Understanding and Analyzing Four Literary Terms/Devices

Literary; associated with literary works or other formal writing; having a marked style intended to create a particular emotional effect. Term; a word or phrase used to describe a thing or to express a concept, especially in a particular kind of language or branch of study. Device; a thing made or adapted for a particular purpose. Literary terms/devices is defined as the typical structures used by writers in their works to convey his or her messages in a simple manner to the readers. When employed properly, the different literary devices help readers to appreciate, interpret and analyze a literary work. Hello, I am Miya Cole and today I will explain to you my four literary terms/devices.

My First term/device is Memoir. Memoir, meaning memory or reminiscence, is a written factual

account of somebody’s life. A memoir is a type of autobiography, but instead of telling the whole life story of an individual it usually focuses on a more specific part of their life. I chose The Memoirs Of Sherlock Holmes for my example. The reason I chose this was because the whole book revolves around Sherlock Holmes and his crime fighting partner John Watson solving unusual murder and disappearances while consulting with the british police. “Quiet, Quiet Watson!” This Sherlock quote brings me to my next word.
My next word is Epizeuxis. Epizeuxis is the repetition of words or phrases in succession within a sentence to add emphasis. Epizeuxis is derived from the Greek word epizeugnumi that means “fastening together”. Epizeuxis is also defined as a rhetorical device. The example I chose was the song My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em’ Up) by Fall Out Boy. I chose this song because the singer, Patrick, repeats a few words throughout the song in succession to stress the words and add intensity to the song. When I say cliche, what's the first one that pops into your head?
My third literary term/device is Cliche.

Cliche refers to an expression that has been overused to a certain degree that it loses its original meaning. A cliche may also refer to actions or events that are predictable because of some previous events. I chose the cliche quote of “There are two types of people.” This helps depict a cliche because it’s been used so many different times and in so many different contexts that you don’t know what it even really means anymore. Something else you might not know is that there are six other people that look like you and to top it off you have a nine percent chance of meeting them.

That brings me to my fourth and final term/device which is doppelganger. Doppelganger means an apparition or double of a living person. The term is derived from the German language and literally translates into ‘double walker’. In literature, the Doppelganger is often figured as a twin, shadow, or mirror-image of the protagonist. I chose The Vampire Diaries as my example. The reason selected that TV show was because the main protagonist, Elena, had an evil doppelganger, Katherine, that tried to take over her life. So, which doppelganger are you, the good? Or the

evil?
So in a nutshell, Memoir is a autobiography of a certain time in an individual's life, epizeuxis is a repetitions of a word or phrase, a doppelganger is a twin usually with evil intent, and a cliche is a overused expression that lost its meaning. Thank you for listening and I hope you have learned something upon leaving this room. Again, thank you and have a good day.