Basic artistic techniques. Artistic techniques in the poem

What makes fiction different from other types of texts? If you think that this is a plot, then you are mistaken, because lyric poetry is a fundamentally “plotless” area of ​​literature, and prose is often plotless (for example, a prose poem). Initial “entertainment” is also not a criterion, since in various eras fiction performed functions that were very far from entertainment (and even the opposite of it).

“Artistic techniques in literature are, perhaps, the main attribute that characterizes fiction.”

Why are artistic techniques needed?

Techniques in literature are intended to give the text

• various expressive qualities,
• originality,
• identify the author’s attitude to what is written,
• and also to convey some hidden meanings and connections between parts of the text.

At the same time, outwardly, no new information seems to be introduced into the text, because the main role is played by various ways of combining words and parts of a phrase.

Artistic techniques in literature are usually divided into two categories:

• trails,
• figures.

A trope is the use of a word in an allegorical, figurative sense. The most common trails:

• metaphor,
• metonymy,
• synecdoche.

Figures are ways of syntactically organizing sentences that differ from the standard arrangement of words and give the text one or another additional meaning. Examples of figures include

• antithesis (opposition),
• internal rhyme,
• isocolon (rhythmic and syntactic similarity of parts of the text).

But there is no clear boundary between figures and paths. Techniques such as

• comparison,
• hyperbola,
• litotes, etc.

Literary devices and the emergence of literature

Most artistic techniques generally originate from primitive

• religious ideas,
• will accept
• superstitions

The same can be said about literary devices. And here the distinction between tropes and figures takes on a new meaning.

The trails are directly related to ancient magical beliefs and rituals. First of all, this is the imposition of a taboo on

• name of the item,
• animal,
• pronouncing a person's name.

It was believed that when designating a bear by its direct name, one could bring it upon the one who pronounces this word. This is how they appeared

• metonymy,
• synecdoche

(bear – “brown”, “muzzle”, wolf – “gray”, etc.). These are euphemisms (“decent” replacement for an obscene concept) and dysphemisms (“obscene” designation of a neutral concept). The first is also associated with a system of taboos on certain concepts (for example, the designation of genital organs), and the prototypes of the second were originally used to avoid the evil eye (according to the ideas of the ancients) or to etiquettely humiliate the named object (for example, oneself before a deity or a representative of a higher class). Over time, religious and social ideas were “debunked” and subjected to a kind of profanation (that is, the removal of sacred status), and paths began to play an exclusively aesthetic role.

The figures appear to have a more “mundane” origin. They could serve the purpose of memorizing complex speech formulas:

• rules
• laws,
• scientific definitions.

Similar techniques are still used in children's educational literature, as well as in advertising. And their most important function is rhetorical: to draw increased public attention to the content of the text by deliberately “violating” strict speech norms. These are

• rhetorical questions
• rhetorical exclamations
• rhetorical appeals.

“The prototype of fiction in the modern sense of the word were prayers and spells, ritual chants, as well as speeches of ancient orators.”

Many centuries have passed, “magic” formulas have lost their power, but on a subconscious and emotional level they continue to influence a person, using our inner understanding of harmony and orderliness.

Video: Visual and expressive means in literature

Plan
Introduction
V.V. Mayakovsky is one of the most unusual poets of the early twentieth century.
Main part
Artistic techniques used in the poem:
- neologisms;
- epithets;
- figurative metaphors and comparisons;
- grotesque;
- sarcasm;
- appeal.
Conclusion
To create a real work of art, it is necessary to process “thousands of tons of verbal ore.”
V.V. Mayakovsky is one of the most unusual poets of the early twentieth century. His poetry can rightfully be called innovative. In his lyrics, V. Mayakovsky uses various artistic techniques in different combinations. In the text of the same poem, neologisms and vivid figurative metaphors and comparisons, grotesque, sarcasm and epithets can be used.
Appeal is the main rhetorical device used by V.V. Mayakovsky in poems. A poet needs a listener, a reader. In the poem “Listen!” the poet addresses the invisible reader:
After all, if the stars
light up -
Does that mean anyone needs this?
This means it is necessary
so that every evening
over the roofs
Did at least one star light up?!
The poem “The Seated Ones” gives the image of a man in two:
Enraged
To the meeting
I burst into an avalanche,
Spewing wild curses on the way.
And I see:
Half the people are sitting.
Here the poet uses the grotesque technique - a mixture of the real and the fantastic occurs. The poem “Suck-up” uses hyperboles that make the image grotesque, revealing the essence of human nature: “And language?! I got out about thirty meters to catch up with the authorities...”
The poem “A Good Treatment for Horses” reveals the vices of modern society through the use of a special lyrical plot: people, having seen a fallen horse, continue to go about their business, there is no pity or mercy. The phrase from this poem: “...we are all a little bit of a horse” has become an aphorism. In this poem V.V. Mayakovsky uses various phonetic techniques: sound painting, when a precisely selected combination of sounds conveys the voices of the street: “huddled together, laughter rang and tinkled,” - the sound of horse hooves:
Hooves struck. / They sang as if:
Mushroom. / Rob.
Coffin. / Rough
V.V. Mayakovsky paid increased attention to the word. His lyrical works use the author's neologisms. In the poem “An unusual adventure that happened to Vladimir Mayakovsky in the summer at the dacha”: “golden-browed”, “yes”, “ringing”, “let’s sing”. The poet plays with words and rhymes, using homonyms: “I am driving back the lights for the first time since creation. Did you call me? Drive the tea, drive it, poet, jam!”, synonyms: “sun”, “golden forehead”, “luminary”.
The poetic device of personification carries a huge semantic load in the poem “To Comrade Nette, the Ship and the Man,” when memories of the man Theodore Nette are addressed to the ship named after him. The poem begins with a metaphor and simile: “a port burning like molten summer.” The sound recording technique used at the beginning of the poem creates an atmosphere of something fantastic, ghostly:
No wonder I shuddered.
Not nonsense...
The tension when describing the ship is replaced by an ironic intonation with memories of the diplomatic courier Theodore Nette, who “drank tea” in the “deep compartment”, argued about poetry, and guarded important documents.
The poem “Anniversary” explains the role of poetry in society, and all poets are conditionally divided into those who “have been masters in life” and “balalaika players.” The key phrase of the poem is the words: “I love you, but alive, not a mummy,” which expresses the poet’s true attitude towards A.S. Pushkin.
To create a real work of art, it is necessary to process “thousands of tons of verbal ore”, to find that one word, that one artistic technique that will be understandable and close to both the poet himself and the reader.

Why are artistic techniques needed? First of all, in order for the work to correspond to a certain style, implying a certain imagery, expressiveness and beauty. In addition, a writer is a master of associations, an artist of words and a great contemplator. Artistic techniques in poetry and prose make the text deeper. Consequently, both the prose writer and the poet are not satisfied with just the linguistic layer; they are not limited to using only the superficial, basic meaning of the word. In order to be able to penetrate into the depth of thought, into the essence of the image, it is necessary to use various artistic means.

In addition, the reader needs to be lured and attracted. To do this, various techniques are used that give special interest to the narrative and some mystery that needs to be solved. Artistic media are also called tropes. These are not only integral elements of the overall picture of the world, but also the author’s assessment, the background and general tone of the work, as well as many other things that we sometimes don’t even think about when reading another creation.

The main artistic techniques are metaphor, epithet and comparison. Although the epithet is often considered as a type of metaphor, we will not go into the jungle of the science of “literary criticism” and will traditionally highlight it as a separate means.

Epithet

The epithet is the king of description. Not a single landscape, portrait, interior can do without it. Sometimes a single correctly chosen epithet is much more important than an entire paragraph created specifically for clarification. Most often, when talking about it, we mean participles or adjectives that endow this or that artistic image with additional properties and characteristics. An epithet should not be confused with a simple definition.

So, for example, to describe the eyes, the following words can be suggested: lively, brown, bottomless, large, painted, crafty. Let's try to divide these adjectives into two groups, namely: objective (natural) properties and subjective (additional) characteristics. We will see that words such as "big", "brown" and "painted" convey in their meaning only what anyone can see, since it lies on the surface. In order for us to imagine the appearance of a particular hero, such definitions are very important. However, it is the “bottomless”, “living”, “crafty” eyes that will best tell us about his inner essence and character. We begin to guess that in front of us is an unusual person, prone to various inventions, with a living, moving soul. This is precisely the main property of epithets: to indicate those features that are hidden from us during the initial examination.

Metaphor

Let's move on to another equally important trope - metaphor. comparison expressed by a noun. The author’s task here is to compare phenomena and objects, but very carefully and tactfully, so that the reader cannot guess that we are imposing this object on him. This is exactly how, insinuatingly and naturally, you need to use any artistic techniques. “tears of dew”, “fire of dawn”, etc. Here dew is compared with tears, and dawn with fire.

Comparison

The last most important artistic device is comparison, given directly through the use of such conjunctions as “as if”, “as if”, “as if”, “exactly”, “as if”. Examples include the following: eyes like life; dew like tears; tree, like an old man. However, it should be noted that the use of an epithet, metaphor or comparison should not only be used for the sake of a catchphrase. There should be no chaos in the text, it should gravitate towards grace and harmony, therefore, before using this or that trope, you need to clearly understand for what purpose it is used, what we want to say by it.

Other, more complex and less common literary devices are hyperbole (exaggeration), antithesis (contrast), and inversion (reversing word order).

Antithesis

A trope such as antithesis has two varieties: it can be narrow (within one paragraph or sentence) and extensive (placed over several chapters or pages). This technique is often used in works of Russian classics when it is necessary to compare two heroes. For example, Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin in his story “The Captain's Daughter” compares Pugachev and Grinev, and a little later Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol will create portraits of the famous brothers, Andriy and Ostap, also based on the antithesis. The artistic techniques in the novel "Oblomov" also include this trope.

Hyperbola

Hyperbole is a favorite device in such literary genres as epics, fairy tales and ballads. But it is found not only in them. For example, the hyperbole “he could eat a wild boar” can be used in any novel, short story, or other work of the realistic tradition.

Inversion

Let's continue to describe artistic techniques in the works. Inversion, as you might guess, serves to give the work additional emotionality. It can most often be observed in poetry, but this trope is often used in prose. You can say: “This girl was more beautiful than others.” Or you can shout out: “This girl was more beautiful than the others!” Immediately, enthusiasm, expression, and much more arise, which can be noticed when comparing the two statements.

Irony

The next trope, irony, or hidden authorial ridicule, is also used quite often in fiction. Of course, a serious work should be serious, but the subtext hidden in irony sometimes not only demonstrates the wit of the writer, but also forces the reader to take a breath for a while and prepare for the next, more intense scene. In a humorous work, irony is indispensable. The great masters of this are Zoshchenko and Chekhov, who use this trope in their stories.

Sarcasm

Another one is closely related to this technique - it is no longer just a good laugh, it reveals shortcomings and vices, sometimes exaggerates the colors, while irony usually creates a bright atmosphere. In order to have a more complete understanding of this trail, you can read several tales by Saltykov-Shchedrin.

Personification

The next technique is personification. It allows us to demonstrate the life of the world around us. Images appear such as grumbling winter, dancing snow, singing water. In other words, personification is the transfer of the properties of animate objects to inanimate objects. So, we all know that only humans and animals can yawn. But in literature one often encounters such artistic images as a yawning sky or a yawning door. The first of them can help create a certain mood in the reader and prepare his perception. The second is to emphasize the sleepy atmosphere in this house, perhaps loneliness and boredom.

Oxymoron

Oxymoron is another interesting technique, which is a combination of incompatible things. This is both a righteous lie and an Orthodox devil. Such words, chosen completely unexpectedly, can be used by both science fiction writers and lovers of philosophical treatises. Sometimes just one oxymoron is enough to build an entire work that has dualism of existence, an insoluble conflict, and a subtle ironic subtext.

Other artistic techniques

It is interesting that the “and, and, and” used in the previous sentence is also one of the artistic means called polyunion. Why is it needed? First of all, to expand the narrative range and show, for example, that a person has beauty, intelligence, courage, and charm... And the hero also knows how to fish, and swim, and write books, and build houses...

Most often, this trope is used in conjunction with another, called This is the case when it is difficult to imagine one without the other.

However, this is not all artistic techniques and means. Let us also note rhetorical questions. They don't require an answer, but still make readers think. Perhaps everyone knows the most famous of them: “Who is to blame?” and "What should I do?"

These are just basic artistic techniques. In addition to them, we can distinguish parcellation (division of a sentence), synecdoche (when the singular is used instead of the plural), anaphora (similar beginning of sentences), epiphora (repetition of their endings), litotes (understatement) and hyperbole (on the contrary, exaggeration), periphrasis (when some word is replaced by its brief description. All these means can be used both in poetry and in prose. Artistic techniques in a poem and, for example, a story, are not fundamentally different.

Explanation.

In the poem “The night was shining. The garden was full of the moon…” the meeting of the lyrical hero with his beloved strikes with notes of tragedy. The described meeting scene is shrouded in mystery and uncertainty.

The metaphors used by the poet: “the garden was full of the moon,” “the strings in it trembled” - create the subtext of the unfolding drama: something happened or will happen. Numerous epithets: “sobbing sounds”, “burning torment” - convey the state of the lyrical hero, who is completely absorbed in suffering.

The anaphora in the third stanza of the poem creates a feeling of rapid succession of events, which, however, do not overshadow past memories, but rather strengthen them:

And many years have passed, tedious and boring,

And it blows, as then, in these sonorous sighs,

That you are alone - all life, that you are alone - love.

Repeating the line “Love you, hug you and cry over you!” in the second and fourth stanzas, the author emphasizes that for the lyrical hero, despite suffering, the whole meaning of life lies in love, no matter how difficult it may be. We have seen that poetic means help create the emotional mood of a poem.

In the forest, a lonely poet is overcome by different and contradictory feelings and moods. As a result, he cannot understand what is happening to him. It would seem that the poet is alone with the nature that he loves. Nature beckons and frightens him. This creates a feeling of witchcraft and enchantment: the spruce blocks the path from the poet, the wind “buzzes,” the “dead” leaves that have fallen from the branches swirl, everything makes noise and sways, leading him astray.

But suddenly the sound of a “subtly calling horn” reaches the ear. This means housing is nearby. And so the “poor wanderer” comes to life in soul and strengthens in spirit: he goes out to the people who sent him their greetings.

Behind the natural images of Fetov’s poem another meaning arises: from the wild nature, from circling through the dark forest, to the “poor wanderer” frightened by the wind and “dead” leaves, the “call” of culture is heard, the tenderness of human communication, uplifting the spirit in the fight against obstacles and calling to life and love.

The spruce covered my path with its sleeve.
Wind. Alone in the forest
Noisy, and creepy, and sad, and fun,
I do not understand anything.

Wind. Everything around is humming and swaying,
Leaves are spinning at your feet.
Chu, you can suddenly hear it in the distance
Subtly calling horn.

Sweet is the call of the copper herald to me!
The sheets are dead to me!
It seems from afar as a poor wanderer
You greet tenderly.

Questions and tasks

1. How do you understand the lines of the poem: “the spruce covered my path with its sleeve,” “everything around is humming and swaying,” “subtly calling horn,” “sweet is the call of the copper herald to me”?
2. What artistic techniques help the poet convey the emotional state of a lonely traveler in the forest? What melody is created by the alternation of long and short lines (verses) in a poem?

   What is this poem about? About a lonely traveler in the forest, where “everything hums and sways”? About his anxiety because he is alone in the forest? About a mood he himself does not understand (“Noisy, and creepy, and sad, and fun...”)? Or about the joy that is born by the sound of a horn (“subtly calling horn”)? Prepare a detailed answer to this question.