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Welcome back to the final chapter of figures of speech in Harry Potter edition. In our previous post, we discussed how Rowling uses similes and metaphors throughout the Harry Potter series to enrich the readers’ experience and help them teleport to the magical world of Hogwarts. If you haven’t checked the first part of the series, we highly recommend you do that now! Others, please continue to read.

In this particular segment, we shall learn about some other kinds of literary tools evident throughout the Harry Potter sequence, while simultaneously ensuring it’s all fun and games and nothing too taxing. The literary devices covered in this section are personification, alliteration and onomatopoeia. So, what’s the wait for? Let’s dive right into it!

1. Personification 

— The Hat tells them, "Try me on and I will tell you / Where you ought to be." 

Making a grand appearance at #1 on our list is personification—the heartbeat of every children’s fiction ever.  When defined literally, personification is giving human-like qualities to something abstract or a non-living entity. 

Since personification majorly thrives on the reader’s imagination, Rowling has used this figure of speech in the best possible way to bring the world of Harry Potter to life. Be it through the “wand [that] chooses the wizard” or “Harry's broom jumped into his hand at once,” the book is full of endless illustrations of this literary tool. 

However, nothing beats the anticipation and excitement in the scene where Harry is about to be sorted into his house and the entire hall is brimming with impatience, until the sorting hat, at last, declares, “Well if you're sure, better be... GRYFFINDOR!”

2. Alliteration 

Next up on our list is the easiest and every child’s preferred figure of speech, alliteration. Remember that tongue twister you challenged your best friend and classmates to take? Fun fact! That’s one of the perfect examples of alliteration. So, in the simplest of terms, alliteration is nothing but a bunch of words placed together that begin with the same consonant sounds.

To look for instances of alliteration through Rowling’s Harry Potter, you won’t have to hustle hard because they are literally everywhere. For instance, Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Salazar Slytherin, Moaning Myrtle, among others, are all examples of alliterative names in the series.

Dig a little deeper and you will find alliteration through Lockhart’s "Fame is a fickle friend, Harry" to Professor McGonagall’s angry speech of “I will not have you…besmirching that name by behaving like a babbling, bumbling band of baboons!”

Professor McGonagall, in fact, is the flag bearer of alliteration in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire where she treats dancing as both feminine (inside every girl, a secret swan slumbers) and masculine (inside every boy, a lordly lion prepared to prance) through impressive use of alliteration.

3. Onomatopoeia 

— There was a bang, and Harry felt his hands fly off Mundungus's throat.
Gasping and spluttering, Mundungus seized his fallen case, then—CRACK—he disapparated.

Think of alliteration, and onomatopoeia isn’t far away. In layman terms, onomatopoeia refers to words that evoke or imitate the sound they refer to. They are the part of auditory images that are used to make writing livelier and more appealing to the audience. 

Rowling, being the genius mind she is, uses onomatopoeia to the best of its capability through various instances across the Harry Potter series. Be it the dramatic entry of Hagrid in Potter’s life on the midnight of his birthday with “SMASH! The door was hit with such force that it swung clean off its hinges and with a deafening crash landed flat on the floor,” Uncle Vernon’s “Barking, howling mad, the lot of them” or Neville’s trademark ability to smash things in “There was another tinkle of breaking china; Neville had smashed his second cup,” sounds govern the magical world of Harry Potter as much as visuals do.

Well, here we end our figures of speech series in a Harry Potter edition with the hope that you have all successfully befriended literary devices and they don’t seem that daunting anymore. Hence, our fellow wizards and witches, we proudly conclude that you are all set to take the world of exams by storm. Just remember, ‘Avada Kedavra!’ aka let’s go, kill it! 

Image Source:

Harry Potter and the Sorting Hat [https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/Harry-Potter-Sorting-Hat-Biased-Theory-44705042]

Harry, Ron and Lockhart [https://screenrant.com/harry-potter-things-only-book-fans-know-about-gilderoy-lockhart/]

Harry Potter and Fletcher [https://potterwars.wordpress.com/2016/02/25/throwback-thursday-mundunguss-morals/]

Do you feel like you are being pushed to your limits when you have to write? You don’t know where to begin? Your sentences are always identical?

Before we start discussing the possible solutions for this confounding issue, let’s first take a look at the example given below.

Alex was sauntering back home from school. He heard the distant rumbling of thunder. He searched his backpack for his umbrella. He realised that he had forgotten his umbrella at school. Alex was terrified of thunderstorms. He ran towards his home as fast as he could.’

First of all, make sure that you carry an umbrella with you wherever you go. The second and the most crucial thing – please don’t start all your sentences agreeing with the subject-verb-object rule you were taught in elementary school. It is grammatically correct, but at this point, to be honest, no one really cares whether Alex has reached home safe and sound.

What if we tell you that there are many secrets up our sleeve to avoid this awkward situation? We don’t mind spilling the beans with you. Let’s see if we can make poor Alex’s story a bit more appealing.

a) You can start your sentence with onomatopoeia (sound word). Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically resembles the sound it describes.

‘Clap! The sudden rumbling of thunder startled him.’

b) Another way to start your sentence is by using adverbs ending with ‘ly’. Don’t forget to use a comma after that.

‘Frantically, he fished around his backpack for his umbrella.’

c) Adjectives are also good sentence starters. You must always put a comma after an opening adjective.

‘Perturbed and dejected, he gave up his search realising that he had left it at school.’

d) Begin the sentence with a prepositional phrase. A prepositional phrase is a group of words consisting of a preposition, its object and any words that modify the object.

‘With his backpack flopping, he ran as fast as he could.’

e) Start the sentence by describing when or where the event is happening.

‘Down the Abbey Lane, he sprinted like a wild hare.’

Now let’s rewrite the entire paragraph.

‘Alex was sauntering back home from school. Clap! The sudden rumbling of thunder startled him. Frantically, he fished around his backpack for his umbrella. Perturbed and dejected, he gave up his search realising that he had left it at school. With his backpack flopping, he ran as fast as he could. Down the Abbey Lane, he sprinted like a wild hare.’

Well, what do you think? The difference is apparent, right? Next time you are asked to write a sentence, we are sure that it will be a cakewalk for you. Happy writing!

Ever wondered that while direct language is usually easier to comprehend, why we as readers often tend to lean towards the more creative wording? In literary terms, this ‘fancy language’ is called figures of speech, which are nothing but phrases or a group of words used in a non-literal sense. In layman terms, any phrase that stands for a unique and deeper meaning beyond its literal usage is defined as a figure of speech or a literary device.

Readers usually find it natural to connect with a piece rich in literary tools because it adds a poetic touch to the writing and makes the imagery more vivid to comprehend. Most common examples of literary devices in the English language comprise similes, metaphors, personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, among others.

Since understanding these literary tools isn’t always a cakewalk and can be a strenuous act for many, we decided to aid the process by slowly introducing our readers to the world of literary tools. To exactly serve the purpose, we will start this edition with some popular similes and metaphors used through everyone’s favourite, “The Harry Potter Series” by J.K. Rowling.

So, without further ado, let’s begin!

Simile

“Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel ... Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.”

Similes are usually the most common and easiest to locate literary techniques that are used to directly compare two non-identical, contrasting items with the help of words ‘like’ or ‘as’. If you are an avid Harry Potter fan, chances are you've encountered similes throughout the series at every possible instance.

From “Dudley looked like a pig in a wig” to "Dumbledore's silver hair ... shone as brightly as ghosts", the similes are everywhere. If you have got an eye for it, go and explore 10 more similes right now!

Metaphor

“Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors.”

Making an appearance next in the article is the confusing cousin of simile, metaphor. When defined literally, metaphor is a figure of speech that is used to make an indirect comparison between two things that aren't alike but do share some property in common.

Note that, unlike similes, metaphors do not include words such as ‘like’ or ‘as’ for comparisons.

Rowling uses metaphors at various instances throughout the Harry Potter Series to breathe life into her thoughts and bring them alive for the readers. One such instance is where she combines humor (another literary device) and metaphor to contrast Mrs. Dursley to a crane. This helps readers understand Mrs. Dursley’s fierce and graceful demeanour like that of a crane in comparison to her nosy self that depicts the hidden flaws in her character.

The next ingenious and impressive occurrence of metaphor is visible in ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ where Snape’s Patronus of “the silver doe” has the audience gasping in awe for his endless love for Lily (Harry’s mother).

Be it the subtle comparison of depression to dementors that “drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them”, or Dumbledore’s, “And now, Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress adventure” to describe a formal meet and greet, metaphors are omnipresent in the world of Rowling like the vicious presence of Voldemort in Harry’s conscience.

For information on other kinds of literary devices, stay tuned to the series because we have many more treats compiled for all our Potterheads out there.

Image Source:

Cover Image by Parent Previews [https://parentpreviews.com/movie-reviews/harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone]

Dursley Family Image by Hello! Magazine [https://www.hellomagazine.com/healthandbeauty/health-and-fitness/2017021736716/harry-potter-dudley-actor-harry-melling-weight-loss/]

Mrs. Dursley Animation by Amino Apps [https://aminoapps.com/c/harry-potter/page/blog/petunia-dursley/NKTM_ulGbE5bYazorWkJGzbLVw10Bg]

MAKE YOUR BADDIE BETTER

“I firmly believe that a story is only as good as the villain” – Clive Barker

If you want people to worship your hero, or if you want your readers to sympathise with the protagonist, you are going to need a strong antagonist. Harry Potter will be just a smart, bespectacled kid with a strange scar on his forehead without You Know Who. Lord Voldemort brings out the ‘hero’ in Harry. English literature is blessed with many such astounding adversaries. They make it difficult for the characters to materialise their dreams and goals.

The antagonist throws hurdles at your protagonist now and then. If the central character has to swim across a river, the meanie will send his crocodile friends to attack her. If she wants to participate in a talent show, the antagonist will replace the proper microphone with a faulty one. The basic idea is clear, right? But the meanies are much more intriguing and sophisticated. So, many of you might be wondering about ways to create a compelling antagonist. Don’t worry; we will give you some ideas.

The Quintessential Villain

What are your initial thoughts when you hear the word ‘villain’? The most common answers will be thick moustaches, blood-shot eyes, wild hair, scary laugh, deformed face etc. Including these characteristics in your antagonist is an easy way to create a baddie into being. The reader can easily identify the villain in your story just by his/her physical appearance. Some examples of such classic villains are Lord Voldemort (Harry Potter), The Queen of Hearts (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland), Shere Khan (The jungle Book), Miss Trunchbull (Matilda) etc. They are frequently found in adventure, horror and fantasy novels.

 "Miss Trunchbull, the Headmistress, was something else altogether. She was a gigantic holy terror, a fierce tyrannical monster, who frightened the life out of pupils and teachers alike. There was an aura of menace about her even at a distance, and when she came up close you could almost feel the dangerous heat radiating from her as from a red hot rod of metal.”

“She looked, in short, more like a rather eccentric and bloodthirsty follower of the staghounds than the headmistress of a nice school for children.”

 — (Extract from Matilda by Roald Dahl) 

Unexpected Villains: Charismatic and Strong Opponents

A true villain is always the one you least suspect. In the fifth Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix, Professor Dolores Umbridge looks harmless and sweet in the beginning. She looks like an adorable piece of pink cotton candy, but she shocks us all with her torturing devices and unconventional punishments.

Any Sherlock Holmes fans here? He is the fictitious but exemplary detective everyone is crazy about: the brainchild of Arthur Conan Doyle with excellent deductive prowess. His arch-foe James Moriarty is equally intelligent and cunning.  Even though he appears only in two stories, this Machiavellian villain has quite a reputation and a loyal fan base. So, your villain should be equally worthy as your protagonist.  He should be strong, powerful, influential and quick-witted.

“He is a genius, a philosopher, an abstract thinker. He has a brain of the first order. He sits motionless, like a spider in the centre of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations, and he knows well every quiver of each of them."  

― Sherlock Holmes to Dr Watson (speaking about Professor Moriarty)

Description of a Villain

When writing a story, a proper introduction of your antagonist is necessary. Use sensory and descriptive language to describe your villain and his motives. The readers should despise the villain and fear his sinister plans. They should always look out for your hero. Make the bad guy look invincible and powerful, so that when your hero emerges victorious in the final duel, the victory can be extraordinary, incredible and stirring. Let’s take a look at the following example:

“She was an evil sorceress.” 

Are you scared? Can you feel her scary eyes staring straight into your soul? Do you have hairs standing on end?  Not really, right?

A different approach – Her gaze was piercing and intimidating. Her fiery eyes were glowing with anger and looked lethal enough to set the entire world on fire. The wind was howling furiously and the trees were shaking their branches as if they were possessed.

The first example is monotonous and lifeless. The second example is preferable, right? The antagonist comes alive in flesh in the second example. Including sensory details and descriptive language can help the readers to visualise the scene better.

You now possess the basic ingredients required to brew the perfect portion for a memorable meanie. GOOD LUCK!

Aren't Small bites always better for one's consumption and health? They taste better as well! That strikes a chord with our idiom of the day.

Bite off more than one can chew: to take on more work or responsibility than one can actually do.

Examples:

I bit off more than I could chew when I decided to  single-handedly arrange a house warming party for a hundred people. 

The office sycophant has bitten off more than he can chew this time by claiming he can finish the entire week's work in a day.

In his efforts to help others, Ben is always biting off more than he can chew.

Idioms have a way of teasing our expectations by going beyond the literal meaning. They are in this way a type of figurative language. Let's learn one such expression today. 


Face the music: to receive criticism, scolding or punishment for one's errors.      

Examples: 

After a two hour delay, the airline staff had to face music from the disgruntled passengers. 

"Either don't commit such silly mistakes, or be prepared to face the music," thundered the boss at the workers.

Local residents raising funds to save their library! The venture is not only extraordinary, but deserves to be told in an unparalleled manner. 

 

No discrimination. The genre of diary entry treats its animate (living) and inanimate subjects (non-living) equally. So should the author. A hand bag, a typewriter or a ladle are as much exemplary narrators as are an astronaut, a teacher or a wimpy kid.

When penning down a day’s experience from their perspective, the inanimate subjects take on a life of their own. They are not mere passive objects of human gaze, but active agents of action. They sense and feel as much as a creature of flesh and blood.

Here we share a few techniques which will help you compose diary entries of objects.

1. Self/implied personification: It’s a no-brainer that an object writing a diary entry must do so like a real human being. The melodious ‘voice’ of a piano is as much worthy of a note as is the ‘trunk’ of a walking stick. Bodily references as well as mortal actions can figure into the picture.

Exploit the literary technique of personification to its full extent:

“I’m the sole DVR in this family, swallowing one music series after the other, depending on the whims of three generations.” (Diary entry of a DVR)

“My frozen cranium contrasts absolutely with my chilly torso.” (Diary entry of a refrigerator)

2. Sentimentalizing: Not just the corporal. Infuse your subject with pressing human emotions.

It could be the injustice meted out to a sulky roll of crushed paper:

“After being brutally tossed into the room’s corner, I was eventually pulverized, when I breathed my last in a paper shredder.”

Or, the daily grousing of a broom:

“Knocks, joggles and sweeps!!! How my life passes in these rude movements.”

3. Transferred epithet: This figure of speech involves a modifier (mostly, an adjective) qualifying not only its primary noun but also another object alongside. It entails a dual allusion. In the case of inanimate objects, the narrator could concoct expressions like:

“I’m a soulful piano.” (Soulful referring to both music and piano; diary entry of a piano)

“Mom calls me ‘a screechy thingamabob.’” (Screechy used for both the device’s ringing and its high volume; diary entry of a mobile phone)

4. Startling beginnings: Introduce your subject by astonishing the readers out of their senses. Humour may play a critical role here. Procrastinate revealing the protagonist’s identity. Relate it to some of its dramatic actions. Thereafter, leave the rest for the readers to wonder.

“I gulp down the litter of the world. Each and every day.” (Diary entry of a dustbin)

“Faces may come and go. Yet, I see the insides out of everyone.” (Diary entry of a mirror)

5. Keen observations: Every narrator must be an acute observer of his world. He takes a note of all the acts and happenings around him with senses wide alert.

“Holy moly, a get-together again! Life is lived to the lees in this house. So, I see the mom now scurrying here and there, arranging delicious dishes. The dad is gone out to fetch wines and champagnes. The kids are merrymaking, way too exhilarated about what’s coming on.”

A diary entry is a highly personalized account of an experience. Hope the above strategies will help you add shades to your central character.

A title is a foreword to a piece of writing that arrests the audience’s attention immediately. It works as a sneak peek into the fictional universe of a creative write-up.

In fact, it can be said that titles deserve the maximum artistic endeavor on the part of an author. This is because ultimately it is the title which puts off or invites the readers to go on to read an article or leave it.

Let’s scrutinize today some interesting strategies to design succinct titles for the genre of descriptive writing.

1. Characterization

Whether it’s an unforgettable teacher, your beloved uncle or aunt, or your adorable pet, you can always enrich their descriptions with telling adjectives.

Show what perception you bear of these in your mind by using words of endearment or strongly evocative descriptions.

The below examples demonstrate how it is good to build on your character using rich vocabulary:

My Cuddly Wuddly Kitten (Describe a kitten)

Our Whizzy Gizmo (Describe your parent's smartphone)

A Duo of Kindred Spirits or Bosom Buddies: Me and My Pal (Describe a friend)

2. Punning

Playing with words is often the forte of many writers. A pun involves deliberate evocation of a substitute word which is similar in spelling and sound to the original word but contrasts totally in meaning. It gives humorous effect when placed in its specific context.

 A Case of Essentials (Describe a pencil case)

 A Motivational Step of My Step Uncle (Describe an uncle/aunt)

3. Revealing the Protagonist

Instead of always the opening paragraph, it may be the title which sometimes introduces the protagonist of a descriptive write up. An author can explore a wide range of possibilities in this regard to establish his central character or theme in the limelight, right at the start of his narration.

A Sophisticated Humanoid (Describe your favourite toy)

An Ultramodern Modular Kitchen (Describe a kitchen)

4. Cueing

What the connotative may convey, the denotative may not. A writer often goes en route the symbolic terrain before rendering his meaning in clear blacks and whites. Cues are dropped using certain representational or associative diction, closely related to the subject being dealt with.

 Here are a few sample titles carrying such intended indirect references:

 A Day with Throngs and Queues (Describe a busy day in a bank)

 A Canine Connection (Describe a dog)

 A Visage of Resplendence (Describe a grey crowned crane)

 The Auburn Royalty (Describe a tiger)

5. Alliteration

The time honored figurative techniques come in handy even in titling your write-ups.

A Place of Pots, Pans and Peelers (Describe a kitchen)

Super Stylish Super Cuts (Describe a hair salon or barber shop)

A Silent Speechless Spectator (Describe a chair in a waiting room)

Titling in descriptive writing is not limited to the above discussion alone. One may go far and wide scouting for the most suitable title for his creative write up. Be as unique, ingenious and original as possible. Remember – your title is the landmark to your literary creation.