Literary Terms

Foreshadowing: An author’s use of clues that hint at events that will occur later in the plot. Foreshadowing often helps to build suspense as well as to prepare readers for what is to come.

“’The place has a reputation-a bad one’”(68).Mystery is created when Whitney mentions the island’s evil reputation. Words like “cannibals,” “chill,” “dread,” and “evil” make the island sound frightening.

“‘No, you are wrong, sir. The cape buffalo is not the most dangerous game’…‘Is there big game on this island?’”(73).Since this is similar to the title of the story it is a significant hint of what is to come. Rainsford’s naïve response hints that he may be in for an unpleasant surprise.

Characterization: The methods an author uses to reveal a character’s personality.

In direct characterization, the author or narrator makes direct statements about a character’s traits.In indirect characterization the author reveals a character’s personality through the character’s own words, thoughts, and actions of other characters.

“‘Don’t talk rot, Whitney,’ said Rainsford. ‘You’re a big-game hunter, not a philosopher. Who cares how a jaguar feels?’” (68).This quote shows that Rainsford can only see the hunter’s viewpoint and has no sympathy for the animals being hunted. He is a realist who refuses to take superstition seriously.

“The general filled both glasses and said:...‘It would be impossible for me to tell you how many animals I have killed’”(73).Zaroff’s narration of his life story sheds light on his character. His wealthy, privileged background and hunting history explain his current lifestyle and boredom with hunting. It also foreshadows his preoccupation with violence.

“…‘Ivan once had the honor of serving as official knouter to the Great White Czar, and he has his own ideas of sport…’”(76).This shows that Ivan is a huge brute with no qualms about beating or killing men.

“‘Life is for the strong…I hunt the scum of the earth…a thoroughbred horse or hound is worth more than a score of them’”(75).Through this dialogue we learn that Zaroff is cruel and unfeeling and discriminates among different ethnic and social classes. He has no respect for human life.

“Some wounded thing, by the evidence, a large animal…It was a cartridge”(70).Rainsford’s interpretation of these signs show that he knows a lot about guns, fighting, hunting, and the wilderness. He has good reasoning powers.

Theme: The main idea or message of a literary work. Theme is not the subject of the work but instead is an insight about life or human nature.

Stated Theme-expressed directlyImplied Theme-revealed gradually through other literary elements such as plot, character, setting, point of view, imagery, figures of speech, or symbolism.

“‘Simply this: hunting had ceased to be what you call ‘a sporting proposition.’ It had become too easy. I always got my quarry. Always. There is no greater bore than perfection’”(74).Through Zaroff’s comments about hunting, the author implies that hunting animals is not sportsmanlike. With only speed and instinct, they are not fairly matched against man’s intellect and reason.

Foil: A character who provides a strong contrast to another character. A foil may emphasize another character’s traits or make a character look better by comparison.

“Out of the snarl of beard two small eyed regarded Rainsford…Another man was coming down the broad marble steps, an erect, slender man in evening clothes”(71).Ivan is a foil to General Zaroff. He is rough, primitive looking, and menacing. Zaroff is well-groomed, cultivated, and sophisticated.

Diction: An author’s choice of words and the arrangement of those words in phrases, sentences, or lines. An author will generally consider the literal meanings of words, or denotations, as well as the images or associations the words suggest, or connotations.

Vivid diction is used in the description of the jungle and quicksand. “…the vegetation grew ranker, denser; insects bit him savagely. Then, as he stepped forward, his foot sank into the ooze. He tried to wrench it back, but the mud sucked viciously at his foot as if it were a giant leech”(81).These words help the reader visualize and feel the jungle. They evoke the fear and panic that quicksand would cause.

Symbolism: An object, a person, a place or an experience that represents something else, usually something abstract. A symbol may have more than one meaning, or its meaning may change from the beginning to the end of a literary work.

Irony: A contrast between appearance and reality.

Situational irony exists when the actual outcome of a situation is the opposite of what is expected.Verbal irony exists when a person says one thing and means another.Dramatic irony exists when the reader knows something that a character does not know.

“I assure you I do not do the thing you suggest. That would be barbarous. I treat these visitors with every consideration”(76).He calls his prisoners “visitors” and “pupils” and denies that his treatment is “barbarous” when the reality is that he is preparing them to be hunted and murdered.

“General Zaroff did not appear until luncheon. He was dressed faultlessly in the tweeds of a country squire. He was solicitous about the state of Rainsford’s health” (77).He presents the appearance of a polite, well-groomed, civilized man, yet he has just killed a man in his “game.”

Tone: A reflection of a writer's or speaker's attitude toward a subject of a poem, story, or other literary work. Tone may be communicated through words and details that express particular emotions that evoke an emotional response in the reader.

Imagery: The “word pictures that writers use to help evoke an emotional response in readers. In creating effective imagery, writers use sensory details, or descriptions that appeal to one or more of the five senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell.

Richard Connell used sound images in The Most Dangerous Game (69).The sound of the gun, Rainsford’s cry when he falls off the yacht, the animal’s scream, the pistol shots, and the sound of the sea breaking on the shore add to the story’s realism and suspense.

Figurative Language Simile: A figure of speech using like or as

to compare seemingly unlike things.from Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory”

She is small and sprightly, like a bantam hen.

Inside myself, I feel warm and sparky as those crumbling logs, carefree as the wind in

the chimney.

Metaphor: A figure of speech that compares or equates two or more things that have something in common. A metaphor does not use like or as.

From “I Am Offering This Poem”[love] is a pot full of yellow cornTo warm your belly in winter

Personification: A figure of speech in which an animal, object, force of nature, or idea is given human characteristics, as in the following example from “Rain in My Heart” by Edgar Lee Masters:

And memory sleeps beneath the gray And windless sky...

Hyperbole: A figure of speech in which great exaggeration is used for emphasis or humorous effect. “Rainsford, crouching there, could not see the general, nor could he see the pit. He lived a year in a minute”(81). Hyperbole emphasizes the apprehension that Rainsford feels in the minute he waits to see whether his trick will work or he will die.