What are some examples of understatement?
A modest understatement would be: “I did OK on that test.” You scrape the entire side of your car. A comedic understatement would be: “It is only a small scratch.” Describing a huge storm overnight, a comedic understatement would be: “Looks like it rained a bit last night.”
What is understatement in literature?
Understatement is the description of something as having much less of a particular quality than it does. That often involves representing something as less important, less valuable, or smaller than it is. Understatement is the opposite of hyperbole, the term that Professor Elena Passarello explains in her video.
How do you write an exemplum?
Write a beginning, middle, and end. Like all stories, a moral exemplum should have a beginning-middle-end structure. The beginning sets the stage and introduces the characters; the middle introduces a problem, conflict, or danger; and the end shows what happens as a result of that conflict.
What is it called when you understate something?
Understatement is an expression of lesser strength than what the speaker or writer actually means or than what is normally expected. It is the opposite of embellishment or exaggeration, and is used for emphasis, irony, hedging, or humor. A particular form of understatement using negative syntax is called litotes.
Why is an understatement used in literature?
Understatement: Definition. An understatement is a literary device by which a particular quality of a person, object, emotion, or situation is downplayed or presented as being less than what is true to the situation. An understatement is often used to downplay the value, size, or importance of something.
What is an understatement in Romeo and Juliet?
Perhaps part of the inspiration for the Monty Python sketch listed above, the character of Mercutio calls his mortal wound “Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch.” Shakespeare used understatement in many of his plays; here in Romeo and Juliet Mercutio tries to deflect some of his pain at first, but ultimately admits that this …
What is an exemplum in literature?
exemplum, (Latin: “example,” ) plural exempla, short tale originally incorporated by a medieval preacher into his sermon to emphasize a moral or illustrate a point of doctrine. Fables, folktales, and legends were gathered into collections, such as Exempla (c.
What is the exemplum of the Pardoner’s tale?
The Pardoner’s Tale is what is known as an exemplum. These are sermons that convey a moral message by telling a story. The story becomes an example. So the Pardoner’s Tale uses the story of the three friends who find the pot of gold as an example of cupidity, or “greed is the root of all evil.”
What is the effect of understatement in a poem?
Understatement is when a writer presents a situation or thing as if it is less important or serious than it is in reality. It describes something with less strength than would be expected. Understatement is the opposite of hyperbole or overstatement.
What are 3 examples of dramatic irony in the Romeo and Juliet?
Dramatic irony: the audience knows the real reason why Juliet is crying: Romeo has been banished. Romeo returns to Verona. He find Juliet drugged, in a death-like sleep. He assumes she is dead and kills himself.
What is ironic understatement?
Most of the time when people refer to understatement, they’re referring to ironic understatement, which just means that the speaker is using understatement to say one thing with the intention of actually communicating something quite different.
How is the Pardoner’s tale an exemplum?
What are 5 examples of literary symbolism?
Wuthering Heights by In Emily Brontë. Emily Brontë went for symbolism right in the title of her novel.
What are some examples of hyperbole in literature?
“Our professor is older than dirt .”
What examples of understatements are in Macbeth?
“It’s a bit yellow” – while describing a very yellow canary.
What are literary terms examples?
Fable