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Sunday, May 20, 2012

A couple of literary devices

A question of literary devices was raised by kid prepping for the English Regents. Looking for a comprehensive list, I found http://literary-devices.com. I like the contrasting terms: polysyndeton and asyndeton. The former is the term for adding in conjunction even where they usually would be absent, like "Tom and Dick and Harry," if you want to stress each one separately rather than presenting them as a collective unit. Asyndeton refers to dropping the conjunction for greater impact as in the expression, "Reduce, reuse, recycle." That could also account for the memorable quality of "We came, we saw, we conquered."  

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