Literary Devices - Essay Example

Literary devices are tools used to enhance clarity, effectiveness, and enjoyment, from reading literary work. Writers of fiction, drama, and poetry, use these tools to develop attitude, emotional mood, characterization, and settings. These tools are one of the most effective tools used by authors to persuade more expressively or draw mood more artfully. These tools are used to breathe life into literature, educate, entertain, and marvel the audience. This paper is an analysis of the use of literary tools in three written works, and how they are used to create more persuasion and conviction in the works.

Discussion

Sir Arthur Conan uses the literary device of mood to create suspense in the reader while going through “the hound of the Baskervilles.” The author develops a ghostly, unnatural, and supernatural mood right from the onset of the literature. For example, Dr. Mortimer is portrayed as acting in unnatural ways – for example, in his attempt to unveil the mysterious curse. This expresses a mood of ghostly nature to enhance suspense, as it is not human to be luminous (Doyle 11). Doyle (24) says, “There stood a foul thing, a great black beast, shaped like a hound” The foul thing is included to draw a fearful mood, to enhance the suspense. “To take on the father of evil himself would be too ambitious…you must admit the footprint was material (Doyle 37).”  This line seeks to develop a mood of fear, which enhances the suspense to read on. Through the three quotes, a supernatural mood is clearly depicted. For example, he writes of a black beast – shaped like a hound, yet larger than any hound ever seen. Through developing the mood of the story, Holmes is depicted as learning new supernatural experiences, which are used to heighten the suspense developed in the reader. Through the suspense developed in the reader, their interest to keep reading is grasped. This shows how mood is used to breathe more life into the story.

Pablo Neruda, in her poem “Alturas de Macchu Picchu,” presents different counts of imagery, which enhances the creativity of his work. The quote, “like a sword sheathed in meteors,” shows the imagery of earthly and heavenly objects. Also, this quote, “I plunged my turbulent and tender hand,” tries to create a picture of the author’s hand. The examples presented show that Neruda uses imagery to instill more creativity into his poems, which captivates his readers into his poetry (Hogan).

The literary device of tone, as portrayed in Sarojini Naidu's “The Call to Evening Prayer,” is used to complement the text – to depict the outlook of the author, as presented through the text. From the line, “give me each joy and pain,” he shows the sadness and depression felt, to the extent of expressing his readiness for pain and joy. The line, “spare me no bliss, no pang of strife (Naidu 1),” expresses the author's willingness to experience happy and stressful moments. The line, “And love shall burn thee like a fire, and pain shall cleanse the like a flame (Naidu 1),” clearly shows the author’s outlook when faced with good and bad experiences. The melancholic tone communicates the author’s feelings towards the subject, as presented through the text (Naidu 1).

Conclusion

Through the three artworks, the authors present the elements of mood, imagery, and tone, to create a clearer picture of the ideas being explained, in the mind of the reader. The examples clearly show how literary elements are used to instill more life into literary work. The different elements and their usage show that their usage cuts across the different types of literature, for example, poetry.