Literary Devices

Imagery: The use of words to paint an image in the readers mind. The use of descriptive words to remind one of a specific sound or scent. Basically using words to make the reader feel like they are a part of the story, where they can smell, hear and see everything in a scene.
Eg. "... on the valley side the water is lined with trees -- willows fresh and green with every spring..."

Characterization: describing the nature of a character. Giving a character a distinct personality and 'character'.
Eg. "She had full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages."

Motif: a distinct pattern in literature or art. A design or pattern. OR a dominant idea/theme
Eg. The importance of having a friend, or the depression. I am not sure how to find an exact quote that would get this message across.


Foreshadowing: to give a glimpse of the future without actually stating it. A reference to the ominous future.
Eg. The fate of Candy's dog seems to somewhat foreshadow the fate of Candy himself. The dog is old and achy and needs to die, people don't want him around anymore. It think that this relates to Candy because he is also old, achy, and sooner or later will become useless and people wont want him around.

Zoomorphism: referring to an animal's mannerisms when talking about a human.
Eg. "...the girl lets out a squawk... Well, this girl squawks and squawks."

Suspense: a pause that is filled with tension and anticipation, when readers are sitting on the edge of their seats, just waiting to see what will happen next, sometimes they are scared but sometimes they are excited.
Eg. When the ranch Carlson left he bunkhouse to shoot Candy's dog and George starts to play cards with Whit: "They took places opposite each other at the table under the light, but George did not shuffle the cards. He rippled the edge of the deck nervously, and the little snapping noise drew the eyes of all the men in the room so that he stopped doing it. The silence fell on the room again."

Mood: The general feeling of a scene or entire book. An atmosphere or a specific context.
Eg. When Carlson went out to shoot Candy's dog, the bunkhouse seemed to have a sorrowful air about it. "The silence fell on the room again."

Round Characters: A character in a fictional story who is totally and completely described in every way possible by the author.
Eg. "The first man was small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features. Every part of him was defined: small, strong hands, slender arms, a thin and bony nose."This is the first description of George, this describes the physical aspect of his character, but later in the book he is described more thoroughly.

Flat Characters: A small character who does not change much throughout the story.
Eg. I think Curley's wife fits this description because she came in as a young woman who seemed trapped and desperate for attention, and she left as an ever so slightly older woman who seemed trapped and desperate for attention.

Character Foils: When an author has two characters who are very opposite to each other, this helps to bring out their characters.
Eg. "The first man was small and quick... Behind him walked his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face..."

Symbolism: the use or study of symbols.
Eg. I am not quite sure where Steinbeck used this, but a guess would be with George's card playing, it may have represented the fact that life is a game of chance, either you score big, or you don't.

Dialogue: a written conversation in which two or more characters or people are talking.
Eg. ""Glad to meet ya," the big man said. "My name's Carlson." "I'm George Milton. This here's Lennie Small.""

Setting: The place in which a story or event is set, or placed.
Eg. The main setting in Of Mice and Men is the ranch.

Theme: The general idea of a story, what the story is about.
Eg. "The white kids came to play at our place, an' sometimes I went to play with them, and some of them was pretty nice. My ol' man didn't like that. I never knew till long later why he didn't like that. But I know now."