The language knows many rhetorical stylistic means, which we can use to translate words into linguistic structures. However, it is sometimes quite difficult to determine the right stylistic means in a poem analysis or homework, and to use the variety of rhetorical means correctly.
Literary Devices
Rhetorical question
The rhetorical question is a stylistic device of rhetoric. Viewed externally, a rhetorical question does not differ from an ordinary question. The main difference is that it does not require an answer from the other. It assumes that the answer is obvious. Thus it can anticipate a statement and influence the conversation.
Rhapsode
As Rhapsode, especially in antiquity, a moving singer was called, who mostly spoke epic poetry (see literary genres) to the accompaniment of a string instrument. Often such rhapsoids were accompanied on the Phorminx, ie on a lyre from the first half of the first millennium BC, Which had six strings. They were particularly prominent in solemn ceremonies or festivals, and were characteristic of Homeric poetry, most of which were opened by an anthem supported by rhapses, dedicated to various gods. They were organized in so-called Rhapsodenschulen, but lost their importance in late-antiquity.
Reyen
As Reyen, also Reyhen, the choirs are described in the baroque trauerspiel, which filled the act to the next act. Such Reyen had the task to carry the gloomy or serious content of the baroque dramas and thus could promote the catharsis of the audience. They were mostly written in Alexandrians, and there are also examples which are based on the Iambus or Trochae. In contrast to the Greek model, that is, the chorus in the ancient drama, which served as a companion of the plot, they are rather loosely linked to the action.
Retarding moment
As a retarding moment we usually call a scene in the course of a drama. However, the retarding moment can also be found in other genera of literature. Particularly in the novella or ballad, there are absolutely comparable elements (→ literary genres).
Report
The reportage is a journalistic representation form and belongs, like the message, the comment, the report or the protocol, to the informative texts, as it is the main function of the reportage to inform its recipient (reader, listener, viewer) of any facts , A reportage is based on the immediate intuition of what has been said, which is made possible by the high visuality and real examples. While other journalistic texts predominantly distantly report, the reportage goes very close. The feature and the documentation are related.
Repeat
Repetition, also repetitio, is a stylistic device found in all literary genres. Repetition is the repeated naming of the same word or a sequence of words in the same verse or in a stanza as well as in a short text section. There are different ways in which the respective element can be repeated. However, all have an amplifying effect on the receiver (reader, listener).
Renaissance
The Renaissance is a period of art history whose core period is in the 15th century (Quattrocento) and 16th century (Cinquecento). However, there were already first tendencies, which can be regarded as precursors of the epoch, as in Trecento and Duecento. An essential feature of the Renaissance is the overcoming of the Middle Ages, which is particularly evident in a revival of the cultural achievements of both Roman and Greek antiquities. Thus one looked back on the achievements of antiquity, which decisively influenced painting, literature, philosophy and architecture of the Renaissance. This recollection of one-time achievements, in turn, caused numerous discoveries and inventions in the Renaissance, which was due above all to the revival of ancient mathematics. The origins of the epoch are in Northern Italy, which is why many Italian artists are mentioned in connection with the Kunstepoche, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Donatello and Titian, although German artists, such as Albrecht Dürer, were also very pioneering. In the literature it was above all Dante Alighieri or William Shakespeare, whereby also names such as Erasmus of Rotterdam, Martin Luther or Hans Sachs must fall in connection with the epoch. The Renaissance was replaced by the Baroque in the 17th century.
Emotive word story
The history of the erotic word is a story which has emerged on the basis of stimulus words. A stimulus word is a term that triggers associations, emotions, or quite concrete ideas in a person. Reaction stories are used mainly in the teaching of German at primary school. They are meant to stimulate the students’ imagination and give them an impetus for creative writing. In doing so, stimulus words are given, from which a story is then written.
Pure rhyme
A pure rhyme is the exact harmony of rhymes. This means that the rhyme syllables are exactly the same according to the stressed vowel. In this case, very often the same letters are arranged in the same order. For example, the noun house forms a pure rhyme with mouse. After the accented a follow the same letters, namely, and so an identical sound arises. However, pure rhymes can also occur with different letters: thus the world forms and a pure rhyme, since the rhymes resemble sound (elt / alter).
Rhyme scheme
The rhyme scheme denotes the ending of a verse and its relationship to other verses within a poem. In other words, we can use the rhyme schema to indicate which endings correspond to each other in a lyric stanza or to the entire poem, and to indicate these sequences by recurring letters.
Rhyme forms
In the literary genre of lyricism, there are various rhymes, also rhymes. The rhyme is generally the consonance of words according to their last accentuated vowel. When words or syllables are similar, then they rhyme. Reime forms can be ordered by means of the number of syllables, the position in verse, the phonological, morphological-lexical structure, or a clear rhyme schema. The following is an overview of the various types of rhymes.
Stage directions
The stage remarks are the remarks of a poet, who are interspersed between the prose of a dramatic text (cf. literary genres) and give information about the stage design or appearance, equipment, gestures, mimicry, and the manner of speaking of the actors. In addition, such stage assignments can also describe the nature and protagonists of the protagonists, such as their tempo and behavior, where acoustic effects can also be identified here. Stage instructions are usually presented in italics, and are primarily intended for actors and directors to bring the respective work to the stage according to the respective poet. However, such information can also inspire the reader’s imagination.
Speech analysis
Speech analysis is a form of text analysis, which plays a role in different disciplines. The speech analysis is therefore not restricted to the subject area of German, but is also an important building block in English or history lessons. Nevertheless, the approach is similar in all subjects and differs only in a few details.
Realism
Realism is a European literary epoch in the middle of the nineteenth century, which is roughly dated to 1848 – 1890 and thus stands between Romanticism and Naturalism. At the same time, literary realism – which is due in time to the failed March revolution of 1848 – naturally also removed the Vormarz and the Biedermeier. The indicated dating refers mainly to bourgeois, also poetic, realism, as the expression of the epoch in Germany is called. In France, for example, realistic tendencies can be seen already around 1830. The essential feature of realism is a turning to reality, which is objectively observed, whereby bourgeois man became the central theme of literature. The main epic genres are novel, novella, and village history. Poetry and poetry dominate poetry and ballads, while the drama falls into the background. Important representatives are Theodor Fontane, Gottfried Keller, Gustav Freytag, Adalbert Stifter, Theodor Storm and Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach.
Rough set
A variant of the flatter set is referred to as the “Rauhsatz”, also Rausatz. A flat sentence is a text that is flush on one side and runs unevenly on the other, where words, when they reach the end of a column, are broken, causing gaps to occur at the end of the column. The Rauhsatz uses an ebendieser controller, in order to avoid these gaps. In the Rauhsatz there is a firmly defined chatter zone in which the words at the end of the line are matched by word separation. This means that the individual word is separated and thus it is hardly obvious that the actual word is a kind of flat rate, since the result appears to be flush on both sides (see block sentence).
Robber language
As a robber language is commonly called a play and secret language. She has her roots in the children’s book Kalle Blomquist of the Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. The robber language is based on doubling the consonants of a word, whereupon the vowel o is used. In contrast to other game languages (for example spoon language, chicken language), it is difficult to speak the robber language quickly, since the forming is complicated. A practiced speaker is incomprehensible, which sounds like gibberish. By the way, the “real” language of the robbers is called Rotwelsch or Jargon.
Quattrocento
The term “Quattrocento” refers to the 15th century in art, but also in literature, in Italy, that is, the years 1400 to 1499. This is, however, mainly the style of the early Italian Renaissance, the beginning of which dates back to the year 1420 (see Literaturepochen). Further centuries related to the Italian Renaissance are therefore described by (art) historians as Duecento, Trecento, Quattrocento, Cinquecento and Seicento.
Quatrain
The quatrain is a (single) verse of French origin, which is mostly written according to the rhyme scheme abba, which corresponds to the sequence of enriming rhymes. However, there are also examples for the quatrain, which correspond to a different sequence of rhymes.
Quartet
The quartet, also four-line, is the four-line stanza in the poem or a four-line poem itself. Above all, the term is used in connection with the baroque sonnet. This consists of four quartets, which form the entrance and two terzets, that is, three-strings. The sonnet thus consists of 14 verses. The quartet in the sonnet … Read more
Pyrrhichius
The Pyrrhichius (also Pyrrhichios) is an ancient verse foot, which is formed from two short syllables. These shortenings are usually represented by the spelling υ υ (→ verse). Since a footer is composed of at least two syllables, and the Pyrrhichius consists only of two shortenings, it is the shortest foot which can be formed.
Punchline
Punchline refers to the pointed line of a text whose content is attacked by another person. In most cases, such punchlines are found in the battle rap, whereby the assault and defamation of another person as well as the positive depiction of one’s own person are at the absolute center. In English, however, the noun Punchline generally means a point, that is, the surprising, witty or unexpected end, in which, for example, small stories or jokes culminate. The point of the joke resembles the punchline in rap.
Release Year
The year in which a publication came onto the market is also referred to as the year of publication, also the publication year, in the case of printed products. The publication year is usually stated in the imprint, although this information is not always reliable. Above all, works of the early modern period – that is, the transition from the Late Middle Ages to the Renaissance – are characterized by various indications: texts were pre-dated, for example, in the following year. In addition, the title sheets of individual fonts were partly provided with an updated year of appearance, in order to appear at the latest and thus to distribute the old edition. This was especially the case with novels of the 17th and 18th century.
Protagonist
The protagonist is the hero of a work and the leading role in a narrative or a drama. The term goes back to the theater of antiquity, where he was the performer of the first role of a play (leading actor). Thus, the protagonist stands before deuteragonist or tritonist; the second and third roles in drama. His opponent is the antagonist.
Prosagedicht
As a prosperity, a kind of text between prose and poem is called. Prospericht is an artistically structured and rhythmically-sounded prose, which differs from lyric in that the final rhymes are missing and the speech is not bound by verses. A prosperity, however, is not only rhythmic, but also powerful, which is why it is heavily influenced by lyrical stylistic elements, such as assonances, internal rhymes, etc.
Prose
Prose is defined as texts and utterances, which are not bound by verses, rhymes or rhythms (metrum). Therefore prose is also called unbound speech. It includes the everyday language, but also the artistically designed form in the literature (art prose). A special form, which is between bound and unbound speech, is the free rhythms.
Prequel
The prequel is a narrative, which appears as a continuation of a work, but does not carry the action, but rather tells a part of the prehistory. Thus, such a prequel is not a continuation in the actual sense, since the known is not carried away, but the content of the action is pre-emphazised. The prequel is found in all artistic genres, such as in literature, film, television, but also in music and more often in computer games. The counterpart of the prequel is the sequel, which actually means the continuation of a work.
Farce
Posse is a low, partial grossly form of comedy. The posse presents life-like as well as effective contents, which is often based on pointe-rich character and situation comics. The comic act is therefore above all to amuse. However, in principle it is not injurious, even if it is thoroughly permeated with acrid mockery. Ugly accidents and improbable exaggerations satisfy the spectator’s need for laughter.
Polysyndeton
The polysyndeton is a rhetorical stylistic device and a form of enumeration (Enumeratio). The polysyndeton means the ordering of equivalent words or phrases, which are linked by the repetition of the same conjunction. At least three elements are connected in this way. The stylistic counterpart is the Asyndeton.
Polyptoton
The polyptoton is a rhetorical stylistic device that appears in literary genres of all kinds. The polyptoton is the repetition of a word in different forms of inflection. This means that the word stem of the word is repeated but the appended endings are changed. The figure thus resembles the Figura etymologica.
Polemic
As a polemic is a sharp, often unachievable opinion. The term therefore means a controversy, which is partly caused by personal attacks. Polemic disputes take place at literary, scientific, religious, philosophical and also political levels. Originally, polemics meant the art of fighting, a scientific feud, which was carried out mainly between scholars. Polemic literature means all kinds of arguments.
Punchline
Pointe is defined as the intellectual as well as the unexpected meaning in which, for example, the joke, the anecdote, culminate in an epigram or similar texts. As the point usually marks the end of a rhetorical process, it can be described as a rhetorical stylistic device. Pointen are surprise effects in the course of … Read more
Pluraletantum
Plural etantum, also a plural word, is used to denote nouns, which are used exclusively in the plural, that is, in the plural. The counterpart is the Singularetantum. This describes words, which exist exclusively in the singular, thus in the singular. The plural plural is, however, a pluralitarian or plural plural, although this form is far less frequently found in the literature. There are also words that are almost common in the plural, but in some regions know a singular, but it is hardly used elsewhere.
Pluralis Modestiae
The pluralism Moedstia is a form of the plural, which is to express modesty. Literally, Pluralis Modestiae means “plural of modesty” and is often equated with the author plural (→ Pluralis Auctoris).
Pluraletantum
Als Pluraletantum, auch Pluralwort, werden Nomen bezeichnet, welche ausschließlich in der Mehrzahl, also im Plural, gebräuchlich sind. Das Gegenstück ist das Singularetantum. Dieses beschreibt Wörter, die es auschließlich im Singular, also in der Einzahl, gibt. Der Plural des Pluraletantums ist übrigens Pluraliatantum oder auch Pluraletantums, obwohl diese Form weitaus seltener in der Literatur zu finden ist. Dabei gibt es außerdem Wörter, die fast nur im Plural gebräuchlich sind, allerdings in einigen Regionen durchaus einen Singular kennen, der woanders aber kaum gebräuchlich ist.
Plot
The plot is the plot structure of a dramatic or narrative text, and consequently the outline of the action (which can be recounted in short form). However, the term is ambiguous so that the plot is used in three different meanings, all of which are very close to each other and thus difficult to separate from one another.
Pleonasmus
Pleonasmus is a stylistic device and a rhetorical figure. As pleonasmen, we refer to the repetition of meaningless, but different, words. The stylistic figure thus occurs when, in a group of words, a certain content is expressed several times and in different ways. Pleonasmus can be interpreted as a stylistic device, but also as a stylistic defect.
Thoughts Poetry
The form of lyric poetry, which in the first instance contains intellectual experiences, is called the thought-lyricism, also the idea of lyricism and philosophical lyricism. It is not the immediate experience (cf. Erlebnislyrik) or, as in the ballad, the narrative in the foreground, but philosophical, religious and generally intellectual-ideological content. The idea is not conveyed through a symbol, but rather as an inner experience. The lyrical ego therefore tries to attain clarity through thoughts or facts, to itself, or even to the external world. The different sides of the respective object are usually shown, and they are oscillated between intuition and reflection. At the same time, the idea of love is separated from the doctrinal and purposive poetry, but can be indirectly didactic or doctrinal through the depicted.
Petz
As Petz, sometimes also Meister Petz, is the bear in the fable, but also in fairy tales and legends. It is therefore the name of a fabier, as well as Isegrim for the wolf, Adebar for the stork or master lamp for the hare. Master Petz is attributed to human character in the fable. He is usually characterized as nice, kind and good-natured, but at the same time appears a bit naive and simple. What is essential is that these characteristics do not change in the course of the narrative: Master Petz does not develop, which is why it is usually foreseeable how he will behave in history.
Personification
Personification is a stylistic device that makes people and persons from abstract or general things. The personification is a secondary form of the metaphor and is also heavily based on allegory. The style-figure furnishes non-living beings with characteristics or actions that are otherwise only attributed to living creatures. Thus the personification increases the vitality and vividness of language.
Personal description
For the first time, we describe the description of the people in the German language at the elementary school. In the description of the person, an attempt is made to create an exact overall picture of a fictional figure or a real person. Here, it is important to make very detailed statements so that the character described is clearly distinguishable from all others.
Finite verb
Finite verb
As a finite verb, also finite verb form or personal form, a word form of the verb is designated (cf. word forms). The finite verb is conjugate, expressing certain grammatical features. The finite verb indicates person, number, genus, mode, and tense, and changes with the subject. Expressions without a finite verb are not sentences but headings, points of structure, or exclamations (cf. interjection). All German sentences contain at least one finite verb form, which is a part of the predicate (cf. The counterpart is the infinite verbs.
Personal narrator
There is a narrator in the literary genre of epic. The narrator can take different perspectives and thus influence how we perceive the world of figures in the text. We distinguish four different narrative perspectives: the auctorial, neutral, personal, and the special form of the narrator. The personal narrative perspective is now to be completed.
Persiflage
Als Persiflage wird das Verspotten in Form der literarischen Nachahmung bezeichnet, welche zumeist ironischer Natur ist und geistreich erscheint. Das bedeutet, dass die Gedanken, Ansichten oder auch der Stil eines Gegners in einem Text übertrieben nachgeahmt werden, um ebendiesen lächerlich zu machen. Darüber hinaus kann ein gesamtes Genre oder ein bestimmtes Werk durch die Persiflage verspottet werden. Verwandt ist die Persiflage mit der Parodie, der Satire sowie der Polemik.
Periphrasis
The periphrase is a stylistic device of rhetoric that can be encountered in all literary genres. Periphrase is the widening description of a thing, a concept, or a person. This means that the Stilfgur describes a concept by its characteristics, activities or effects. It has a reinforcing effect and is related to euphemism.
Peripeteia
Peripety is the climax and thus the turning point in classical drama. Peripety is the unexpected reversal in the course of action of the drama, which is why the result (good or bad) of the action is evident at this point. Thus the peripety signifies the sudden reversal of the happiness / misfortune in the fate of the agent
Pentameter
The Pentameter is an antique verse made of six embers. In principle, the pentameter consists of six dactyls (one elevation, two depressions), with the third and sixth dactyls both sinking. As a result, the third and fourth lifts in the pentameter immediately follow each other, which is referred to as the lift impact (→ offset).
Pentalogy (Five-Part)
A pseudonym, also a five-part work, is an artistic work, which consists of five individual parts, which together belong together. Pentalogy is mostly a literary, musical or cinematic work, the term sometimes being transferred to other areas and then being able to designate any kind of artistic five-part. What is essential for the pentalogy is that their parts, although they are cohesive in content, but usually function independently. This means that the action of the individual works is mostly self-contained and thus comprehensible without the knowledge of other parts (see Mehrteiler). The term is often referred to the literature – often prose works – or the film.
Counterpart
A counterpart or a counterpart is called a counterpart. In art, the counterpart means a work of art that resembles another in size, form, presentation, choice of object, and content. In literature one can refer to the concept of a work which resembles another in many details. For example, Nasreddin Hoca, the protagonist of many humorous prosaic stories, which is primarily known in the Turkish-Islamic-influenced area, can be regarded as a counterpart to Till Eulenspiegel, a rogue of a middle-German legend.
Pars pro toto
The Pars pro toto is a stylistic device of rhetoric and a special form of Synekdoche as well as metonymy and belongs to the group of the tropics. The pars pro toto replaces one expression by another, which is a part of the replaced term. The stylistic counterpart of Pars pro toto is the Totum pro parte. Here the whole stands for a part of the whole.
