Elements in 1984

juxtaposition

when the author places two themes, characters, phrases, words, or situations together for the purpose of comparison or contrast.

Irony

allusion

foreshadowing

motif

verisimilitude

Having the appearance of truth; realism. In a fictional work, a writer creates unreal characters and situations and asks the reader to pretend that they are real. To help the reader in this task, the writer tells his tale in such a way that he makes it seem credible–that is, he gives it “verisimilitude.”

Verisimilitude is derived from the Latin words veritas (truth) and similis (similar). Thus, verisimilitude in a literary work confers on it the quality of appearing true or similar to the truth.

satire

In "The Great Gatsby," Nick juxtaposes his house with other houses in the area, showing his place in the social structure:

My house was at the very tip of the egg, only fifty yards from the Sound, and squeezed between two huge places that rented for twelve or fifteen thousand a season . . .. My house was an eyesore, but it was a small eyesore . . . for eighty dollars a month. (Fitzgerald 5)

The most obvious line of forshadowing is in the opening line of the novel: "It was a bright, cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."

Since clocks do not usually strike thirteen (except when using military time), the reader instantly senses that something is wrong - a common theme in this dystopian novel.

Gatsby's Mansion

NIck's Cottage

In '1984':

Compare!

is a literary technique used to provide clues for the reader to be able to predict what might occur later on in the story.

Foreshadowing drops hints about the plot and what may come in the near future or, in other words, the plot developments to come later in the story.

Foreshadowing:

Juxtaposition:

• The names of the four ministries and their duties
• The news reports from the war
• The three slogans of the Party

Irony in '1984'

Verisimilitude:

Sarcasm

Irony is an implied discrepancy between what is said and what is meant.

There are three kinds of irony:

is when an author says one thing and means something else. This can also be called

is when an audience perceives something that a character in the literature does not know.

is a discrepency between the expected result and actual results.

Situational Irony

Literary Elements in

Dramatic Irony

CULT

Of Personality

Verbal Irony

ADVANCED

TECHNOLOGY

George Orwell's

1984

POlitics

Verisimilitude

In '1984'

Nursery Rhymes

Irony:

Real Names

Of Places

Sensory Details

A tactic in literature where human mistakes or problems in society are criticized by using ridicule, embarrassment, or other means.

Orwell uses satire to criticize the "cult of personality" that had developed around Josef Stalin in Russia.

Just like "Big Brother", Stalin's power was absolute - at the peak of the "Great Purge" in 1937-38, Stalin's security forces excetuted an average of 1,000 people a day.

Satire:

In '1984':

Allusion:

A allusion is a figure of speech that makes reference to some other previous work of literature, art, or commonly known information.

The success of an allusion depends in part on at least some of its audience "getting" it.

Martin Luther King, Jr., alluded to the Gettysburg Address in starting his "I Have a Dream" speech by saying 'Five score years ago..."; his hearers were immediately reminded of Abraham Lincoln's "Four score and seven years ago", which opened the Gettysburg Address. King's allusion effectively called up parallels in two historic moments.

A literary device that uses recurring structures, contrasts, or imagery that can help to develop and inform the piece’s major themes.

Motif:

A common method to express a motif is through repetition. By repeating a similar statement, the audience can see that it is found throughout the novel. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel "The Great Gatsby," the green light at the end of Daisy's dock is a recurring motif of Daisy herself the unreachable life that Gatsby aspires to have.

Urban decay

There are several motifs that repeat themselves. Some of these are:

"doublethink"

In '1984':

'victory'

products

constant

surveillance