After the first frustrating hour spending on the search engines, I stopped and went out with my friends for dinner. It was only an excuse for me to escape from the research for a moment, and when I came back, the work was still there waiting for me. Well, I have to admit that I’ve never done this kind of research before, and I felt horrible until finally the first useful website emerged from the crowd. It was a shot energy that injected to my brain and regained me some interest to look for the truth. The research went well at the end, and I found something interesting and want to share.
Regarding to the exaggeration Twain uses. I’m wondering why Twain did use it so often. From an essay on Vern Crisler’s personal blog concludes: “Major techniques for both "satire" and "humor" are incongruity, exaggeration, invective, reductio ad absurdum, paradox, caricature, understatement, anticlimax, etc. Twain's "humor" exhausts the techniques available, but three prominent humorous techniques emerge as his favorite and most compelling--namely, exaggeration, understatement, and anticlimax.” http://vernerable.tripod.com/comedy.html
I did a search on all the humor techniques he mentions. Though, it’s hard to distinguish some of the techniques for me, like “anticlimax” and “bathos”. I’ve never been taught that English can be so complicated because most of my readings in High School are plain English with no surprise, and we were told to use the simplest way to express. That was the way I thought English was. Well, this really got my attention and updated my point of view on English.
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I am curious about your research question. If you are having difficulty to identify specific literary technique, you can google 'literary technique', 'literary device', or 'figurative language' for assistance. Or you can just type in a specific term that you are unfamiliar with.
I am not sure if the following will help since I am puzzled with your research dilemma.
http://mrbraiman.home.att.net/lit.htm
http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/general/glossary.htm
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/anticlimax
By the way, I do not think there is a literary technique called "bathos", I think it is called "pathos" which means the writer is attempting to convey or appeal to the audience's emotion.
You can also search on "pathos, logos, and ethos" because these are the technique in relation with another for writers' attempt to appeal to the audience.
Alice, thanks for your advices and the websites you gave. I learned a lot through looking at those websites. The technique I mention is only something that I think it sounds fun to know about exaggeration(at least, it's fun to me).
I didn't know there is a technique called "bathos" until I search for "anti-climax" for wikipedia, and it shows me "bathos"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathos
Kind of hard to distinguish it from anti-climax. : ))))
I think bathos and anti-climax are very similar terms.
Anti-climax: an abrupt declension (either deliberate or unintended) on the part of a speaker or writer from the dignity of idea which he appeared to be aiming at
Bathos: a sudden slip from the sublime to the ridiculous; any anticlimax; sentimental pathos, triteness or dullness
Good luck with the rest of your research. I think it is a very interesting topic to research.
Si, I understand your frustration! Don't worry too hard about these terms -- it's not as important to memorize the terms as it is to be able to describe what's going on in the text. Use the terms when they help you, but don't get hung up on them.
I do think "bathos" might be a useful term, though, so let me see if I can try and clear it up a little bit. Bathos is like pathos's ridiculous twin. It's when something pathetic (in a good way, i.e. emotionally touching) goes overboard and becomes cheesy.
For example, in the most recent adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, there's a scene in which Lizzie rejects Mr. Darcy's marriage proposal and they have a fight. Next thing you know, Keira Knightley is standing out on a cliff looking all windswept while the music swells dramatically. This was clearly supposed to be pathetic (i.e. emotionally touching), but it was so overwrought that I started laughing when I saw it -- I found it bathetic.
"Pathos" and "bathos" are both originally Greek words, by the way. Try looking them up in the Oxford English Dictionary (proxy server required) and see if that helps.
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