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1. Why and how do we study language and literature?

2. How are we affected by texts in various ways?

3. In what ways is meaning constructed, negotiated, expressed and interpreted?

4. How does language use vary amongst text types and amongst literary forms?

5. How does the structure or style of a text affect meaning?

6. How do texts offer insights and challenges?

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Paper One - Political Cartoon, Text, Sample Student Paper, Score 7

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Common literary devices, such as metaphors and similes, are the building blocks of literature, and what make literature so enchanting. Language evolves through the literary devices in poetry and prose; the different types of figurative language make literature spark in different ways.

Consider this your crash course in common literary devices. Whether you're studying for the AP Lit exam or looking to improve your creative writing, this article is crammed with literary devices, examples, and analysis.

Let's start with the basics. What are literary devices?

What are Literary Devices?

Literary devices take writing beyond its literal meaning. They help guide the reader in how to read the piece.

Literary devices are ways of taking writing beyond its straightforward, literal meaning. In that sense, they are techniques for helping guide the reader in how to read the piece.

Central to all literary devices is a quality of connection: by establishing or examining relationships between things, literary devices encourage the reader to perceive and interpret the world in new ways.

One common form of connection in literary devices is comparison. Metaphors and similes are the most obvious examples of comparison. A metaphor is a direct comparison of two things-"the tree is a giant," for example. A simile is an indirect comparison-"the tree is like a giant." In both instances, the tree is compared to-and thus connected with-something (a giant) beyond what it literally is (a tree).

Other literary devices forge connections in different ways. For example, imagery, vivid description, connects writing richly to the worlds of the senses. Alliteration uses the sound of words itself to forge new literary connections ("alligators and apples").

By enabling new connections that go beyond straightforward details and meanings, literary devices give literature its power.

What all these literary devices have in common is that they create new connections: rich layers of sound, sense, emotion, narrative, and ultimately meaning that surpass the literal details being recounted. They are what sets literature apart, and what makes it uniquely powerful.

Read on for an in-depth look and analysis at 112 common literary devices.

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Literary Devices List: 14 Common Literary Devices

In this article, we focus on literary devices that can be found in both poetry and prose.

There are a lot of literary devices to cover, each of which require their own examples and analysis. As such, we will start by focusing on common literary devices for this article: literary devices that can be found in both poetry and prose. With each device, we've included examples in literature and exercises you can use in your own creative writing.

Afterwards, we've listed other common literary devices you might see in poetry, prose, dialogue, and rhetoric.

Let's get started!

Metaphors, also known as direct comparisons, are one of the most common literary devices. A metaphor is a statement in which two objects, often unrelated, are compared to each other.

Example of metaphor: This tree is the god of the forest.

Obviously, the tree is not a god-it is, in fact, a tree. However, by stating that the tree is the god, the reader is given the image of something strong, large, and immovable. Additionally, using "god" to describe the tree, rather than a word like "giant" or "gargantuan," makes the tree feel like a spiritual center of the forest.

Metaphors allow the writer to pack multiple descriptions and images into one short sentence. The metaphor has much more weight and value than a direct description. If the writer chose to describe the tree as "the large, spiritual center of the forest," the reader won't understand the full importance of the tree's size and scope.

2. Simile

Similes, also known as indirect comparisons, are similar in construction to metaphors, but they imply a different meaning. Like metaphors, two unrelated objects are being compared to each other. Unlike a metaphor, the comparison relies on the words "like" or "as."

Example of simile: This tree is like the god of the forest.
OR: This tree acts as the god of the forest.

What is the difference between a simile and a metaphor?

The obvious difference between these two common literary devices is that a simile uses "like" or "as," whereas a metaphor never uses these comparison words.

Additionally, in reference to the above examples, the insertion of "like" or "as" creates a degree of separation between both elements of the device. In a simile, the reader understands that, although the tree is certainly large, it isn't large enough to be a god; the tree's "godhood" is simply a description, not a relevant piece of information to the poem or story.

Simply put, metaphors are better to use as a central device within the poem/story, encompassing the core of what you are trying to say. Similes are better as a supporting device.

Does that mean metaphors are better than similes? Absolutely not. Consider Louise Gluck's poem " The Past. " Gluck uses both a simile and a metaphor to describe the sound of the wind: it is like shadows moving, but is her mother's voice. Both devices are equally haunting, and ending the poem on the mother's voice tells us the central emotion of the poem.

Learn more about the difference between similes and metaphors here:

Simile vs. Metaphor vs. Analogy: Definitions and Examples

Simile and Metaphor Writing Exercise: Tenors and Vehicles

Most metaphors and similes have two parts: the tenor and the vehicle. The tenor refers to the subject being described, and the vehicle refers to the image that describes the tenor.

So, in the metaphor "the tree is a god of the forest," the tenor is the tree and the vehicle is "god of the forest."

To practice writing metaphors and similes, let's create some literary device lists. grab a sheet of paper and write down two lists. In the first list, write down "concept words"-words that cannot be physically touched. Love, hate, peace, war, happiness, and anger are all concepts because they can all be described but are not physical objects in themselves.

In the second list, write down only concrete objects-trees, clouds, the moon, Jupiter, New York brownstones, uncut sapphires, etc.

Your concepts are your tenors, and your concrete objects are your vehicles. Now, randomly draw a one between each tenor and each vehicle, then write an explanation for your metaphor/simile. You might write, say:

"Peace, like an uncut sapphire, gleams with labor."

Have fun, write interesting literary devices, and try to incorporate them into a future poem or story!

3. Analogy

An analogy is an argumentative comparison: it compares two unalike things to advance an argument. Specifically, it argues that two things have equal weight, whether that weight be emotional, philosophical, or even literal. Because analogical literary devices operate on comparison, it can be considered a form of metaphor.

For example:

Making pasta is as easy as one, two, three.

This analogy argues that making pasta and counting upwards are equally easy things. This format, "A is as B" or "A is to B", is a common analogy structure.

Another common structure for analogy literary devices is "A is to B as C is to D." For example:

Gordon Ramsay is to cooking as Meryl Streep is to acting.

The above constructions work best in argumentative works. Lawyers and essayists will often use analogies. In other forms of creative writing, analogies aren't as formulaic, but can still prove to be powerful literary devices. In fact, you probably know this one:

"That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet" - Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare

To put this into the modern language of an analogy, Shakespeare is saying "a rose with no name smells as a rose with a name does." The name "rose" does not affect whether or not the flower smells good.

Analogy Writing Exercise

Analogies are some of the most common literary devices, alongside similes and metaphors. Here's an exercise for writing one yourself.

On a blank sheet of paper: write down the first four nouns that come to mind. Try to use concrete, visual nouns. Then, write down a verb. If you struggle to come up with any of these, any old word generator on the internet will help.

The only requirement is that two of your four nouns should be able to perform the verb. A dog can swim, for example, but it can't fly an airplane.

Your list might look like this:

Verb: Fall
Nouns: Rain, dirt, pavement, shadow

An analogy you create from this list might be: "his shadow falls on the pavement how rain falls on the dirt in May.

Your analogy might end up being silly or poetic, strange or evocative. But, by forcing yourself to make connections between seemingly disparate items, you're using these literary devices to hone the skills of effective, interesting writing.

4. Imagery

Is imagery a literary device? Absolutely! Imagery can be both literal and figurative, and it relies on the interplay of language and sensation to create a sharper image in your brain.

Imagery is what it sounds like-the use of figurative language to describe something.

Imagery is what it sounds like-the use of figurative language to describe something. In fact, we've already seen imagery in action through the previous literary devices: by describing the tree as a "god", the tree looks large and sturdy in the reader's mind.

However, imagery doesn't just involve visual descriptions; the best writers use imagery to appeal to all five senses. By appealing to the reader's sense of sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell, your writing will create a vibrant world for readers to live and breathe in.

The best writers use imagery to appeal to all five senses.

Let's use imagery to describe that same tree. (I promise I can write about more than just trees, but it's a very convenient image for these common literary devices, don't you think?)

Sight imagery: The tree spread its gigantic, sun-flecked shoulders.
Sound imagery: The forest was hushed, resounding with echoes of the tree's stoic silence.
Touch imagery: The tree felt smooth as sandstone.
Taste imagery: The tree's leaves tasted bitter, like unroasted coffee beans.
Smell imagery: As we approached the tree, the air around it smelled crisp and precise.

There are two other, less discussed types of imagery: organic and kinesthetic imagery. Organic imagery refers to descriptions of internal sensations-things happening within the body. Kinesthetic imagery is imagery of motion and movement-think of the sensations one might feel when running against the wind.

Organic imagery: The tree felt its xylem collapse at the news. (This is also an example of personification, since trees can't "feel" the way people feel.)

Kinesthetic imagery: The tree cooled down as its own leaves rushed against its bark.

Notice how these literary device examples also used metaphors and similes? Literary devices often pile on top of each other, which is why so many great works of literature can be analyzed endlessly. Because imagery depends on the object's likeness to other objects, imagery upholds the idea that a literary device is synonymous with comparison.

Imagery Writing Exercise

Want to try your hand at imagery? You can practice this concept by describing an object in the same way that this article describes a tree! Choose something to write about-any object, image, or idea-and describe it using the five senses. ("This biscuit has the tidy roundness of a lady's antique hat." "The biscuit tastes of brand-new cardboard." and so on!)

Then, once you've written five (or more) lines of imagery, try combining these images until your object is sharp and clear in the reader's head.

Imagery is one of the most essential common literary devices. To learn more about imagery, or to find more imagery writing exercises, take a look at our article Imagery Definition: 5+ Types of Imagery in Literature.

5. Symbolism

Symbolism combines a lot of the ideas presented in metaphor and imagery. Essentially, a symbol is the use of an object to represent a concept-it's kind of like a metaphor, except more concise!

Symbols are everywhere in the English language, and we often use these common literary devices in speech and design without realizing it. The following are very common examples of symbolism:

A few very commonly used symbols include:

"Peace" represented by a white dove

"Love" represented by a red rose

"Conformity" represented by sheep

"Idea" represented by a light bulb switching on

The symbols above are so widely used that they would likely show up as clichés in your own writing. (Would you read a poem, written today, that started with "Let's release the white dove of peace"?) In that sense, they do their job "too well"-they're such a good symbol for what they symbolize that they've become ubiquitous, and you'll have to add something new in your own writing.

Symbols are often contextually specific as well. For example, a common practice in Welsh marriage is to give your significant other a lovespoon, which the man has designed and carved to signify the relationship's unique, everlasting bond. In many Western cultures, this same bond is represented by a diamond ring-which can also be unique and everlasting!

Symbolism makes the core ideas of your writing concrete.

Finally, notice how each of these examples are a concept represented by a concrete object. Symbolism makes the core ideas of your writing concrete, and also allows you to manipulate your ideas. If a rose represents love, what does a wilted rose or a rose on fire represent?

Symbolism Writing Exercise

Often, symbols are commonly understood images-but not always. You can invent your own symbols to capture the reader's imagination, too!

Try your hand at symbolism by writing a poem or story centered around a symbol. Choose a random object, and make that object represent something. For example, you could try to make a blanket represent the idea of loneliness.

When you've paired an object and a concept, write your piece with that symbol at the center:

The down blanket lay crumpled, unused, on the empty side of our bed.

The goal is to make it clear that you're associating the object with the concept. Make the reader feel the same way about your symbol as you do!

6. Personification

Personification, giving human attributes to nonhuman objects, is a powerful way to foster empathy in your readers.

Personification is exactly what it sounds like: giving human attributes to nonhuman objects. Also known as anthropomorphism, personification is a powerful way to foster empathy in your readers.

Think about personification as if it's a specific type of imagery. You can describe a nonhuman object through the five senses, and do so by giving it human descriptions. You can even impute thoughts and emotions-mental events-to a nonhuman or even nonliving thing. This time, we'll give human attributes to a car-see our personification examples below!

Personification (using sight): The car ran a marathon down the highway.

Personification (using sound): The car coughed, hacked, and spluttered.

Personification (using touch): The car was smooth as a baby's bottom.

Personification (using taste): The car tasted the bitter asphalt.

Personification (using smell): The car needed a cold shower.

Personification (using mental events): The car remembered its first owner fondly.

Notice how we don't directly say the car is like a human-we merely describe it using human behaviors. Personification exists at a unique intersection of imagery and metaphor, making it a powerful literary device that fosters empathy and generates unique descriptions.

Personification Writing Exercise

Try writing personification yourself! In the above example, we chose a random object and personified it through the five senses. It's your turn to do the same thing: find a concrete noun and describe it like it's a human.

Here are two examples:

The ancient, threadbare rug was clearly tired of being stepped on.

My phone issued notifications with the grimly efficient extroversion of a sorority chapter president.

Now start writing your own! Your descriptions can be active or passive, but the goal is to foster empathy in the reader's mind by giving the object human traits.

7. Hyperbole

You know that one friend who describes things very dramatically? They're probably speaking in hyperboles. Hyperbole is just a dramatic word for being over-dramatic-which sounds a little hyperbolic, don't you think?

Basically, hyperbole refers to any sort of exaggerated description or statement. We use hyperbole all the time in the English language, and you've probably heard someone say things like:

I've been waiting a billion years for this

I'm so hungry I could eat a horse

I feel like a million bucks

You are the king of the kitchen

None of these examples should be interpreted literally: there are no kings in the kitchen, and I doubt anyone can eat an entire horse in one sitting. This common literary device allows us to compare our emotions to something extreme, giving the reader a sense of how intensely we feel something in the moment.

This is what makes hyperbole so fun! Coming up with crazy, exaggerated statements that convey the intensity of the speaker's emotions can add a personable element to your writing. After all, we all feel our emotions to a certain intensity, and hyperbole allows us to experience that intensity to its fullest.

Hyperbole Writing Exercise

To master the art of the hyperbole, try expressing your own emotions as extremely as possible. For example, if you're feeling thirsty, don't just write that you're thirsty, write that you could drink the entire ocean. Or, if you're feeling homesick, don't write that you're yearning for home, write that your homeland feels as far as Jupiter.

As a specific exercise, you can try writing a poem or short piece about something mundane, using more and more hyperbolic language with each line or sentence. Here's an example:

It was a brutally hot 75 degrees Fahrenheit. The April spring sun boiled blood and sent birds exploding. I'm sorry that I'm mowing my lawn on THE SURFACE OF THE SUN. (...and so on!)

A well-written hyperbole helps focus the reader's attention on your emotions and allows you to play with new images, making it a fun, chaos-inducing literary device.

8. Irony

Is irony a literary device? Yes-but it's often used incorrectly. People often describe something as being ironic, when really it's just a moment of dark humor. So, the colloquial use of the word irony is a bit off from its official definition as a literary device.

Irony is when the writer describes something by using opposite language. As a real-life example, if someone is having a bad day, they might say they're doing " greaaaaaat ", clearly implying that they're actually doing quite un-greatly. Or a story's narrator might write:

Like most bureaucrats, she felt a boundless love for her job, and was eager to share that good feeling with others.

In other words, irony highlights the difference between "what seems to be" and "what is." In literature, irony can describe dialogue, but it also describes ironic situations: situations that proceed in ways that are elaborately contrary to what one would expect. A clear example of this is in The Wizard of Oz. All of the characters already have what they are looking for, so when they go to the wizard and discover that they all have brains, hearts, etc., their petition-making a long, dangerous journey to beg for what they already have-is deeply ironic.

Irony Writing Exercise

For verbal irony, try writing a sentence that gives something the exact opposite qualities that it actually has:

The triple bacon cheeseburger glistened with health and good choices.

For situational irony, try writing an imagined plot for a sitcom, starting with "Ben lost his car keys and can't find them anywhere." What would be the most ironic way for that situation to be resolved? (Are they sitting in plain view on Ben's desk... at the detective agency he runs?) Have fun with it!

9. Juxtaposition

Juxtaposition refers to the placement of contrasting ideas next to each other, often to produce an ironic or thought-provoking effect. Writers use juxtaposition in both poetry and prose, though this common literary device looks slightly different within each realm of literature.

In poetry, juxtaposition is used to build tension or highlight an important contrast. Consider the poem " A Juxtaposition " by Kenneth Burke, which juxtaposes nation & individual, treble & bass, and loudness & silence. The result is a poem that, although short, condemns the paradox of a citizen trapped in their own nation.

Just a note: these juxtapositions are also examples of antithesis, which is when the writer juxtaposes two completely opposite ideas. Juxtaposition doesn't have to be completely contrarian, but in this poem, it is.

Juxtaposition accomplishes something similar in prose. A famous example comes from the opening A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of time." Dickens opens his novel by situating his characters into a world of contrasts, which is apt for the extreme wealth disparities pre-French Revolution.

Juxtaposition Writing Exercise

One great thing about juxtaposition is that it can dismantle something that appears to be a binary. For example, black and white are often assumed to be polar opposites, but when you put them next to each other, you'll probably get some gray in the middle.

To really master the art of juxtaposition, try finding two things that you think are polar opposites. They can be concepts, such as good & evil, or they can be people, places, objects, etc. Juxtapose your two selected items by starting your writing with both of them-for example:

Across the town from her wedding, the bank robbers were tying up the hostages.

I put the box of chocolates on the coffee table, next to the gas mask.

Then write a poem or short story that explores a "gray area," relationship, commonality, or resonance between these two objects or events-without stating as much directly. If you can accomplish what Dickens or Burke accomplishes with their juxtapositions, then you, too, are a master!

10. Paradox

A paradox is a juxtaposition of contrasting ideas that, while seemingly impossible, actually reveals a deeper truth. One of the trickier literary devices, paradoxes are powerful tools for deconstructing binaries and challenging the reader's beliefs.

A simple paradox example comes to us from Ancient Rome.

Catullus 85 ( translated from Latin)

I hate and I love. Why I do this, perhaps you ask.
I know not, but I feel it happening and I am tortured.

Often, "hate" and "love" are assumed to be opposing forces. How is it possible for the speaker to both hate and love the object of his affection? The poem doesn't answer this, merely telling us that the speaker is "tortured," but the fact that these binary forces coexist in the speaker is a powerful paradox. Catullus 85 asks the reader to consider the absoluteness of feelings like hate and love, since both seem to torment the speaker equally.

Another paradox example comes from Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest.

"To be natural is such a very difficult pose to keep up."

Here, "natural" and "pose" are conflicting ideas. Someone who poses assumes an unnatural state of being, whereas a natural poise seems effortless and innate. Despite these contrasting ideas, Wilde is exposing a deeper truth: to seem natural is often to keep up appearances, and seeming natural often requires the same work as assuming any other pose.

Note: paradox should not be confused with oxymoron. An oxymoron is also a statement with contrasting ideas, but a paradox is assumed to be true, whereas an oxymoron is merely a play on words (like the phrase "same difference").

Paradox Writing Exercise

Paradox operates very similarly to literary devices like juxtaposition and irony. To write a paradox, juxtapose two binary ideas. Try to think outside of the box here: "hate and love" are an easy binary to conjure, so think about something more situational. Wilde's paradox "natural and pose" is a great one; another idea could be the binaries "awkward and graceful" or "red-handed and innocent."

Now, situate those binaries into a certain situation, and make it so that they can coexist. Imagine a scenario in which both elements of your binary are true at the same time. How can this be, and what can we learn from this surprising juxtaposition?

11. Allusion

If you haven't noticed, literary devices are often just fancy words for simple concepts. A metaphor is literally a comparison and hyperbole is just an over-exaggeration. In this same style, allusion is just a fancy word for a literary reference; when a writer alludes to something, they are either directly or indirectly referring to another, commonly-known piece of art or literature.

The most frequently-alluded to work is probably the Bible. Many colloquial phrases and ideas stem from it, since many themes and images from the Bible present themselves in popular works, as well as throughout Western culture. Any of the following ideas, for example, are Biblical allusions:

Referring to a kind stranger as a Good Samaritan

Describing an ideal place as Edenic, or the Garden of Eden

Saying someone "turned the other cheek" when they were passive in the face of adversity

When something is described as lasting "40 days and 40 nights," in reference to the flood of Noah's Ark

Of course, allusion literary devices aren't just Biblical. You might describe a woman as being as beautiful as the Mona Lisa, or you might call a man as stoic as Hemingway.

Why write allusions? Allusions appeal to common experiences: they are metaphors in their own right, as we understand what it means to describe an ideal place as Edenic.

Like the other common literary devices, allusions are often metaphors, images, and/or hyperboles. And, like other literary devices, allusions also have their own sub-categories.

Allusion Writing Exercise

See how densely you can allude to other works and experiences in writing about something simple. Go completely outside of good taste and name-drop like crazy:

Allusions (way too much version): I wanted Nikes, not Adidas, because I want to be like Mike. But still, "a rose by any other name"-they're just shoes, and "if the shoe fits, wear it."

From this frenetic style of writing, trim back to something more tasteful:

Allusions (more tasteful version): I had wanted Nikes, not Adidas-but "if the shoe fits, wear it."

12. Allegory

An allegory is a story whose sole purpose is to represent an abstract concept or idea. As such, allegories are sometimes extended allusions, but the two common literary devices have their differences.

For example, George Orwell's Animal Farm is an allegory for the deterioration of Communism during the early establishment of the U.S.S.R. The farm was founded on a shared goal of overthrowing the farming elite and establishing an equitable society, but this society soon declines. Animal Farm mirrors the Bolshevik Revolution, the overthrow of the Russian aristocracy, Lenin's death, Stalin's execution of Trotsky, and the nation's dissolution into an amoral, authoritarian police state. Thus, Animal Farm is an allegory/allusion to the U.S.S.R.:

Allusion (excerpt from Animal Farm):

"There were times when it seemed to the animals that they worked longer hours and fed no better than they had done in [Farmer] Jones's day."

However, allegories are not always allusions. Consider Plato's " Allegory of the Cave," which represents the idea of enlightenment. By representing a complex idea, this allegory could actually be closer to an extended symbol rather than an extended allusion.

Allegory Writing Exercise

Pick a major trend going on in the world. In this example, let's pick the growing reach of social media as our "major trend."

Next, what are the primary properties of that major trend? Try to list them out:

More connectedness

A loss of privacy

People carefully massaging their image and sharing that image widely

Next, is there something happening at-or that could happen at-a much smaller scale that has some or all of those primary properties? This is where your creativity comes into play.

Well... what if elementary school children not only started sharing their private diaries, but were now expected to share their diaries? Let's try writing from inside that reality:

I know Jennifer McMahon made up her diary entry about how much she misses her grandma. The tear smudges were way too neat and perfect. Anyway, everyone loved it. They photocopied it all over the bulletin boards and they even read it over the PA, and Jennifer got two extra brownies at lunch.

Try your own! You may find that you've just written your own Black Mirror episode.

13. Ekphrasis

Ekphrasis refers to a poem or story that is directly inspired by another piece of art. Ekphrastic literature often describes another piece of art, such as the classic " Ode on a Grecian Urn ":

O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede
Of marble men and maidens overwrought,
With forest branches and the trodden weed;
Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty,-that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."

Ekphrasis can be considered a direct allusion because it borrows language and images from other artwork. For a great example of ekphrasis-as well as a submission opportunity for writers!-check out the monthly ekphrastic challenge that Rattle Poetry runs.

Ekphrasis writing exercise

Try your hand at ekphrasis by picking a piece of art you really enjoy and writing a poem or story based off of it. For example, you could write a story about Mona Lisa having a really bad day, or you could write a black-out poem created from the lyrics of your favorite song.

Or, try Rattle's monthly ekphrastic challenge! All art inspires other art, and by letting ekphrasis guide your next poem or story, you're directly participating in a greater artistic and literary conversation.

14. Onomatopoeia

Flash! Bang! Wham! An onomatopoeia is a word that sounds like the noise it describes. Conveying both a playfulness of language and a serious representation of everyday sounds, onomatopoeias draw the reader into the sensations of the story itself.

Onomatopoeia words are most often used in poetry and in comic books, though they certainly show up in works of prose as well. Some onomatopoeias can be found in the dictionary, such as "murmur," "gargle," and "rumble," "click," and "vroom." However, writers make up onomatopoeia words all the time, so while the word "ptoo" definitely sounds like a person spitting, you won't find it in Merriam Webster's.

Here's an onomatopoeia example, from the poem "Honky Tonk in Cleveland, Ohio" by Carl Sandburg.

It's a jazz affair, drum crashes and cornet razzes.
The trombone pony neighs and the tuba jackass snorts.
The banjo tickles and titters too awful.
The chippies talk about the funnies in the papers.
The cartoonists weep in their beer.

The onomatopoeias have been highlighted in bold. These common literary devices help make your writing fresh, interesting, and vivid, creating a sonic setting that the reader can fall into.
Learn more about onomatopoeias here!
Onomatopoeia Writing Exercise

Onomatopoeias are fun literary devices to use in your work, so have fun experimenting with them. In this exercise, take a moment to listen to the noises around you. Pay close attention to the whir of electronics, the fzzzzzzz of the heater, the rumbling of cars on the street, or the tintintintintin of rain on the roof.

Whatever you hear, convert those sounds into onomatopoeias. Make a list of those sounds. Try to use a mix of real words and made up ones: the way you represent noise in language can have a huge impact on your writing style.

Do this for 5 to 10 minutes, and when you have a comprehensive list of the sounds you hear, write a poem or short story that uses every single word you've written down.

15. Pun

If you built your political campaign off of wordplay, would you be punning for president?

A pun is a literary device that plays with the sounds and meanings of words to produce new, often humorous ideas. For example, let's say you used too much butter in your recipe, and it ruined the dish. You might joke that you were "outside the margarine of error," which is a play on the words "margin of error."

Puns have a rich literary history, and famous writers like Shakespeare and Charles Dickens, as well as famous texts like The Bible, have used puns to add depth and gravity to their words.

Pun Writing Exercise

Jot down a word or phrase that you commonly use. If you're not sure of what to write down, take a look at this list of English idioms. For example, I might borrow the phrase "blow off steam," which means to let out your anger.

Take any saying, and play around with the sounds and meanings of the words in that saying. Then, incorporate the new phrase you've created into a sentence that allows for the double meaning of the phrase. Here's two examples:

If I play with the sound of the words, I might come up with "blowing off stream." Then, I would put that into a sentence that plays with the original meaning of the phrase. Like: "Did you hear about the river boat that got angry and went off course? It was blowing off stream."

Or, I might play with the meanings of words. For example, I might take the word "blowing" literally, and write the following: "someone who cools down their tea when they're angry is blowing off steam."

Searching for ways to add double meanings and challenge the sounds of language will help you build fresh, exciting puns. Learn more about these common literary devices in our article on puns in literature.

16-27. Common Literary Devices in Poetry

The following 12 devices apply to both poetry and prose writers, but they appear most often in verse. Learn more about:

12 Literary Devices in Poetry: Identifying Poetic Devices

28-37. Common Literary Devices in Prose

The following 10 devices show up in verse, but are far more prevalent in prose. Learn more about:

10 Important Literary Devices in Prose: Examples & Analysis

38-48. Repetition Literary Devices

Though they have uncommon names, these common literary devices are all forms of repetition.

Repetition Definition: Types of Repetition in Poetry and Prose

49-57. Dialogue Literary Devices

While these literary elements pertain primarily to dialogue, writers use euphemisms, idioms, and neologisms all the time in their work.

How to Write Dialogue in a Story

58-67. Word Play Literary Devices

The following literary devices push language to the limits. Have fun with these!

Word Play: Examples of a Play on Words

68-72. Parallelism Literary Devices

Parallelism is a stylistic device where a sentence is composed of equally weighted items. In essence, parallel structure allows form to echo content. Learn all about this essential stylistic literary device below.

1. Grammatical parallelism

2. Rhetorical parallelism

3. Synthetic parallelism

4. Antithetical parallelism

5. Synonymous parallelism

Parallelism Definition: Writing With Parallel Structure

73-112. Rhetorical Devices

Rhetorical devices are literary devices intended to persuade the reader of something. You might have heard of ethos, pathos, and logos, but do you know your aposiopesis from your hyperbaton?

Many literary devices can also be considered rhetorical devices. After all, a metaphor can convince you of something just as well as a syllogism. Nonetheless, the following 40 rhetorical/literary devices will sharpen your style, argumentation, and writing abilities.

Common Rhetorical Devices List: The Art of Argument

Master These Common Literary Devices With Writers.com!

The instructors at Writers.com are masters of literary devices. Through masterful instruction and personal expertise, our instructors can help you add, refine, and improve your literary devices, helping you craft great works of literature. Check out our upcoming courses, and join our writing community on Facebook!

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112 Common Literary Devices: Definitions & Examples | Writers.com

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Learning the common literary devices is essential to improving your reading and writing skills. Start with these examples and exercises.

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IB English: Paper One - Political Cartoon - Student Sample - FULL RESPONSE - SCORE 7

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IB English: Paper One and IO - How to Read a Political Cartoon

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1. How important is cultural or historical context to the production and reception of a text?

2. How do we approach texts from different times and cultures to our own?

3. To what extent do texts offer insight into another culture?

4. How does the meaning and impact of a text change over time?

5. How do texts reflect, represent or form a part of cultural practices?

6. How does language represent social distinctions and identities?

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1. How do texts adhere to and deviate from conventions associated with literary forms or text types?

2. How do conventions and systems of reference evolve over time?

3. In what ways can diverse texts share points of similarity?

4. How valid is the notion of a classic text?

5. How can texts offer multiple perspectives of a single issue, topic or theme?

6. In what ways can comparison and interpretation be transformative?

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Mulk Raj Anand was an Indian writer who is famous for his literary works in English. In his writings, he feeds the lives of the poorer caste in traditional Indian society. Anand was born on 12th December 1905 in Peshawar, NWFP, British India (now situated in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan). He was among the pioneers of Indo-Anglian fiction amount with R.K. Narayan, Raja Rao, and Ahmad Ali and was also one of the first Indian writers in English who achieve the International readership and popularity. His genre of writing was realistic fiction. Mulk Ji is acclaimed for his literary works, which have earned the position of modern Indian English literature classics and are known around the world for providing insight into the life of the oppressed and portraying the true picture of poverty, exploitation, and misery.

He got huge praise for his memorable protest novel Untouchable (1935). After this, his other two novels that depicted the story of Indian poor society were published including Coolie (1936) and Two Leaves and a Bud (1937). In his unique writing style, he included Punjabi and Hindustani idioms in English which brought him into the limelight as one of the first writers to do so.

Early Life and Education

Anand Ji was born in Peshawar (now in Pakistan).His father's name was Lal Chand and his mother's name was Ishwar Kaur. He completed his graduation with honors at Khalsa College, Amritsar in 1924. After this, he moved to England and takesadmittedtoUniversity College London as an undergraduate student. He also worked there in a restaurant to run his livelihood. Then, in 1929, he completed his Ph.D. in philosophy at Cambridge University. During this period, the ember of Bloomsbury Group became his friends. Picasso was also one of his friends who gifted him a painting also. Mulk Raj Ji also gave lectures at the League of Nations' International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation, Geneva.

Career

Mulk Raj Anand came into the field of literary writing after facing a family tragedy related to the rigidity of India's caste system. In his debut written essay, he responded to an aunt's suicide after her family had excommunicated her for having a meal with a Muslim woman.

He started his writing career in England by writing some short reviews in S. Eliot's magazine, 'Criterion'.

During the 1930s and 40s, he actively took part in politics and gave many speeches at the meeting of the Indian League.

In 1935, his first novel 'Untouchable' was published which expose the dark side of India's untouchable caste system. The novel is beautifully written by using Hindi and Punjabi idioms in English. This experiment captured the vernacular inventiveness and gave Mr. Anand, the reputation of India's Charles Dickens.

In the same year, he founded the Progressive Writers' Association along with other two writers Sajjad Zaheer and Ahmed Ali.

In 1937, Anand Ji joined the International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War. During this period, he wrote numerous essays and articles onvarious political issues.

From 1939 to 1942, he began lecturing in literature and philosophy at London County Council Adult Education Schools and the Workers' Educational Association.

During the 1930s and 40s, he gave his time to the politics of London and India. He was an active member of the Indian National Congress as well as the British Labor Party.

During World War ll, Mulk Raj Ji worked as a scriptwriter and broadcaster also in the film division of BBC London.

In 1946, he launched the magazine about fine arts named 'Marg' which was mainly funded by JRD Tata and later got financial support from Tata Group.

In 1947, Anand Ji came back to India.

From 1948 to 1966, he spent his time teaching at various universities. In the 1960s, he served as a professor of Literature and Fine Arts at the University of Punjab.

From 1965 to 1970, Mr. Anand served as the fine art chairman at Lalit Kala Akademi.

In 1970, he also became the president of Lokayata Trust after which he created a community and cultural center in Hauz Khas village, Delhi.

In the same year, he joined the International Progress Organization (IPO) working on the issues related to cultural self-awareness among countries.

Personal Life and Legacy

In 1938, Mulk Raj Ji got married toan English actress and communist Kathleen VAR Gelder in London. They together had a daughter named Susheila. But their marriage unraveled and they divorced in 1948.

Later in 1950, he married a Persian classical dancer, Shirin Vajibdar in Bombay.

In 2004, Mr. Anand lost his life because of pneumonia at the age of 98 at Jahangir Hospital, Pune, Maharashtra, India.

Political Life

Mr. Anand had always been a socialist. His novels are essential social statements as well as literary treasures, as they criticize many facets of India's socioeconomic structure and the legacy of British colonialism. Anand himself was adamant that politics and writing were inextricably linked. He was a founder member of the Progressive Writers' Association and assisted in the writing of the organization's manifesto.

Major Work

Novels

Untouchable(1935)

Kali ka ladai(1939)

Coolie(1936)

Two Leaves and a Bud(1937)

The Village(1939)

Across the Black Waters(1939),

The Big Heart(1945)

The Lost Child(1934)

Seven Summers: A Memoir(1951)

The Road(1961)

The Death of a Hero(1964)

Others

Short Story Collections

The Lost Child and Other Stories(1934)

The Power of Darkness and Other Stories(1959)

Lajwanti and Other Stories(1966)

Between Tears and Laughter(1973)

Indian Fairy Tales(1946)

More Indian Fairy Tales(1961)

Others

Autobiographies

Seven Summers(1951)

Morning Face(1971)

Pilpali Sahab(1985)

Other Notable Works

The Golden Breath: Studies in five poets of the new India(1933)

Introduction to Indian art(1956)

Kama Kala(1958)

Others

Awards and Honors

In 1953, Mr. Anand won the International Peace Prize given by World Peace Council.

In 1968, he was awarded Padma Bhushan by the Government of India for his extraordinary contribution to the field of literature and education.

In 1971, he received Sahitya Akademi Award for his highly popular novel 'The Morning Face' (1968).

He was honored as India's Charles Dickens for his memorable work in the novel "Untouchable'.

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Mulk Raj Anand: Biography, About, Birthday, Born, Family, Education, Age, untouchable summary, short stories, novels, books - Javatpoint

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Mulk Raj Anand was an Indian writer who is famous for his literary works in English. In his writings, he feeds the lives of the poorer caste in traditional Indian society. Anand was born on 12th December 1905 in Peshawar, NWFP, British India (now situated in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan).

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Table of Contents

Mulk Raj Anand, (born December 12, 1905, Peshawar, India [now in Pakistan]-died September 28, 2004, Pune), prominent Indian author of novels, short stories, and critical essays in English, who is known for his realistic and sympathetic portrayal of the poor in India. He is considered a founder of the English-language Indian novel.

The son of a coppersmith, Anand graduated with honours in 1924 from Punjab University in Lahore and pursued additional studies at the University of Cambridge and at University College in London. While in Europe, he became politically active in India's struggle for independence and shortly thereafter wrote a series of diverse books on aspects of South Asian culture, including Persian Painting (1930), Curries and Other Indian Dishes (1932), The Hindu View of Art (1933), The Indian Theatre (1950), and Seven Little-Known Birds of the Inner Eye (1978).

A prolific writer, Anand first gained wide recognition for his novels Untouchable (1935) and Coolie (1936), both of which examined the problems of poverty in Indian society. In 1945 he returned to Bombay (now Mumbai) to campaign for national reforms. Among his other major works are The Village (1939), The Sword and the Sickle (1942), and The Big Heart (1945; rev. ed. 1980). Anand wrote other novels and short-story collections and also edited numerous magazines and journals, including MARG, an art quarterly that he founded in 1946. He also intermittently worked on a projected seven-volume autobiographical novel entitled Seven Ages of Man, completing four volumes: Seven Summers (1951), Morning Face (1968), Confession of a Lover (1976), and The Bubble (1984).

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Mulk Raj Anand, (born December 12, 1905, Peshawar, India [now in Pakistan]-died September 28, 2004, Pune), prominent Indian author of novels, short stories, and critical essays in English, who is known for his realistic and sympathetic portrayal of the poor in India. He is considered a founder of the English-language Indian novel.

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Identity
Culture
Transformation

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India's caste system is among the world's oldest forms of surviving social stratification. The BBC explains its complexities.

The system which divides Hindus into rigid hierarchical groups based on their karma (work) and dharma (the Hindi word for religion, but here it means duty) is generally accepted to be more than 3,000 years old.

How did caste come about?

Manusmriti, widely regarded to be the most important and authoritative book on Hindu law and dating back to at least 1,000 years before Christ was born, "acknowledges and justifies the caste system as the basis of order and regularity of society".

The caste system divides Hindus into four main categories - Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and the Shudras. Many believe that the groups originated from Brahma, the Hindu God of creation.

At the top of the hierarchy were the Brahmins who were mainly teachers and intellectuals and are believed to have come from Brahma's head. Then came the Kshatriyas, or the warriors and rulers, supposedly from his arms. The third slot went to the Vaishyas, or the traders, who were created from his thighs. At the bottom of the heap were the Shudras, who came from Brahma's feet and did all the menial jobs.

The main castes were further divided into about 3,000 castes and 25,000 sub-castes, each based on their specific occupation.

Outside of this Hindu caste system were the achhoots - the Dalits or the untouchables.

How does caste work?

For centuries, caste has dictated almost every aspect of Hindu religious and social life, with each group occupying a specific place in this complex hierarchy.

Rural communities have long been arranged on the basis of castes - the upper and lower castes almost always lived in segregated colonies, the water wells were not shared, Brahmins would not accept food or drink from the Shudras, and one could marry only within one's caste.

The system bestowed many privileges on the upper castes while sanctioning repression of the lower castes by privileged groups.

Often criticised for being unjust and regressive, it remained virtually unchanged for centuries, trapping people into fixed social orders from which it was impossible to escape.

Despite the obstacles, however, some Dalits and other low-caste Indians, such as BR Ambedkar who authored the Indian constitution, and KR Narayanan who became the nation's first Dalit president, have risen to hold prestigious positions in the country.

Historians, though, say that until the 18th Century, the formal distinctions of caste were of limited importance to Indians, social identities were much more flexible and people could move easily from one caste to another.

New research shows that hard boundaries were set by British colonial rulers who made caste India's defining social feature when they used censuses to simplify the system, primarily to create a single society with a common law that could be easily governed.

Is the system legal?

Independent India's constitution banned discrimination on the basis of caste, and, in an attempt to correct historical injustices and provide a level playing field to the traditionally disadvantaged, the authorities announced quotas in government jobs and educational institutions for scheduled castes and tribes, the lowest in the caste hierarchy, in 1950.

In 1989, quotas were extended to include a grouping called the OBCs (Other Backward Classes) which fall between the traditional upper castes and the lowest.

In recent decades, with the spread of secular education and growing urbanisation, the influence of caste has somewhat declined, especially in cities where different castes live side-by-side and inter-caste marriages are becoming more common.

In certain southern states and in the northern state of Bihar, many people began using just one name after social reform movements. Despite the changes though, caste identities remain strong, and last names are almost always indications of what caste a person belongs to.

What about job quotas?

In recent years, there have been demands from several communities to be recognised as OBCs - in 2016 there were violent protests by the Jat community in Haryana and the Patel community led huge protests in Gujarat in 2015 demanding access to caste quotas.

Both are prosperous and politically dominant communities, but they support their demand for caste quotas by saying large numbers in their communities are poor and suffering.

Some say the caste system would have disappeared by now if the fires were not regularly fanned by politicians.

At elections, many caste groups still vote as a block and are wooed by politicians looking for electoral gains.

As a result, what was originally meant to be a temporary affirmative action plan to improve the lot of the unprivileged groups has now become a vote-grabbing exercise for many politicians.

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India's complex caste system is among the world's oldest forms of surviving social stratification.

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The Indelible Problem: Mulk Raj Anand and the Plight of Untouchability

Andrew M. Stracuzzi, The University of Western Ontario

Mulk Raj Anand, speaking about the real test of the novelist, once said:

It may lie in the transformation of words into prophesy. Because, what is writer if he is not the fiery voice of the people, who, through his own torments, urges and exaltations, by realizing the pains, frustrations and aspirations of others, and by cultivating his incipient powers of expression, transmutes in art all feeling, all thought, all experience - thus becoming the seer of a new vision in any given situation. (qtd. in Dhawn, 14)

There is no question that Mulk Raj Anand has fashioned with Untouchable a novel that articulates the abuses of an exploited class through sheer sympathy in the traditionalist manner of the realist novel. He is, indeed, the "fiery voice" of those people who form the Untouchable caste. Yet if the goal of the writer, as Anand himself states, is to transform "words into prophecy," then the reader's struggle for meaning in the closing scenes of the novel become problematic and contestatory. It is reasonable to assume -- and as I would argue, it is implied -- that Anand has ventured to address a specific question with writing Untouchable; this is, how to alleviate the exploitation of the untouchable class in India? He then proceeds to address this question through the dramatization of Bahka, the novel's central character. Having said this -- and taking into account Anand's notion of the novel as prophesy -- I will argue that the author has failed to fully answer the question he has set before him. In fact, by posing such a question, the possibility of an altruistic solution becomes blurred. Furthermore, the three "prophecies" or solutions posited by the novel -- the rhetoric of the Christian Missionary, Mahatma Gandhi, and the poet Iqbal Nath Sarshar -- fail to present a prescription for freedom accessible to the untouchable community.
In order to articulate the meaning of the last section of Untouchable fully, it is important to analyze the construction of Bahka, the protagonist, since his own distinct and honest, though often confusing, gaze objectifies his society. The last passage in the novel is an appropriate place to begin:

he began to move. His virtues lay in his close-knit sinews and in his long breath sense. He was thinking of everything he had heard though he could not understand it all. He was calm as he walked along, though the conflict in his soul was not over, though he was torn between his enthusiasm for Gandhi and the difficulties in his own awkward nave self"( Untouchable, 157; italics mine).

Anand chooses to close the final scene of his novel by appropriating the inner conflict of Bakha and juxtaposing "enthusiasm" with "naiveté." There seems to be an inherent, even subtle, irony in describing Bahka in this manner. On one hand, it carries a strong sense of hope, of self-awareness, of self-appropriation of the individual within the greater scheme of Hindu society There is a strong indication that what Bahka has endured throughout his day's journey has had an enormous effect on the way he appropriates himself within his own culture The novel thus ends on a somewhat positive note, with the image of Bahka going home and telling -- actually vocalizing -- his story in the hopes that some sort of resolution, or at the very least, some emergence of understanding will occur.

Conversely, though, Anand chooses to show him as naive. This is, perhaps, where the inherent problem lies within the text, the construction of Bahka himself. Though Bakha is a young protagonist (or perhaps, anti-protagonist), he is far from being an innocent child. Yet he is constructed with such a damming perception of innocence -- an uneducated victim of his community's frustration -- that he does not fit into the confines of a traditional hero. This is primarily because for him there is no solid gratification or inner resolution gained by the obstacles he is faced with during his day. Furthermore, as E.M. Forester point outs in the novel's preface, the reader has every indication that the next day, and the day after that, will be identical to the first. If anything, then, his only heroism lies in his ability to survive the actual day's events; but that too is circumstantial. His survival does not rely so much on his inner strength as an individual, but rather it is dependent on the action of the others that surround him, namely those individuals of higher caste standing. It is a character like Charat Singh, for example, that determines his survival depending on the degree of pity he is willing to dispense at any particular moment. Anand creates a character in search of his own identity within the very structure that has eliminated the possibility of him having one. The conflict within Bakha is demonstrated repeatedly throughout the text, yet it is in the opening pages of the novel that the reader identifies with Bakha's search for an identity. Bakha clearly has trouble accepting the identity allotted to him at birth. He has a desire to be like the Tommies he sees throughout his village. The narrator tell us that "the Tommies had treated him as a human being and he had learnt to think of himself as superior to his fellow-outcasts" (9). He attempts to adopt the "fashun" of the Tommies, becoming "possessed with an overwhelming desire to live their life" (11). He naively assumes that the mere adoption of the outward sings of a Sahib will garner him respect. He proceeds through his day wearing the trousers of one of the Tommies, but this assertion of identity fails to produce the desired result. Instead, Bakha looks silly - a mere amusement for others to caste their petty jokes and insults. C.D. Narasimhaiah's The Swan and the Eagle maintains that Bakha is desperately trying to escape the connotations the title of the novel asserts over his identity. Bakha's desire to imitate the Tommies is important because "[he] can preserve his identity only to the extent that he can be conscious of his superiority"(112). However, Anand quickly dispels Bakha's consciousness of superiority when Bakha comes to the realization that "except for the English clothing there was nothing English in his life"(12). Narasimhaiah further articulates that "in the numerous episodes which he puts his character through, the novelist tries to give him his identity in the very act of our witnessing the world deny it to him or to those around us"(113).

Therefore, the importance Anand places on Bakha's quest for identity leaves the reader questioning the viability of Bakha as the most appropriate figure to challenge the abuses of untouchability. To further elaborate on this point it should be noted that Anand has taken a great risk, both professionally and socially, in writing about the untouchable class, a minority that has been underrepresented in much of the Indian-English literature produced before Untouchable. Anand has suggested himself that his novels should be read in a political context; as such, it would stand to reason that literature has a fundamental impact on the development of culture, especially in post-colonialism. We have seen the effects of such works by Kipling, Forster and Conrad, to name a few, which have been used by the oppressor in order to reinforce, and often justify their oppressive logic. It is clearly evident from Anand's novel that the untouchables are both an oppressed and exploited class.

I would argue that Anand has an obligation of sorts, in portraying this exploited class as fairly and representatively as possible. Certainly, he has successfully achieved the reader's sympathy for Bakha's exploitation via the horrendous abuses that he is subjected to as an oppressed minority. However, in choosing -- whether consciously or not -- to depict Bahka as a nave, uneducated, identity-seeking protagonist, Anand has significantly diminished the reader's ability (or Bakha's) to be seen as initiator of change. It seems that there is, however, evidence to suggest that this portrait of Bakha is somewhat intentional. Anand admits to having run over his manuscript with Mahatma Gandhi and making the suggested changes; he states, "I read my novel to Gandhji and he suggested that I should cut down more than a hundred pages, especially those passages in which Bakha seemed to be thinking and dreaming and brooding like a Bloomsbury intellectual"(Novels, 11). The choice to limit Bakha's intelligence further enforces his inability to fully understanding his situation. In depicting an untouchable in this way, Anand is undermining the possibility of the untouchable class taking a part in destroying their own oppression because he constructs them as incapable of intellectually identifying the systemic sources of their oppression.

If Bahka is to be seen as a representative of his class, his inability even to articulate the words of Gandhi, for example, puts him at an immediate disadvantage. In fairness to Anand, the portrayal of Bakha is complex, and he certainty allows Bakha to be rebellious. This rebellion, however, is always internal and uttered with a silent voice. After the novel's pivotal "touching" scene in the village market Bakha reacts to the event with anger: "the strength, the power of his giant body glistened with he desire for revenge in his eyes, while horror, rage, indignation swept over his frame. In a moment he lost all his humility, and he would have lost his temper too"(50), if it were not for the disappearance of the man who struck him. He is depicted as having a "smoldering rage within his soul," and then resorts to self questioning: "why was I so humble? I could have struck him!"(51). Thus we see that Bahka has the potential for rebellion, yet Anand chooses to silence this rebellion by creating a condition that does not allow for the expression of it. Bakha then comes to a self revelation a few paragraphs later: "I am an Untouchable! he said to himself, an Untouchable!"(52). Yet what good is this recognition if there is no possibility of it being overcome? This self affirmation has damaging consequences because it implies that Bahka is becoming comfortable with its implications.

Choosing the path of least resistance, Anand dismisses the possibility of social rebellion altogether. The ending of the novel stops short of adequately answering -- or justifying the reason for not answering -- the basic question the novel forces the reader to ask, how to alleviate the oppression of the untouchables? Instead, Anand chooses to address this question vis-à-vis the three choices presented to the untouchable class. In essence, Bakha's choices are conversion to Christianity, the rhetoric of Gandhi, and the flush system suggested by the poet. However, all three of these solutions prove to be inadequate primarily because they remove the option for untouchables to take action against their own oppression. R.T. Robertson pinpoints in his article " Untouchable as Archetypal Novel," the central paradox of the novel that "Bakha is both isolated from and bound to his culture; it will not allow him fully to participate in the society and cannot release him from it because of the essential service he performs for it."(101). This paradox creates an environment of stasis for Bakha and for all untouchables; the resolutions suggested within the text only perpetuate this stasis because, according to the novel, the only way to alleviate untouchability must come from the hands of either the oppressors or from something beyond the untouchables' control and understanding.

Like postcolonial novels set in other parts of the Britsh Empire, including Africa, the main character's encounter with missionary Christianity produces comedy and satire. Here Christian missionary, Colonel Hutchinson, can neither articulate Christian belief nor persuade Bakha of the benefits of conversion. Instead, the Colonel breaks into biblical song, only further confusing Bahka. He is unable to grasp the concept of original sin and so responds by reflecting, "he didn't like the idea of being called a sinner. He had committed no sin that he could remember. How could he confess his sins? Odd. He did not want to go to heaven"(130). The only point that peaks his interest is the fact that God regards all people as equal, but this is only a response to comfort him from the inequality he has encountered throughout the day. R.S. Singh in Indian Novels in English points out that while the Christian missionary persuades Bakha to change his religion, "Bakha's eyes are keen enough to see the dichotomy of the missionary's existence who is himself living a miserable life with his sensation-loving, hot-tempered wife. He comes to believe that the religion of his father is in no way inferior to Christianity"(40). Thus replacing one faith with another will not solve the problem of untouchablity but will only further complicates the matter.

The representations of both Gandhi and the poet proves also confusing alternatives for Bakha. On the one hand, Gandhi articulates that the plight of untouchability is both a "moral and religious" issue. He "regards untouchability as the greatest blot on Hinduism"(146) and asserts that it is "satanic" to assume anyone in Hinduism is born polluted. Gandhi then recounts the story of a Brahmin boy and a sweeper in his ashram and attempts to show understanding for the sweeper; he feels that if the Brahmin "wanted the ashram sweeper to do his work well he must do it himself and set an example"(148). Yet this action, while appearing to be sympathetic and understanding, only undermines the very existence of an untouchable because it assumes that the untouchable is incapable of doing such menial work well. Further, it implies and confirms an existing hierarchy of power between the untouchable and other high-caste Hindus because it suggests that they must be taught to be untouchables, which only perpetuates the cycle of oppression. Gandhi then proceeds to criticize the Untouchables by saying that they have to "cultivate habits of cleanliness," that they must get rid of their "evil habits" such as "drinking liquor, gambling and eating carrion." They must, as Gandhi says, " cease to accept leavings form the plates of high-caste Hindus, however clean they may be represented to be"(148). In essence, he advocates emancipation by purification. Yet there is an inherent dichotomy in Gandhi's rhetoric because the existing system does not allow for the untouchables to become purified primarily because their fundamental existence is rooted in the profession of filth. It is as Bakha says to his father, "they think we are mere dirt because we clean their dirt"(79). Anand, although an avid follower of Gandhi, has Bakha question the Mahatma's speech: "but now, now the Mahatma is blaming us. That is not fair! He wanted to forget the last passages that he had heard"(148). This suggests, perhaps, that Anand's view of Gandhi and his political rhetoric cannot be idealized because it too contains elements of oppression. Anand then proceeds to offer his last possible solution to the alleviation of untouchability. Through the poet Iqbal Nath Sarshar, Anand takes the chance to expressing his own Marxist inclinations: "well, we must destroy caste, we must destroy the inequalities of birth and unalterable vocations. We must recognize an inequality of rights, privileges and opportunities for everyone" (155). He advocates that a change in profession will free the Untouchables and the way to achieve this change is through the implementation of a flush system. William Walsh believes that this last option is most favored by Anand, but admits the obvious complexities in describing the change in this way:

He (Anand) is a committed artist, and what he is committed to is indicated by Bakha's mockery in Untouchable: 'greater efficiency, dictatorship of the sweepers, Marxian materialism and all that.' 'Yes, yes,' is the reply, 'all that, but no catch-words and cheap phrases, the change will be organic and not mechanical

How clearly this kind of thing confirms Anand's deficiencies as a thinker and the capacity of his Marxist enthusiasms to glide gaily across the most deeply entrenched differences. This, together with his furious indignation, unself-critical ideology and habit of undue explicitness, make him a writer whose work has to be severely sieved [ Indian Literature in English, 61].

Walsh, here, pinpoints effectively the inherent dangers of relying solely on a Marxist approach to the resolution of untouchabilty. Clearly social rebellion is a viable option, but the closest Anand comes to articulating a traditional Marxist revolution in India is masked, even distorted, in the figure of the poet. Here, Anand only skims the surface of its possibilities; introducing the concept in the very last pages of his novel only weakens the poet's arguments because neither the main protagonist nor the reader has enough time to fully conceptualize its implications.

Perhaps I have shown an undue harshness in criticizing Anand? However, my purpose here is not to diminish his talent as a writer, for he is, in fact, an amazingly articulate, though-provoking novelist with considerable power. The difficulties of alleviating the stigma of untouchabilty are far too complex for one man alone to tackle, and his novel does serve as a catalyst for change. Nevertheless, as a critical response to the novel's implications, I must argue that Anand has failed to convincingly advocate the ending of untouchablity through the choices presented to the protagonist -- Bakha. His failure in achieving this goal lies not so much in any form of ineptness of his three solutions - they are clearly alternatives - however, the fault lies in the implied assumption of these choices. All three choices remove the ability of an oppressed and exploited minority to free himself from his own oppression. Clearly Bakha is a rebellious individual within, yet the stifling of this rebellious nature only further asserts the inability of untouchables to free themselves; this is in effect the classical post-colonial conundrum. This challenge is brilliantly captured -- as previously noted by E.H. McCormick in response to what he believes is the post-colonial condition, and which I have adopted here to epitomize the dilemma of the untouchables -- by Matthew Arnold in "Stanzas from the Grand Chartreuse":

Wandering between two worlds, one dead, The other powerless to be born,
With nowhere to rest my head,
Like these, on earth I wait forlorn (85-90).

What else is Bakha but this wandering figure amongst the flowing flux of oppression? He is clearly disenchanted by the confines that the class-system has imposed on him and attempts to appropriate himself amongst the ruling English-class. This produces, in effect, a state of double alienation. As a result, he is both rejected from his own culture, and repelled by the other. Bakha, therefore, exists on the periphery of both worlds. But as Forster suggests -- and what I believe Anand seems to conclude -- is that "on the surface of the earth if not in the depths of the sky, a change is at hand"( Untouchable, viii.).

Works Cited

Anand, Mulk Raj. Untouchable. London: Penguin, 1940.

Dhawan, R.K., ed. The Novels of Mulk Raj Anand. New York: Prestige, 1992.

---. Saros Cowasjee. "Anand's Literary Creed." 13-18.

---. R.T. Roberston. " Untouchable as an Archetypal Novel." 98-104.

Narasimhaiah, C.D. The Swan and the Eagle. Delhi: Motilal, 1987.

Walsh, William. Indian Literature in English. London: Longman, 1990.

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The Indelible Problem: Mulk Raj Anand and the Plight of Untouchabilitye

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Mulk Raj Anand, speaking about the real test of the novelist, once said:

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IB ENGLISH A: LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (HL)

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The individual oral addresses the following prompt. THIS PROMPT IS MANDATORY FOR ALL STUDENTS ON THIS ASSESSMENT.
​Global Issues and the Individual Oral

Examine the ways in which the global issue of your choice is presented through the content and form of one of the works and one of the texts that you have studied.
​
The individual oral is based on the exploration the student has carried out in the learner portfolio. During this exploration process, the student will have investigated a series of non-literary texts and literary works and a variety of global issues. In the lead up to the individual oral, the student must make a decision about which global issue and which text and work will be explored in the task. One work and one non-literary text must be selected. An extract of no more than 40 lines should be selected from each which is representative of the presence of the global issue in it. In forms or text types where the number of lines may not be applicable, teachers should be guided by the volume of text that can be discussed in sufficient depth in the time available.

The work and text selected must have a clear connection with the global issue. The individual oral should be a well-supported argument about the ways in which both represent and explore the global issue. Students must select two extracts, one from the text and one from the work, that clearly show significant moments when this global issue is being focused on. Normally these extracts should not exceed 40 lines or present an unmanageable amount of material to be analysed. As the student brings unannotated copies of these extracts to the individual oral, extracts which are too lengthy may hinder their ability to effectively expand the discussion to the text or work as a whole. An extract may be a complete text in itself, for example a whole poem or an advertisement.

If the extract is from a literary text which is part of a larger work studied, such as a short story, or if it is a complete text which is part of a work studied, such as a poem, students should discuss relevant aspects of the broader work as a whole in their individual oral.

If the extract is a complete non-literary text, students should discuss relevant aspects of the broader body of work of the author of the text. In the case of a photograph, for example, the broader discussion should refer to other photographs by the same photographer. If identifying the single author of a non-literary text is not possible, students should use an ampler definition of authorship to broaden their discussion of the global issue.

In the case of an advertisement, for example, students could refer to the other advertisements or commercials belonging to the same campaign, to other campaigns of the same brand or to other work produced by the advertising agency. In the case of an article, students could refer either to other articles by the same author or to the general editorial line of the medium in which the article was published. In cases such as the latter two, students should make explicit what constitutes their definition of authorship.

​The extracts are meant to help students focus their responses, remove the need to learn quotations and enable them to explore more precise issues, such as style, specific devices and other distinct techniques used by authors to present the global issue. The choice of extracts should show the student's understanding of the relevance of the part to the whole and enable coverage of larger and smaller choices made by the writers to shape their perspectives on the global issue.

A global issue incorporates the following three properties:
Students may look to one or more of the following fields of inquiry for guidance on how to decide on a global issue to focus their orals on. These topics are not exhaustive and are intended as helpful starting points for students to generate ideas and derive a more specific global issue on which to base their individual oral. It should also be noted that there is the potential for significant overlap between the areas.

PLEASE NOTE: THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES ARE GLOBAL AREAS, NOT GLOBAL ISSUES. FOR THE IO YOU ARE REQUIRED TO SPEAK ON A GLOBAL ISSUE, NOT A GLOBAL AREA.
​

Culture, identity and community
Students might focus on the way in which texts explore aspects of family, class, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender and sexuality, and the way these impact on individuals and societies. They might also focus on issues concerning migration, colonialism and nationalism.

Beliefs, values and education
Students might focus on the way in which texts explore the beliefs and values nurtured in particular societies and the ways they shape individuals, communities and educational systems. They might also explore the tensions that arise when there are conflicts of beliefs and values, and ethics.

Politics, power and justice
​Students might focus on the ways in which texts explore aspects of rights and responsibilities, the workings and structures of governments and institutions. They might also investigate hierarchies of power, the distribution of wealth and resources, the limits of justice and the law, equality and inequality, human rights and peace and conflict.

Art, creativity and the imagination
Students might focus on the ways in which texts explore aspects of aesthetic inspiration, creation, craft, and beauty. They might also focus on the shaping and challenging of perceptions through art, and the function, value and effects of art in society.

Science, technology and the environment
Students might focus on the ways in which texts explore the relationship between humans and the environment and the implications of technology and media for society. They might also consider the idea of scientific development and progress.
In selecting the global issue for their oral, students must be careful not simply to select from the broad fields of inquiry above, but to determine a specific issue for discussion that can be reasonably explored.

The global issue chosen for consideration should be significant on a wide scale, be transnational in nature, and be an issue that has an impact felt in everyday local contexts. The issue should be clearly evidenced in the extracts or texts chosen.

​For example, within the field of culture, identity and community, the theme of gender in itself might be unsuitably broad for an individual oral. A student interested in this theme might explore instead how gender bias manifests itself in different contexts; how this can be evidenced in many ways in texts of different sorts; how different authorial choices will determine what is meant by gender bias; whether bias should be viewed positively or negatively, allowing the students to evaluate the writer's choices and the impact they might have on the different readers' or viewers' understanding.

The oral itself will only be concerned with the aspects of the global issue relevant to the two texts chosen. The student should ensure the oral offers a balanced approach, giving approximately equal attention to both texts. Thus, it is important that the student selects extracts/texts that offer equally sufficient material for the discussion.

The learner portfolio is not specifically assessed but it is an important place for students to explore and reflect upon their works in relation to global issues.

In relation to the preparation of the individual oral, the learner portfolio provides an opportunity for students to:

Keep an ongoing record of the different global issues that could be related to each of the texts they read

Explore links that could be established between different texts on the basis of common global issues they address

​Explore how key passages in the texts they have studied represent different or similar perspectives on one global issue through both form and content

Trace the evolution of their thinking and planning in connection with the global issue and how its cultural value, its definition and application to the texts they read have changed through their inquiry ​

Reflect on the challenges that the internal assessment poses for them as individual learners.

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​Global Issues and the Individual Oral The individual oral addresses the following prompt. THIS PROMPT IS MANDATORY FOR ALL STUDENTS ON THIS ASSESSMENT. Examine the ways in which the global issue...

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Global issues

'Global issue' is the topic, theme or problem that is explored throughout the Individual Oral (IO). In your IO, you will explore how a global issue is presented in a literary work, a non-literary work and extracts from each. But what, exactly, is a global issue? A global issue has three qualities:

Examples of good global issues

How social inequality can lead to social strife

How self-hatred can be the result of discrimination

How unrealistic definitions of beauty can lead to low self-esteem

How globalisation has created a struggle for identity

How disinformation sows social unrest

How to formulate a global issue

Notice how the examples all follow a kind of formula. They are big noun phrases that start with 'how' and identify a causal relationship. They articulate both the cause and effect of a problem. They also have connections to the seven concepts (identity, transformation, representation, culture, communication, creativity and perspective) and they are taken from one of the 5 'fields of inquiry'.

5 Fields of inquiry

Culture, identity and community

Beliefs, values and education

Politics, power and justice

Art, creativity and the imagination

Science, technology and the natural world

It helps to think of global issues as themes that appear somewhere on a ladder of abstraction. A 'ladder of abstraction' is a representation of how real-life people and situations connect to abstract ideas. Below is an example of a ladder of abstraction that includes racism. Notice how the words in the list below go from the concrete and specific to the abstract and general. What global issue can you realistically explore in a 10-minute oral? The sweet spot is somewhere in the middle, where racism leads to social strife and protest.

Ladder of abstraction

CONCRETE > Michael Brown > Ferguson > racial profiling > #blacklivesmatter protests > racial profiling > racism > discrimination > injustice > ABSTRACT

Worksheet: Global-issue builder

Course outline

While not required by the IB, you may find it useful to organise units of inquiry by global issue. Even though it is a term that is most relevant to the IO, it provides a useful tool for tackling every non-literary and literary work. Essentially, students are asked to identify universal problems and their effects on humanity after reading each text. What's more, good textual analysis on any form of assessment will explore a causal relationship between authorial intent, authorial choices and reader response. These choices are often made to comment on real-world problems (or global issues).

Last modified: Monday, 3 July 2023, 11:14 AM

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'Global issue' is the topic, theme or problem that is explored throughout the Individual Oral (IO). In your IO, you will explore how a global issue is presented in a literary work, a non-literary work and extracts from each. But what, exactly, is a global issue?

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Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand  | Animated And Explained

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Skills - CARTOONS - Terms - Graphic (Shea Tan)

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How to Recognize Characteristics of Non-literary Texts - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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Literature contains two types of literary styles: fiction and nonfiction. Learn what characterizes a non-literary text and how it plays a role in...

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Thousands of people protest across the country against police brutality and racism.

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On Keshav Shankar Pillai’s death anniversary, a look at the life of the fearless illustrator who is considered the father of political cartooning in India.