience.
• A persuasive essay uses a combination of facts and emotional appeal to convince the reader of something.
• A descriptive essay attempts to explain something by creating a picture of it in the reader's mind.

1 Huxley, Aldous. Complete Essays: 1956-1963, 2002.

Frequently Asked Questions about Essays

--> what are the four types of essays.

The four types of essays are:

• Narrative Essay
• Persuasive Essay
• Expository Essay
• Descriptive Essay

--> What are some examples of essays?

Some examples of essays are:

• "Goodbye to All That" by Joan Didion
• "Consider the Lobster" by David Foster Wallace
• "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift
• "Once More to the Lake" by E. B. White

--> What is a thesis in an essay?

A thesis is the purpose of the essay. It can introduce the topic to be defined, explore a universal theme, or state an argument.

--> What is an essay format?

An essay format is the type of essay an author writes that reflects its purpose.

--> What are the parts of an essay?

The parts of an essay may look different depending on the type of essay the author writes, but every essay has an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. 

Test your knowledge with multiple choice flashcards

Which historical event is important for the context of Thoreau's 'Walking'?

Which metaphor best expresses the main point of 'Walking'?

Which rhetorical device is NOT made use of in 'Walking'? 

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Which historical event is important for the context of Thoreau's 'Walking'?

The Fugitive Slave Law

Which metaphor best expresses the main point of 'Walking'?

Walking is a pilgrimage 

Which rhetorical device is NOT made use of in 'Walking'? 

Onomatopoeia 

Why is The West so important to Thoreau?

It represents wilderness

Which activity closely resembles walking, according to Thoreau?

What secret anti-slavery network was Thoreau active in?

The Underground Railroad

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Definition of Essay

Essay is derived from the French word essayer , which means “ to attempt ,” or “ to try .” An essay is a short form of literary composition based on a single subject matter, and often gives the personal opinion of the author. A famous English essayist, Aldous Huxley defines essays as, “a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything. ” The Oxford Dictionary describes it as “ a short piece of writing on a particular subject. ” In simple words, we can define it as a scholarly work in writing that provides the author’s personal argument .

Types of Essay

There are two forms of essay: literary and non-literary. Literary essays are of four types:

• Expository Essay – In an expository essay , the writer gives an explanation of an idea, theme , or issue to the audience by giving his personal opinions. This essay is presented through examples, definitions, comparisons, and contrast .
• Descriptive Essay – As it sounds, this type of essay gives a description about a particular topic, or describes the traits and characteristics of something or a person in detail. It allows artistic freedom, and creates images in the minds of readers through the use of the five senses.
• Narrative Essay – Narrative essay is non- fiction , but describes a story with sensory descriptions. The writer not only tells a story, but also makes a point by giving reasons.
• Persuasive Essay – In this type of essay, the writer tries to convince his readers to adopt his position or point of view on an issue, after he provides them solid reasoning in this connection. It requires a lot of research to claim and defend an idea. It is also called an argumentative essay .

Non-literary essays could also be of the same types but they could be written in any format.

Examples of Essay in Literature

Example #1: the sacred grove of oshogbo (by jeffrey tayler).

“As I passed through the gates I heard a squeaky voice . A diminutive middle-aged man came out from behind the trees — the caretaker. He worked a toothbrush-sized stick around in his mouth, digging into the crevices between algae’d stubs of teeth. He was barefoot; he wore a blue batik shirt known as a buba, baggy purple trousers, and an embroidered skullcap. I asked him if he would show me around the shrine. Motioning me to follow, he spat out the results of his stick work and set off down the trail.”

This is an example of a descriptive essay, as the author has used descriptive language to paint a dramatic picture for his readers of an encounter with a stranger.

Example #2: Of Love (By Francis Bacon)

“It is impossible to love, and be wise … Love is a child of folly. … Love is ever rewarded either with the reciprocal, or with an inward and secret contempt. You may observe that amongst all the great and worthy persons…there is not one that hath been transported to the mad degree of love: which shows that great spirits and great business do keep out this weak passion…That he had preferred Helena, quitted the gifts of Juno and Pallas. For whosoever esteemeth too much of amorous affection quitted both riches and wisdom.”

In this excerpt, Bacon attempts to persuade readers that people who want to be successful in this world must never fall in love. By giving an example of famous people like Paris, who chose Helen as his beloved but lost his wealth and wisdom, the author attempts to convince the audience that they can lose their mental balance by falling in love.

Example #3: The Autobiography of a Kettle (By John Russell)

“I am afraid I do not attract attention, and yet there is not a single home in which I could done without. I am only a small, black kettle but I have much to interest me, for something new happens to me every day. The kitchen is not always a cheerful place in which to live, but still I find plenty of excitement there, and I am quite happy and contented with my lot …”

In this example, the author is telling an autobiography of a kettle, and describes the whole story in chronological order. The author has described the kettle as a human being, and allows readers to feel, as he has felt.

Function of Essay

The function of an essay depends upon the subject matter, whether the writer wants to inform, persuade, explain, or entertain. In fact, the essay increases the analytical and intellectual abilities of the writer as well as readers. It evaluates and tests the writing skills of a writer, and organizes his or her thinking to respond personally or critically to an issue. Through an essay, a writer presents his argument in a more sophisticated manner. In addition, it encourages students to develop concepts and skills, such as analysis, comparison and contrast , clarity, exposition , conciseness, and persuasion .

• Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media

The Essay Film: Problems, Definitions, Textual Commitments

• Laura Rascaroli
• Wayne State University Press
• Volume 49, Number 2, Fall 2008
• 10.1353/frm.0.0019
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Essays for Disability Pride and National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month: Almost Everything About Almost Anything

The essay is a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything. -Aldous Huxley

We continue our blog series on Denver Public Library’s Essay Core Collection with a celebration of Disability Pride Month.  DPL’s Core Collections are essential essay collections that represent the breadth and diversity of our contemporary world. Let’s take a look at some titles by a few preeminent writers in our Essays Core Collection , which is also available on Overdrive . 

Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century This anthology came out in tandem with the thirtieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act and brings together an array of first-person accounts about the contemporary disability experience. There are pieces about art and celebration as well as prejudice, the law, and activism. Some pieces are historically focused and others heartfelt and forward-looking, making this a diverse, and nuanced collection with a broad representation of experiences, talents, and perspectives. 

The Pretty One: On Life, Pop Culture, Disability, and Other Reasons to Fall in Love with Me, by Keah Brown Charming and humorous, Keah Brown is a disability rights advocate whose essay collection is thoughtful and celebrates self-love. She focuses on the intersection of being a Black woman in America who experiences both cerebral palsy and invisible disabilities. She writes about pop culture, romance, and being an identical twin with an able-bodied person.

Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body, by Rebekah Taussig Author Dr. Rebekah Taussig has a PhD in disability studies and creative nonfiction, making her essay collection a well-researched exploration of feminism, being in a paralyzed body, accessibility, identity, and representation. Wit and research are sprinkled throughout this memoir-feeling essay collection, which mirrors her famed Instagram account @sittingpretty in which she details in mini-biographical snippets her experience of being a woman in a wheelchair.  

July is also National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, which is meant to bring awareness to the unique struggles that racial and ethnic communities face in the United States. 

Heavy: An American Memoir, by Kiese Laymon Aptly titled, Heavy details violence, grief, abuse related to the author’s struggle with an eating disorder and gambling addictions. Generational trauma and systematic racism play out in one person’s life and body as detailed in storytelling, reflection, and conversations in this essay collection. 

The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays, by Esmé Weijun Wang Wang is a former lab researcher at Stanford who was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. She uses both research and personal experience in this essay collection on labels, the medical community, mental health, and how society deals with complex issues related to schizophrenia. 

I Hope We Choose Love: A Trans Girl's Notes from the End of the World, by Kai Cheng Thom Based in transformative justice, this book is about social justice movements with a focus on healing, nuance, and love. These essays are a compassionate and passionate plea for creating a more just and responsive society, with a focus on better mental health treatment systems and supports.  

Check out these titles and more from the Core Collections. You can see the other blog in the Essay Core Collection Series Almost Anything About Almost Everything below: 

Essays In Remembrance: Almost Everything About Almost Anything

Essays by Women: Almost Everything About Almost Anything

Essays for AA.NH/PI Heritage Month: Almost Everything About Almost Anything  

Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, the 31 literary devices you must know.

General Education

Need to analyze The Scarlet Letter or To Kill a Mockingbird for English class, but fumbling for the right vocabulary and concepts for literary devices? You've come to the right place. To successfully interpret and analyze literary texts, you'll first need to have a solid foundation in literary terms and their definitions.

In this article, we'll help you get familiar with most commonly used literary devices in prose and poetry. We'll give you a clear definition of each of the terms we discuss along with examples of literary elements and the context in which they most often appear (comedic writing, drama, or other).

Before we get to the list of literary devices, however, we have a quick refresher on what literary devices are and how understanding them will help you analyze works of literature.

What Are Literary Devices and Why Should You Know Them?

Literary devices are techniques that writers use to create a special and pointed effect in their writing, to convey information, or to help readers understand their writing on a deeper level.

Often, literary devices are used in writing for emphasis or clarity. Authors will also use literary devices to get readers to connect more strongly with either a story as a whole or specific characters or themes.

So why is it important to know different literary devices and terms? Aside from helping you get good grades on your literary analysis homework, there are several benefits to knowing the techniques authors commonly use.

Being able to identify when different literary techniques are being used helps you understand the motivation behind the author's choices. For example, being able to identify symbols in a story can help you figure out why the author might have chosen to insert these focal points and what these might suggest in regard to her attitude toward certain characters, plot points, and events.

In addition, being able to identify literary devices can make a written work's overall meaning or purpose clearer to you. For instance, let's say you're planning to read (or re-read) The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. By knowing that this particular book is a religious allegory with references to Christ (represented by the character Aslan) and Judas (represented by Edmund), it will be clearer to you why Lewis uses certain language to describe certain characters and why certain events happen the way they do.

Finally, literary techniques are important to know because they make texts more interesting and more fun to read. If you were to read a novel without knowing any literary devices, chances are you wouldn't be able to detect many of the layers of meaning interwoven into the story via different techniques.

Now that we've gone over why you should spend some time learning literary devices, let's take a look at some of the most important literary elements to know.

List of Literary Devices: 31 Literary Terms You Should Know

Below is a list of literary devices, most of which you'll often come across in both prose and poetry. We explain what each literary term is and give you an example of how it's used. This literary elements list is arranged in alphabetical order.

An allegory is a story that is used to represent a more general message about real-life (historical) issues and/or events. It is typically an entire book, novel, play, etc.

Example: George Orwell's dystopian book Animal Farm is an allegory for the events preceding the Russian Revolution and the Stalinist era in early 20th century Russia. In the story, animals on a farm practice animalism, which is essentially communism. Many characters correspond to actual historical figures: Old Major represents both the founder of communism Karl Marx and the Russian communist leader Vladimir Lenin; the farmer, Mr. Jones, is the Russian Czar; the boar Napoleon stands for Joseph Stalin; and the pig Snowball represents Leon Trotsky.

Alliteration

Alliteration is a series of words or phrases that all (or almost all) start with the same sound. These sounds are typically consonants to give more stress to that syllable. You'll often come across alliteration in poetry, titles of books and poems ( Jane Austen is a fan of this device, for example—just look at Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility ), and tongue twisters.

Example: "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers." In this tongue twister, the "p" sound is repeated at the beginning of all major words.

Allusion is when an author makes an indirect reference to a figure, place, event, or idea originating from outside the text. Many allusions make reference to previous works of literature or art.

Example: "Stop acting so smart—it's not like you're Einstein or something." This is an allusion to the famous real-life theoretical physicist Albert Einstein.

Anachronism

An anachronism occurs when there is an (intentional) error in the chronology or timeline of a text. This could be a character who appears in a different time period than when he actually lived, or a technology that appears before it was invented. Anachronisms are often used for comedic effect.

Example: A Renaissance king who says, "That's dope, dude!" would be an anachronism, since this type of language is very modern and not actually from the Renaissance period.

Anaphora is when a word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of multiple sentences throughout a piece of writing. It's used to emphasize the repeated phrase and evoke strong feelings in the audience.

Example: A famous example of anaphora is Winston Churchill's "We Shall Fight on the Beaches" speech. Throughout this speech, he repeats the phrase "we shall fight" while listing numerous places where the British army will continue battling during WWII. He did this to rally both troops and the British people and to give them confidence that they would still win the war.

Anthropomorphism

An anthropomorphism occurs when something nonhuman, such as an animal, place, or inanimate object, behaves in a human-like way.

Example: Children's cartoons have many examples of anthropomorphism. For example, Mickey and Minnie Mouse can speak, wear clothes, sing, dance, drive cars, etc. Real mice can't do any of these things, but the two mouse characters behave much more like humans than mice.

Asyndeton is when the writer leaves out conjunctions (such as "and," "or," "but," and "for") in a group of words or phrases so that the meaning of the phrase or sentence is emphasized. It is often used for speeches since sentences containing asyndeton can have a powerful, memorable rhythm.

Example: Abraham Lincoln ends the Gettysburg Address with the phrase "...and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the Earth." By leaving out certain conjunctions, he ends the speech on a more powerful, melodic note.

Colloquialism

Colloquialism is the use of informal language and slang. It's often used by authors to lend a sense of realism to their characters and dialogue. Forms of colloquialism include words, phrases, and contractions that aren't real words (such as "gonna" and "ain't").

Example: "Hey, what's up, man?" This piece of dialogue is an example of a colloquialism, since it uses common everyday words and phrases, namely "what's up" and "man."

An epigraph is when an author inserts a famous quotation, poem, song, or other short passage or text at the beginning of a larger text (e.g., a book, chapter, etc.). An epigraph is typically written by a different writer (with credit given) and used as a way to introduce overarching themes or messages in the work. Some pieces of literature, such as Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick , incorporate multiple epigraphs throughout.

Example: At the beginning of Ernest Hemingway's book The Sun Also Rises is an epigraph that consists of a quotation from poet Gertrude Stein, which reads, "You are all a lost generation," and a passage from the Bible.

Epistrophe is similar to anaphora, but in this case, the repeated word or phrase appears at the end of successive statements. Like anaphora, it is used to evoke an emotional response from the audience.

Example: In Lyndon B. Johnson's speech, "The American Promise," he repeats the word "problem" in a use of epistrophe: "There is no Negro problem. There is no Southern problem. There is no Northern problem. There is only an American problem."

A euphemism is when a more mild or indirect word or expression is used in place of another word or phrase that is considered harsh, blunt, vulgar, or unpleasant.

Example: "I'm so sorry, but he didn't make it." The phrase "didn't make it" is a more polite and less blunt way of saying that someone has died.

A flashback is an interruption in a narrative that depicts events that have already occurred, either before the present time or before the time at which the narration takes place. This device is often used to give the reader more background information and details about specific characters, events, plot points, and so on.

Example: Most of the novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë is a flashback from the point of view of the housekeeper, Nelly Dean, as she engages in a conversation with a visitor named Lockwood. In this story, Nelly narrates Catherine Earnshaw's and Heathcliff's childhoods, the pair's budding romance, and their tragic demise.

Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is when an author indirectly hints at—through things such as dialogue, description, or characters' actions—what's to come later on in the story. This device is often used to introduce tension to a narrative.

Example: Say you're reading a fictionalized account of Amelia Earhart. Before she embarks on her (what we know to be unfortunate) plane ride, a friend says to her, "Be safe. Wouldn't want you getting lost—or worse." This line would be an example of foreshadowing because it implies that something bad ("or worse") will happen to Earhart.

Hyperbole is an exaggerated statement that's not meant to be taken literally by the reader. It is often used for comedic effect and/or emphasis.

Example: "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse." The speaker will not literally eat an entire horse (and most likely couldn't ), but this hyperbole emphasizes how starved the speaker feels.

Imagery is when an author describes a scene, thing, or idea so that it appeals to our senses (taste, smell, sight, touch, or hearing). This device is often used to help the reader clearly visualize parts of the story by creating a strong mental picture.

Example: Here's an example of imagery taken from William Wordsworth's famous poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud":

When all at once I saw a crowd, A host of golden Daffodils; Beside the Lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Irony is when a statement is used to express an opposite meaning than the one literally expressed by it. There are three types of irony in literature:

• Verbal irony: When someone says something but means the opposite (similar to sarcasm).
• Situational irony: When something happens that's the opposite of what was expected or intended to happen.
• Dramatic irony: When the audience is aware of the true intentions or outcomes, while the characters are not . As a result, certain actions and/or events take on different meanings for the audience than they do for the characters involved.
• Verbal irony: One example of this type of irony can be found in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado." In this short story, a man named Montresor plans to get revenge on another man named Fortunato. As they toast, Montresor says, "And I, Fortunato—I drink to your long life." This statement is ironic because we the readers already know by this point that Montresor plans to kill Fortunato.
• Situational irony: A girl wakes up late for school and quickly rushes to get there. As soon as she arrives, though, she realizes that it's Saturday and there is no school.
• Dramatic irony: In William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet , Romeo commits suicide in order to be with Juliet; however, the audience (unlike poor Romeo) knows that Juliet is not actually dead—just asleep.

Juxtaposition

Juxtaposition is the comparing and contrasting of two or more different (usually opposite) ideas, characters, objects, etc. This literary device is often used to help create a clearer picture of the characteristics of one object or idea by comparing it with those of another.

Example: One of the most famous literary examples of juxtaposition is the opening passage from Charles Dickens' novel A Tale of Two Cities :

"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 …"

Malapropism

Malapropism happens when an incorrect word is used in place of a word that has a similar sound. This misuse of the word typically results in a statement that is both nonsensical and humorous; as a result, this device is commonly used in comedic writing.

Example: "I just can't wait to dance the flamingo!" Here, a character has accidentally called the flamenco (a type of dance) the flamingo (an animal).

Metaphor/Simile

Metaphors are when ideas, actions, or objects are described in non-literal terms. In short, it's when an author compares one thing to another. The two things being described usually share something in common but are unalike in all other respects.

A simile is a type of metaphor in which an object, idea, character, action, etc., is compared to another thing using the words "as" or "like."

Both metaphors and similes are often used in writing for clarity or emphasis.

"What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun." In this line from Romeo and Juliet , Romeo compares Juliet to the sun. However, because Romeo doesn't use the words "as" or "like," it is not a simile—just a metaphor.

"She is as vicious as a lion." Since this statement uses the word "as" to make a comparison between "she" and "a lion," it is a simile.

A metonym is when a related word or phrase is substituted for the actual thing to which it's referring. This device is usually used for poetic or rhetorical effect .

Example: "The pen is mightier than the sword." This statement, which was coined by Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839, contains two examples of metonymy: "the pen" refers to "the written word," and "the sword" refers to "military force/violence."

Mood is the general feeling the writer wants the audience to have. The writer can achieve this through description, setting, dialogue, and word choice .

Example: Here's a passage from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit: "It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats -- the hobbit was fond of visitors." In this passage, Tolkien uses detailed description to set create a cozy, comforting mood. From the writing, you can see that the hobbit's home is well-cared for and designed to provide comfort.

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is a word (or group of words) that represents a sound and actually resembles or imitates the sound it stands for. It is often used for dramatic, realistic, or poetic effect.

Examples: Buzz, boom, chirp, creak, sizzle, zoom, etc.

An oxymoron is a combination of two words that, together, express a contradictory meaning. This device is often used for emphasis, for humor, to create tension, or to illustrate a paradox (see next entry for more information on paradoxes).

Examples: Deafening silence, organized chaos, cruelly kind, insanely logical, etc.

A paradox is a statement that appears illogical or self-contradictory but, upon investigation, might actually be true or plausible.

Note that a paradox is different from an oxymoron: a paradox is an entire phrase or sentence, whereas an oxymoron is a combination of just two words.

Example: Here's a famous paradoxical sentence: "This statement is false." If the statement is true, then it isn't actually false (as it suggests). But if it's false, then the statement is true! Thus, this statement is a paradox because it is both true and false at the same time.

Personification

Personification is when a nonhuman figure or other abstract concept or element is described as having human-like qualities or characteristics. (Unlike anthropomorphism where non-human figures become human-like characters, with personification, the object/figure is simply described as being human-like.) Personification is used to help the reader create a clearer mental picture of the scene or object being described.

Example: "The wind moaned, beckoning me to come outside." In this example, the wind—a nonhuman element—is being described as if it is human (it "moans" and "beckons").

Repetition is when a word or phrase is written multiple times, usually for the purpose of emphasis. It is often used in poetry (for purposes of rhythm as well).

Example: When Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the score for the hit musical Hamilton, gave his speech at the 2016 Tony's, he recited a poem he'd written that included the following line:

And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love cannot be killed or swept aside.

Satire is genre of writing that criticizes something , such as a person, behavior, belief, government, or society. Satire often employs irony, humor, and hyperbole to make its point.

Example: The Onion is a satirical newspaper and digital media company. It uses satire to parody common news features such as opinion columns, editorial cartoons, and click bait headlines.

A type of monologue that's often used in dramas, a soliloquy is when a character speaks aloud to himself (and to the audience), thereby revealing his inner thoughts and feelings.

Example: In Romeo and Juliet , Juliet's speech on the balcony that begins with, "O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?" is a soliloquy, as she is speaking aloud to herself (remember that she doesn't realize Romeo's there listening!).

Symbolism refers to the use of an object, figure, event, situation, or other idea in a written work to represent something else— typically a broader message or deeper meaning that differs from its literal meaning.

The things used for symbolism are called "symbols," and they'll often appear multiple times throughout a text, sometimes changing in meaning as the plot progresses.

Example: In F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby , the green light that sits across from Gatsby's mansion symbolizes Gatsby's hopes and dreams .

A synecdoche is a literary device in which part of something is used to represent the whole, or vice versa. It's similar to a metonym (see above); however, a metonym doesn't have to represent the whole—just something associated with the word used.

Example: "Help me out, I need some hands!" In this case, "hands" is being used to refer to people (the whole human, essentially).

While mood is what the audience is supposed to feel, tone is the writer or narrator's attitude towards a subject . A good writer will always want the audience to feel the mood they're trying to evoke, but the audience may not always agree with the narrator's tone, especially if the narrator is an unsympathetic character or has viewpoints that differ from those of the reader.

Example: In an essay disdaining Americans and some of the sites they visit as tourists, Rudyard Kipling begins with the line, "Today I am in the Yellowstone Park, and I wish I were dead." If you enjoy Yellowstone and/or national parks, you may not agree with the author's tone in this piece.

How to Identify and Analyze Literary Devices: 4 Tips

In order to fully interpret pieces of literature, you have to understand a lot about literary devices in the texts you read. Here are our top tips for identifying and analyzing different literary techniques:

Tip 1: Read Closely and Carefully

First off, you'll need to make sure that you're reading very carefully. Resist the temptation to skim or skip any sections of the text. If you do this, you might miss some literary devices being used and, as a result, will be unable to accurately interpret the text.

If there are any passages in the work that make you feel especially emotional, curious, intrigued, or just plain interested, check that area again for any literary devices at play.

It's also a good idea to reread any parts you thought were confusing or that you didn't totally understand on a first read-through. Doing this ensures that you have a solid grasp of the passage (and text as a whole) and will be able to analyze it appropriately.

Tip 2: Memorize Common Literary Terms

You won't be able to identify literary elements in texts if you don't know what they are or how they're used, so spend some time memorizing the literary elements list above. Knowing these (and how they look in writing) will allow you to more easily pinpoint these techniques in various types of written works.

Tip 3: Know the Author's Intended Audience

Knowing what kind of audience an author intended her work to have can help you figure out what types of literary devices might be at play.

For example, if you were trying to analyze a children's book, you'd want to be on the lookout for child-appropriate devices, such as repetition and alliteration.

Tip 4: Take Notes and Bookmark Key Passages and Pages

This is one of the most important tips to know, especially if you're reading and analyzing works for English class. As you read, take notes on the work in a notebook or on a computer. Write down any passages, paragraphs, conversations, descriptions, etc., that jump out at you or that contain a literary device you were able to identify.

You can also take notes directly in the book, if possible (but don't do this if you're borrowing a book from the library!). I recommend circling keywords and important phrases, as well as starring interesting or particularly effective passages and paragraphs.

Lastly, use sticky notes or post-its to bookmark pages that are interesting to you or that have some kind of notable literary device. This will help you go back to them later should you need to revisit some of what you've found for a paper you plan to write.

What's Next?

Looking for more in-depth explorations and examples of literary devices? Join us as we delve into imagery , personification , rhetorical devices , tone words and mood , and different points of view in literature, as well as some more poetry-specific terms like assonance and iambic pentameter .

Reading The Great Gatsby for class or even just for fun? Then you'll definitely want to check out our expert guides on the biggest themes in this classic book, from love and relationships to money and materialism .

Got questions about Arthur Miller's The Crucible ? Read our in-depth articles to learn about the most important themes in this play and get a complete rundown of all the characters .

For more information on your favorite works of literature, take a look at our collection of high-quality book guides and our guide to the 9 literary elements that appear in every story !

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Hannah received her MA in Japanese Studies from the University of Michigan and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California. From 2013 to 2015, she taught English in Japan via the JET Program. She is passionate about education, writing, and travel.

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Brain 2023 essay competition.

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Masud Husain, Brain 2023 essay competition, Brain , Volume 146, Issue 7, July 2023, Page 2657, https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awad160

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The response to our inaugural essay competition last year was remarkable. The impressive quality of submissions and diversity of subjects considered by the authors—who included researchers, clinicians, patients, carers, as well as people who have no immediate link to neurology—was extraordinary. The thoughtful and sometimes moving nature of those essays have encouraged us to launch a new competition this year.

We seek writing that stimulates, provokes and makes our readers reflect. We emphasize that essays for Brain are NOT scientific articles. Nor are they academic pieces, but rather writing that provides a broader perspective on life for the general reader. Essays do NOT have to focus on neurological topics or the brain but they should make our readers reflect. They can be opinionated, entertaining or amusing, but most importantly, they should be enlightening, illuminating some aspect of the human condition, and written well.

The best submissions will be published in our Essay section, highlighted on Brain’s website and social media, and made freely available to all readers. Last year’s winning essay was published in the January 2023 issue of Brain, while the two runners-up had their submissions published in February and March of the journal.

What are we looking for in an essay? Aldous Huxley famously began the Preface to his Collected Essays (1960) with: ‘What is true of the novel is only a little less true for the essay. For, like the novel, the essay is a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything’. According to Huxley, essays often focus either on the personal or autobiographical; or the objective or factual; or the abstract and universal. ‘Most essayists are at home and at their best in the neighbourhood of only one.’ However, he concluded: ‘The most richly satisfying essays are those which make the best not of one, not of two, but of all the three worlds in which it is possible for the essay to exist. Freely, effortlessly, thought and feeling move … from the personal to the universal, from the abstract back to the concrete, from the objective datum to the inner experience’.

We want an essay to be a coherent, carefully crafted piece of writing that aspires to achieve all these elements, providing an absorbing experience that stays with our readers long after they have enjoyed the text.

If you’re interested to submit an essay, or know someone who does, please read the following carefully :

This competition is open to anyone who would like to write an essay.

Essays have a limit of 2000 words. Please provide a word count at the end of the text.

Essays do not have an abstract but must have an introductory paragraph (∼100 words) to set the scene or summarize the contents for the reader.

Ideally, they don’t have subheadings but could have breaks within the text to divide up sections.

To reiterate, Essays are NOT scientific articles or academic texts. They do not have to cover neurological topics. They are supposed to stimulate, provoke and make our readers reflect.

If necessary, you can add up to 10 references, but Essays don’t have to have any references.

Please consider adding up to two images, ideally without copyright, to accompany your text.

Submit your text to the Brain pre-submission email address: [email protected]

Please DO NOT put your name, affiliation or any other information that can identify you anywhere on the text. Submissions will be judged by a panel that is blind to who you are or where you come from.

Only one submission per author is allowed.

All the information you need is provided here—if you read the text carefully. Please don’t send in further questions about the competition.

Deadline for submission: 15 October 2023.

We’re very much looking forward to reading your essays.

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