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Red herring. In the mystery novel A Study in Scarlet, the detective Sherlock Holmes examines a clue which is later revealed to be intentionally misleading. A red herring is something that misleads or distracts from a relevant or important question. [1] It may be either a logical fallacy or a literary device that leads readers or audiences ...
The author uses narrative and stylistic devices to create the sense of an unedited interior monologue, characterized by leaps in syntax and punctuation that trace a character's fragmentary thoughts and sensory feelings. The outcome is a highly lucid perspective with a plot. Not to be confused with free writing. An example is Ulysses. At one ...
Plot twist. A plot twist is a literary technique that introduces a radical change in the direction or expected outcome of the plot in a work of fiction. [1] When it happens near the end of a story, it is known as a twist ending or surprise ending. [2] It may change the audience's perception of the preceding events, or introduce a new conflict ...
Foreshadowing is a narrative device in which a storyteller gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story. Foreshadowing often appears at the beginning of a story, and it helps develop or subvert the audience's expectations about upcoming events. [ 1 ][ 2 ] The writer may implement foreshadowing in many different ways such as ...
The use of a MacGuffin as a plot device predates the name MacGuffin. The Holy Grail of Arthurian legend has been cited as an early example of a MacGuffin. The Holy Grail is the desired object that is essential to initiate and advance the plot, but the final disposition of the Grail is never revealed, suggesting that the object is not of significance in itself. [8]
Hitchcock used this plot device extensively. Many of his suspense films use this device: a detail that, by inciting curiosity and desire, drives the plot and motivates the characters' actions within the story. However, the specific identity of the item is unimportant to the plot. State secrets of various kinds serve as MacGuffins in several of ...
A German rebus, circa 1620. A rebus (/ ˈriːbəs / REE-bəss) is a puzzle device that combines the use of illustrated pictures with individual letters to depict words or phrases. For example: the word "been" might be depicted by a rebus showing an illustrated bumblebee next to a plus sign (+) and the letter "n". It was a favourite form of ...
Irony, in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected. It typically figures as a rhetorical device and literary technique. In some philosophical contexts, however, it takes on a larger significance as an entire way of life.