Literary Techniques: What's the big Deal?

Much of what we read and comprehend is not literal; we infer much more than we think we do. Literary techniques are used to imply any number of things to a reader, so understanding them is an important for comprehending texts, writing texts, and writing about texts.

We might read the literal The man was angry and know that the man was angry. We might also read The man slammed his fist on the table and yelled. In the later sentence, we understand the man was angry, yet we don’t see the word angry anywhere in this sentence. This is because we are inferencing. The anger is implicit in the action—we can work it out for ourselves.

As demonstrated in earlier blogs, graphic organisers are invaluable tools for illustrating wordy concepts, so let’s use one to explain where literary techniques fit into this inferencing process and why English teachers bang on about them so much.

In a story, writers narrate the action and describe the various elements like the setting and characters. To do this they will swap between two basic strategies:

Writers can... BUT Writers can also...

tell show

specify imply

use literal language use figurative language

For example... For example...

Alisha tried to contain her Alisha clenched her jaw and squeezed her

anger. fist.

(descriptive verb)

Her anger swelled slowly like a distant

storm.

(simile)

Alisha’s fury was a lit match in a fireworks

factory.

(metaphor)

Rage threatened to overpower her, but

she’d go down fighting.

(personification)

As Lydia twirled in her cherry-coloured

dress, Alisha saw red.

(pun)

“You Alright?” asked Lydia. “Never better,”

replied Alisha through gritted teeth.

(irony)

Alisha’s blood temperature eclipsed boiling

point.

(hyperbole)

Alisha clenched one fist, then clenched the

other, then clenched her jaw.

(repetition)

Alisha was turning red; maybe she was ill,

thought Lydia.

(narrative Point-of-View)

Alisha’s big, bad wolf clawed her

insides.

(intertextuality)

Alisha quietly screamed.

(oxymoron)

As you can see, there are more options in the right column, and arguably they’re not only more interesting to read (and write), but can say a lot more. You can also avoid relying on a glut of adjectives and adverbs to make the description and narration more interesting.

Sometimes techniques can be combined. The alliteration of the ‘s’ sound in the simile example lends a more poetic bent to the sentence. The metaphor has a bit of punch because of the assonant ‘a’ in cracker, match, and factory. The Narrative POV is also ironic, because we know Alisha isn’t ill and weak, but angry. And the use of darker verbs or lighter puns to express Alisha’s state alters tone. The point is that there’s more subtle meanings when a technique is applied to show and imply, rather than simply state. And, of course, they reveal different aspects of the same situation; for example, we can also infer different intensities of anger in some examples.

These small differences can change a work markedly, and this is why writers select some techniques over others. Not all language is figurative and it shouldn’t be. Some things have to simply be said so the writer can move on and maintain pacing and flow. Although it certainly helps for authors to have more tools in their writer’s kit.

Finally, it's important to understand that writers do not use figurative language to tell us how characters are thinking and feeling or what we, as readers, should think and feel; rather, in varied and complex ways, figurative language is used to show us what characters think and feel and this influences what we think and feel about the story and its characters.

Have some fun using techniques to make your writing (or your students') more interesting. It's not just for fiction either, you can use literary techniques in essays too! Start with a 'tell' sentence and then apply different techniques to imply the same information. Use the column structure above as a guide if you need to.

Happy reading and writing.