2020-05-13
439Revision of SDs
| A Quoted Phrase | Stylistic Device, Its Function (It is used to describe what? / whom?) | Stylistic Effect achieved by using it in the story |
| the wholesome bread-and-milk | Epithet, irony; (bookish word), used to describe healthy food that Nicholas was to eat. | To imagine the picture of children’s food that was healthy but unattractive. |
| the older and wiser and better people | Polysyndeton, periphrasis; used to describe adult’s superiority. | To produce ironic effect. |
| the veriest nonsense | Epithet, hyperbole; (bookish word) used to describe the speech of child. | To create imagery of the adult’s attitude to children’s words. |
| with the insistence of a skilled tactician who does not intend to shift from favourable ground … | Metaphor; (military term) used to express the boy's confidence. | To point out the leading, most conspicuous features of Nicolas. |
| by an unwarranted stretch of imagination | Hyperbole; (bookish word) used to express aunt’s confidence. | To produce ironic effect. |
| a circus of unrivalled merit and uncountable elephants | Hyperbole, bathos, zeugma; (bookish words) used to describe aunt’s cunning to discipline the children | To achieve humorous effect. |
| He felt perfectly capable of being in disgrace and in a gooseberry garden at the same moment. | Zeugma; (bookish word) used to describe the child’s trickiness to avoid penalty. | To achieve humorous effect. |
| trivial gardening operations | Epithet; (bookish word) used to describe ordinary labour in the garden. | To create imagery of household. |
| to keep a watchful eye | Metaphor; used to describe aunt’s supervision of punished child. | To give vivid characteristics to a person. |
| forbidden paradise | Allusion from Bible; (bookish word) used to describe the garden. | To carry out the aesthetic effect. |
| a woman of few ideas | Metaphoric epithet, irony; used to describe the aunt’s intelligence. | To give vivid characteristics to a person. |
| Nicholas made one or two sorties … | Metaphor (hyperbole?); (military term) used to describe Nicolas intention to trick his aunt. | To enhance the expressiveness of the text. |
| self-imposed sentry-duty | Epithet; used to describe aunt’s willingness to restrain the child. | To convey the attitude of Nicolas. |
| a plan of action that had long germinated in his brain | Metaphor; (bookish word) used to describe the boy’s plan. | To draw the reader’s attention. |
| a fat, important-looking key | Personification; used to describe the value of key to the boy and his curiosity. | To stress the peculiar features of the object described, to achieve humorous effect. |
| unauthorized intrusion | Epithet, irony; (bookish word) used to describe undesirable coming into the lumber-room. | To express the intensity of strong feelings. |
| for aunts and such-like privileged persons | Simile, irony; used to describe unfair prohibition for children to enter. | To express feelings of displeasure. |
| a stale delight | Epithet; used to compare lumber-room with gooseberry garden. | To convey the attitude of Nicolas. |
| so carefully sealed from youthful eyes | Metaphor; used to describe how the lumber-room was hided from children. | To create imagery. |
| unimagined treasure | Epithet; used to describe different things in the room. | To convey an individual perception of an object. |
| for the eyes to feast on | Metaphor; used to describe different things in the room. | To convey an individual perception of an object. |
| for many golden minutes | Metaphoric epithet; used to describe the time, spent in the lumber-room. | To convey an individual perception of an object. |
| … the angry repetitions of Nicholas’ name gave way to a shriek, and a cry … | Metaphor; used to describe the manner of aunt calling the boy | To give vivid characteristics to the situation. |
| the prisoner in the tank | Periphrasis; used to describe the aunt sitting in the tank. | To create imagery. |
| in a fearsome silence | Epithet; used to describe the manner in which family drank tea. | To give an emotional assessment. |
| punitive expedition | Epithet; (military term) used to describe aunt’s attempt to organize trip to Jagborough sands. | To produce ironic effect. |
| disastrous effect | Epithet; used to describe the tightness of Bobby’s boots. | To create and build up imagery. |
| frozen muteness | Epithet; used to describe aunt’s mood and behavior. | To create an original, emotionally charged utterance |
| suffered unmerited detention | Epithet; used to describe the things that happened to the aunt in the garden. | To produce ironic effect. |
| She had leapt to the conclusion … | Metaphor; used to describe the manner of how aunt tried to understand where Nicholas was. | To depict a phenomena dynamically. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Essay
Comment on the cases of dramatic irony in the text.
In order to comment on cases of dramatic irony, we need to define what dramatic irony is.
Dramatic irony is an important stylistic device. The author uses this type of irony as a useful plot device for creating situations in which the audience knows more about the situations, the causes of conflicts, and their resolutions before the characters. That is why the words and actions of the characters suggest a different meaning to the readers from what they indicate to the characters and the story. Thus, it creates suspense and humor effect. This speech device also emphasizes emotions of the characters more effectively.
“The Lumber-Room” is an exciting and entertaining short story, written by an outstanding British novelist and short story writer H.Munro. The main character of this story is Nicolas, a boy who doesn’t want put up with the injustice of adults who don’t consider his opinion. His antagonist is the aunt who is mainly tries to morilize the boy, often punishing him.
There are two types of dramatic irony in this text: explicit and implicit one.
As for the explicit dramatic irony, we can see it is in the middle of the plot. The “aunt-by-assertion”, as the boy her called, prohibits Nicolas to play in the gooseberry garden because he was in disgrace. The main character acts like he had a strong desire to get in this garden in order to trick his aunt, but he has another goal. When the boy goes to the library, takes a key of the lumber-room, it is the very moment when dramatic irony begins. While aunt is standing “self-imposed sentry-duty for the greater part of the afternoon”, Nicolas explores the most a mystical place, which not every person can enter, with an incredible amount of “treasure”. Doesn’t it seem funny? Of course it is, because we are sure, that the aunt is a negative character that should be chastened. We don’t even feel sorry for her when she falls and asks for help, because she's an arrogant woman. Maybe we are right, but only partially. Undoubtedly, she lies to the boy about jam and acts so pretentious after she’s taken out of the rain-water tank, but we should realize that it’s a part of her educational process.
As for the implicit dramatic irony, it expresses rather an acute problem – the problem of disregard of children by their parents. Nicolas tries his best to prove that “older and wiser and better people” can’t always be right. But they just ignore it. According to their point of view, children don’t have the right to speak. If the aunt tells that Bobby’s boots are not tight, they don’t hurt him. Her niece fell – “She'll soon get over that”, but then how many screams and sufferings were there, when the aunt fell in the rain-water tank on her own! Daily moral bullying of children, teasing and constant forbidding are the main mistakes of adults, and it’s the main bitter dramatic irony of this story. The reader understands everything but he can’t help, and it’s not funny at all.
To sum up, I would like to say, that this story is quite noteworthy. In some parts of plot it creates suspense and humorous effect, and in some parts this story is really thought-provoking.
