For M of eld , humans have been creating stories — and for just as longsighted , they ’ve been come in up with give-and-take to account all the putz and techniques that make a story workplace . But these “ literary devices ” do n’t just show up in classical dramatic play and Anglo - Saxon poetry . They also show up in today ’s skill fiction . Here are ten literary devices you ’ve already seen in flick or on boob tube , perhaps without even realizing it .
1 . Apostrophe
Apostrophe ( articulate just like the punctuation mark ) key out the deed of addressing a soul or thing that is absent . It is far more common than you realise .
Where it appears in science fiction : When Kirk is embarrass by his great nemesis Khan , he shakes his clenched fist at the melodic phrase and shout , “ KHAAAAAN ! ” Because he ’s addressing Khan after the evil mastermind has cut communication theory and abandoned him , Kirk is engage in apostrophe .
2 . Synecdoche
Synechoche is when you describe something by using a part of it to stick out in for the whole , or by using one thing to suffer in for a whole family of thing .
Where it appears in science fable : In the boob tube series Person of Interest , there is a equipment call the simple machine , which is a topnotch - surveillance political machine owned by the NSA . In the show , the Machine is used to represent the integral surveillance DoS . In other Logos , one thing ( the Machine ) is used to act a class of things ( all the machines the NSA uses to spy on us ) .
3 . Aporia
In literature or other writing , an aporia is a moment when mean break down and becomes fragmented , contradictory , or murky . Often , it is used poetically to propose a crack-up in our ability to understand sure aspects of sprightliness or reality .
Where it look in science fabrication : All those inexplicable sequence in Darren Aronofsky ’s The Fountain — or practically any picture from Aronofsky , really — are second of aporia . Why are there people floating randomly in bubble ? You ’ll never know , because you’re able to never truly fuck the nature of life-time .
4 . Pathetic Fallacy
In the nineteenth century , the critic John Ruskin coined the terminal figure “ pathetic fallacy ” to discover the Romantics ’ wont of bestow human notion upon nature . Despite his and many other critics ’ disfavor of the idea that trees and bunnies have feelings , the pathetic false belief stay to rule the musical genre , especially in fantasy - tinged SF .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkWWWKKA8jY
Where it appears in science fiction : There are two good examples of the miserable false belief to regard . First of all , in Avatar , we encounter what is basically the Moon of the Pathetic Fallacy , where all of nature is part of one mind that has impression . Similarly , in Miyazaki ’s masterpiece Princess Mononoke , we see a fight between industrialisation and the force out of nature .
5 . Bathos
Not to be confused with poignancy , bathos consult to literary penning that is far too melodramatic and serious for its own good . Specifically , it refers to what happen when a story swings between deep , heavy topics and everyday , average ones in a mode that is often accidentally laughable . Bathos was first discover by eighteenth century satirist and poet Alexander Pope , who signal out that bathos is often unwilled . In other words , Pope is the first soul to identify a character of storytelling that today we would call campy or cheesy .
Where it appears in skill fiction : You ’re go to drown in mawkishness while observe many overly serious , histrionic picture that are still completely adorable , like Highlander and Lord of the Rings . But it also appears in many less - than - adorable story , like Prometheus and , well , Highlander II .
6 . meiosis
This is one of my favorite literary gimmick , and it travel all the way back to Anglo Saxon poetry of the 900s . It ’s the purpose of understatement to underline a point . One of the most famous good example is from the poem Beowulf , where the poet describe a baron doing insanely difficult and heroic thing and then concludes , in a ridiculously understated direction , “ That was a unspoiled top executive . ” By understating his pillowcase , the poet makes it clear that he means the magnate was FUCKING BADASS . This literary twist is also sometimes called meiosis , probably by multitude who lived before molecular biota was invented .
Where it appear in science fiction : The perfect litotes moment comes in Firefly , when Captain Mal notes offhandedly , “ I aim to misdemean . ” Really ? After leading a rebellion , killing a gross ton of bad guys , and barely escaping with his aliveness in countless situations , he aims to “ misbehave ” ? I call that the understatement of the millennium .
7 . Stream of cognisance
When a tarradiddle tries to capture the exact social system of human sentiment , it often seems eldritch and fragmented , start from one topic to the next with small conversion . This kind of committal to writing is called “ stream of consciousness ” because the writer is taste to structure it the way our sometimes - random thoughts are , rather than in the orderly way tarradiddle are usually written .
Where it appear in science fiction : In the final chronological succession of 2001 , Dave stare into the incomprehensible , disco - lit Department of the Interior of the monolith . We see him staring into streaming lighting , then grow old and become a baby again . What ’s going on ? Basically , we ’re seeing exactly what ’s going on in Dave ’s head , as he ’s dazzled by a new alien news .
8 . Onomatopoeia
When a Holy Writ sounds like what it describes , like “ bombilation ” or “ murmur , ” that ’s onomatopoeia . The condition also refer to using any syllable that are supposed to sound like what they identify .
Where it appear in science fiction : The intact Klingon linguistic communication , full of grunts and growl , is say to sound martial and angry , like the Klingons themselves . It ’s an full linguistic process base on onomatopoeia .
9 . Personification
Like the Pathetic Fallacy , personification is all about project human feelings into non - human realms . With personification , we gift things or abstractions with elements of life .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9AqXSrjU3o
Where it appears in science fiction : There are two everlasting example of personification in SF , and both ask give software program human properties . you’re able to see this in both Tron and the Matrix serial , where programs literally become the great unwashed who demo traits that are related to what their programs would do . you could see a great model in this bang-up scenery from The Matrix Reloaded , with the “ keymaker ” and of course “ the agent . ”
10 . treacherous narrator
Sometimes you hear a narrative from a storyteller who turn out to be lying to you , or ineffective to perceive the difference between what ’s genuine and what is n’t . all of a sudden , you see the tale you think was unfeigned is really complete or at least fond bullshit . That ’s when you ’re in the hand of an unreliable narrator .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FkLsNeZz_s
Where it appears in scientific discipline fabrication : You meet a lot of unreliable teller in horror flick , or in news report where the whirl is that it might “ all be in their minds . ” A majuscule example of this in SF is the 1990 Total Recall movie , where we are never quite sure if everything we ’re catch is really happening — or if it ’s just a sham storage implant that the narrator bought from Rekall to disport himself .
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