Literary Devices In Rita Dove's For The Love Of Books

Literary devices are the influential component of writing. A large number of writers use literary devices to create special effects in their writing pieces. Imagery, a popular literary device, causes readers to visualize a situation in their mind. Writers also exploit literary devices to support their thesis and purpose. For instance, in On The Mindless Menace of Violence, Robert F. Kennedy uses literary devices to draw attention to the effects of violence and encourage people to revolt against the scourge of violence. In For The Love of Books, Rita Dove employs literary devices to emphasize that her love of reading influenced her future career as a writer. Therefore, both Kennedy and Dove use distinctive literary devices to give particular

prominence to their specific purpose.
In On The Mindless Menace of Violence, Kennedy incorporates hyperbole and compare- and-contrast to accentuate that people should stand against violence. In the essay, Kennedy proves his point on violence using hyperbole. For example, Kennedy states, "I have saved this one opportunity to speak briefly to you about this mindless menace of violence in America which again stains our land and everyone of our lives." (Kennedy 1) Hyperbole is an exaggerated statement that is not meant to be taken directly. Violence does not literally stains the land and people but using it as hyperbole, the effect of violence has underlined. It stresses readers about the consequence of violence which they have to overcome. Moreover, Kennedy uses compare and contrast in his essay to articulate that people have to stand against violence. It is evident when he says, "The victims of the violence are black and white, rich and poor, young and old, famous and unknown." (Kennedy 1) He compiles a list of vocabularies with their antonyms. For example, he compares and contrasts black to white, which are two opposite vocabularies. The usage of compare and contrast shows that everyone, no matter of their race, social status, age and popularity, has a possibility to become a victim of violence. This clearly highlights the hazardous aspect of violence that people must stand united against it. Thus, Kennedy uses certain literary devices in his essay to accentuate his purpose as well as his thesis.
Furthermore, in For The Love of Books, Dove makes use of hyperbole and personal anecdote to emphasize that she loves reading books and it affects on her future career.

In her essay, she demonstrates her affection in reading using hyperbole. Dove states, "In books, I can travel anywhere, be anybody, understand worlds long past and imaginary colonies in the past." (8) This definitely shows the benefit and the reason why she loves reading books. In reality, she is unable to travel anywhere and become anyone while she reads. However, the usage of hyperbole magnifies the advantages of it and let readers comprehend the reason why she loves reading with ease. In addition, Dove employs personal anecdote to substantiate that she highly value reading books from her earliest days. She says, "What I remember most about long summer days is browsing the bookshelves in our solarium to see if there were any additions." (8) She reveals her experience as an adolescent during her summer vacation. Her personal life experience of searching additional writing pieces in the bookshelves clearly represents that she was fascinated by reading since childhood. This usage of personal anecdote adds personal dimension in an essay and this causes readers to be amused with it and better understand the writer's point of view. Since Dove uses distinctive literary devices in demonstrating her affection in reading, readers can clearly appreciate its impact to her career as a

writer.
Undoubtedly, both Robert F. Kennedy and Rita Dove incorporate unique literary devices in their writing pieces. Literary devices are used to produce special effects and to achieve their purpose in the writing. Robert F. Kennedy uses hyperbole and compare-and-contrast methods to emphasize his idea on revolt against violence. Rita Dove makes use of hyperbole and personal anecdote in her piece to highlight the effect of her love of reading books to her future career. Literary devices certainly improves the quality of writing and support thesis and purpose in writing.