Literary device or figures of speech is used most of the times by poets and writers to enhance the intensity or mood of the lines in the poem. It is also used for creating proper rhythm, metrics, verbal and visual elements in the poem or the literary work. There are almost ten types of literary devices that are generally dealt with, however, the major types are simile, metaphor, hyperbole, Paradox, Personification, Imagery.
The simile is that literary device in which there is an apparent comparison between two things of different types to make the comparison more vivid and intense. “The only completely stationary object in the room was an enormous couch on which two young women were buoyed up as though upon an anchored balloon" is simile since there is the usage of the word "as" in the comparison which makes the comparison more clear. Metaphor is a hidden comparison without using the word "as". “This is a valley of ashes--a fantastic farm … where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke, and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air”.
3. Nick writes, “I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life” is also a metaphor.4. Daisy exclaims, “I’m p-paralyzed with happiness” is hyperbole since there is an exaggeration in the comparison. “The hair is in full swing, and floating rounds of cocktails permeate the garden outside until the air is alive with chatter and laughter, and casual innuendo and introductions forgotten on the spot, and enthusiastic meetings between women who never knew each other’s names” is personification since there is air has been given the form of a livingbeing. Nick states, “I wanted to get out and walk eastward toward the park through the soft twilight, but each time I tried to go I became entangled in some wild, strident argument which pulled me back, as if with ropes” is a paradox since there is a contradiction in the sentence. 8: “The lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun, and now the orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music, and the opera of voices pitches a key higher. Laughter is easier minute by minute, spilled with prodigality, tipped out at a cheerful word” is also personification.
