Beowulf
Literary Devices in Beowulf
Alliteration and Kenning and Caesura oh my!
Alliteration: The repetition of a letter or sound.
Kenning: A more complex word for a simple noun.
Caesura: a pause between words, often separated with multiple spaces or commas.
Alliteration
"Went up to Herot, wondering what the Warriors would do in that hall when their drinking was done" (40)
This alliteration was written to add an suspenseful effect to the story. It starts to build and build and build the suspense until the next sentence where Grendel sees they are sleeping and gets ready to kill.
Kenning
"Hell forged hands" (41)
"Warriors"(45)
"affliction"(41)
The kenning was used in the story to add a dramatic effect to the story. Kenning was used to make the story more interesting.
Caesura
"A powerful monster, living down
In the Darkness, growled in pain, in patient"(38)
"Into a thousand forms of evil- spirits
And fiends, goblins, monsters, and giants" (40)
Caesura is used to make pause in stories and grow it in intensity, suspense, drama and interest.
Literary devices overview
Most of the literary devices used were intended for a readers purpose. They are used to help make a story/poem a thousand times better. The literary devices have added a lot of flare and made the poem more entertaining to read. They added suspense so the reader would want to continue reading, they added drama and exaggeration so the reader would be more amused. Literary devices were used with the reader in mind.