The Use Of Literary Devices In A Separate Peace, By Karen M. Manus

"Words are free. It's how you use them that may cost you" (KushandWizdom). Tremendous works such as A Separate Peace, written by John Knowles in 1959, Night, written by Elie Wiesel in 1956, and One of Us is Lying, written by Karen M. Manus in 2017 all display literary devices. Literary devices reveal the author's style and keep the reader intrigued. All three of the novels show characterization, sensory imagery, and foreshadowing.

A Separate Peace, a coming-of-age novel, tells the story of two best friends' time spent at Devon School, an all-boys boarding school in New Hampshire. The novel starts with Gene Forrester revisiting two sites at the Devon School, a marble staircase and a tree. While he stands before the tree, he states, “Nothing

While Elie unwillingly makes his journey to the concentration camp a lady on the transport train starts to scream about a fire, “‘Look at this fire! This terrible fire! Have mercy on me!’ screeches Mrs. Schachter. Some pressed against the bars to see. Nothing but the darkness of night in view. Only the darkness of night” (Wiesel 25). This statement foreshadows the smoke rising from the crematories upon his arrival at the concentration camp. Wiesel intelligently writes his memoir as he reveals parts of his personality along the way. He showed characterization by displaying how much he cared for his father. He would always put his father first showing his kind heart. Wiesel describes the winter weather conditions and the poor treatment of the Jews at the concentration camps by saying “From the first hours of dawn, a glacial wind lashed us like a whip" (Wiesel 77). Wiesel debated for many years on whether to write about his time at the concentration camp, but when he did he included literary devices in his

In order not to expose the ending the writer chooses her words carefully. She drops many subtle hints of foreshadowing throughout the way that readers many times do not pick up until the end of the novel. The title of the novel One of Us is Lying foreshadows one of the characters lying. Brownyn, one of the girls from the novel sensibly states, “Unless one of us is lying. Which is always a possibility” (McManus 175). McManus also includes characterization by writing her story from four different perspectives. The novel jumps perspectives every couple of pages, helping the reader know each character personally. McManus descriptivly describes Simon's death as he lies on the ground gasping for help while having an allergic reaction. Reading a novel from different perspectives made the novel interesting and McManus’s use of literary devices only enhances the