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What literary techniques are evident in the following quote?

I read each bullet scar in the Quai stonework
With an eerie familiar feeling,
And started at the stricken, sunny exposure of pavement

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    Hi Jaydon; we've got certain restrictions on homework-type questions. In a nutshell, tell us your own progress and your attempts to answer the question. Don't just ask us the question you're supposed to answer; tell us why you're having trouble answering it. More details on homework question netiquette at meta.stackexchange.com/questions/10811/…
    – Standback
    Jun 18, 2011 at 18:42
  • Also, you should have not deleted the migrated question english.stackexchange.com/questions/30388/literary-technique
    – Unreason
    Jun 20, 2011 at 14:10
  • Lorem ipsum, dolor sit amet.
    – RolandiXor
    Jun 22, 2011 at 2:26
  • @Roland: you rang? Jun 22, 2011 at 12:02
  • @Lauren, haha sort of :D - your name partly inspired my comment (I was going to make it before seeing your name but then seeing your name sealed it ;). I wanted to point out in a subtle way: "Wrong kind of question for this site, don't expect a reasonable answer."
    – RolandiXor
    Jun 22, 2011 at 12:18

2 Answers 2

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The only technique I can really suggest is one of alliteration, which is essentially the repetition of the same sound due to certain syllables within words, which form a pattern or beat of sorts, imposing a shape on the lines.

If you re-read the final line and place emphasis on the syllables, you notice "star-ted", "strick-en", and "sun-ny"; it seems the author is trying to put particular emphasis on the "s"-like syllables (the use of "scar" and "stone-work" in the first line suggests a link to the third due to this technique).

A similar technique is used in the second line with "fam-il-i-ar feel-ing" (the "f" sounds).

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  • def: Repeating the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words - therefore "ex-po-sure" does not qualify; you might also check out assonance
    – Unreason
    Jun 22, 2011 at 8:04
  • @Unreason was thinking more of the 'sure' portion, but you are probably right. Jun 22, 2011 at 8:26
  • @Craig Sefton, exactly: '-sure' portion is not at the beginning, which is requirement for alliteration.
    – Unreason
    Jun 22, 2011 at 9:02
  • @Unreason actually, in poetry it doesn't matter if the consonant is at the beginning or not. Jun 22, 2011 at 9:32
  • @Craig Sefton, reference? (are you sure you are not thinking about en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_consonance)
    – Unreason
    Jun 22, 2011 at 9:46
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Pretentiousness.          

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