19
votes
Is there a name for the literary device in the expression "Thanks, I hate it."?
The word “thanks” is not intended sincerely, so this is irony:
irony, n. 1.a. The expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or ...
- 53.5k
13
votes
Is there a name for the literary device in the expression "Thanks, I hate it."?
I'd say "sarcasm", rather than "irony", though perhaps the language has drifted since I was younger.
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10
votes
What is the term for a literary reference which is intended to be understood by only one other person?
Unless there's a more specific term that I'm not aware of, you might be thinking of shibboleth:
A shibboleth is any custom or tradition, usually a choice of phrasing or even a single word, that ...
- 71.1k
5
votes
Literary devices in "Thou wouldst be great" et cetera in Macbeth
There are several literary devices and stylistic peculiarities in the lines spoken by Lady Macbeth:
The first one is an asyndeton, which Baldick defines as "a form of verbal compression which ...
- 44k
5
votes
Accepted
'Wild-bee hours' and 'wild-parrot days' in Sarojini Naidu's "A Rajput Love Song"
This is a kind of double hypallage, “a figure of speech in which there is an interchange of two elements of a proposition”.
So, for example, the first line:
Haste, O wild-bee hours, to the gardens of ...
- 53.5k
4
votes
What figure of speech is "trèfles de braise" in "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame"?
Perhaps the phrase can be regarded as a transferred epithet or hypallage. Hypallage is a figure of speech wherein a descriptor (epithet) appropriate to a certain noun is applied (transferred) to a ...
- 22.1k
4
votes
What figure of speech is "trèfles de braise" in "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame"?
The figure of speech is a metaphor.
One definition of metaphor is:
A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.
Since what ...
- 11.7k
4
votes
What is the term for a literary reference which is intended to be understood by only one other person?
Promoting my comment up, innuendo could work as well.
1a : an oblique allusion : HINT, INSINUATION
especially : a veiled or equivocal reflection on character or reputation
Of note, the d20 system ...
- 10.3k
3
votes
Accepted
Is there a term for the final step an author takes when they "prove" a theme by assigning a reward or tragedy on a character?
The term you are looking for may be epimythium. When a similar lesson is given before the fable, it is called promythium. There is a difference between these two terms and the better-known term moral. ...
- 44k
2
votes
Can plot development analysis (climax, denouement, etc.) apply to smaller segments throughout a work?
In the abstract sense, storytelling is a fairly fractal craft, so you can zoom in and see smaller versions of the same structures at work at finer levels. The book itself has a climax, and so do ...
- 101
2
votes
Is there a term for the final step an author takes when they "prove" a theme by assigning a reward or tragedy on a character?
For fables and texts with fairly explicit messages, I would call that the moral.
I don't know if there is another, more explicit, word for the point in the story where the author emphasizes the moral. ...
- 11.7k
2
votes
Name for device in "Possessions" by Hart Crane?
A similar device is the basis of a traditional/anonymous British 17th century semi-nonsense poem, probably the one recalled by Peter Shor in comments:
I saw a Peacock with a fiery tail
I saw a ...
1
vote
How does the figure of “dropping oil to catch the air-borne motes” work in George Eliot’s “The Spanish Gypsy”?
As I understand it your question is seeking an explanation of the metaphor of dropping the oil to catch the airborne motes and relating it to what Isidor might have done in reality to effect his ill ...
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