Analyzing Edgar Allen Poe's 'Things Fall Apart'
Literary Term | Example | Analysis | 1. Metaphor | “those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside” | This allows the author to be critical of communism without attacking it directly. The metaphor also leaves an emotional impact while admonishing the influence of communism. This successfully achieves the author’s purpose circuitously. | 2. Antithesis | “If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich” | The juxtaposition of these two contrasting ideas draws more attention to them. The author states that if a society cannot assist the impoverished; it has no chance of saving the affluent. This creates a subtle emotional impact as well as leaving the reader empathetic. |
3. Allusion | “To our sister republics in the hits and villages across the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery” | Alluding to the “sister republics” allows the writer to refer to the countries south of the border without dictating them specifically. The reason he does this is so that he does not reference any individual country as being destitute so as to retain as essence of tact. | 4. Asyndeton | “…shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose an foe, in order to assure the survival and success of liberty” | The use of asyndeton speeds up speech. This in turn gives more impact to the words in the sentence. It achieves the author’s purpose by giving his words a sense of veracity and emotional impact. | 5. Parallelism | “Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce” | Parallelism improves writing style and readability of a piece of rhetoric. That is exactly what it is doing in this instance, while also accomplishing the author’s goal of listing the “wonders” of science. | 6. Antimetabole | “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country” | Antimetabole allows for the author to use the same words in two independent clauses, but in reverse order. Both clauses complement each other and aid to the overall meaning of the sentence. This creates a more effective sentence and allows for appeals to both pathos and ethos. |
3. Allusion | “To our sister republics in the hits and villages across the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery” | Alluding to the “sister republics” allows the writer to refer to the countries south of the border without dictating them specifically. The reason he does this is so that he does not reference any individual country as being destitute so as to retain as essence of tact. | 4. Asyndeton | “…shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose an foe, in order to assure the survival and success of liberty” | The use of asyndeton speeds up speech. This in turn gives more impact to the words in the sentence. It achieves the author’s purpose by giving his words a sense of veracity and emotional impact. | 5. Parallelism | “Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce” | Parallelism improves writing style and readability of a piece of rhetoric. That is exactly what it is doing in this instance, while also accomplishing the author’s goal of listing the “wonders” of science. | 6. Antimetabole | “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country” | Antimetabole allows for the author to use the same words in two independent clauses, but in reverse order. Both clauses complement each other and aid to the overall meaning of the sentence. This creates a more effective sentence and allows for appeals to both pathos and ethos. |