David and Goliath Literary Elements

David and Goliath Literary Elements

Genre

Nonfiction psychological book

Setting and Context

The book is written in the context of social science.

Narrator and Point of View

Third-person narrative

Tone and Mood

The tone is thoughtful, and the mood is cheerful.

Protagonist and Antagonist

The protagonist of the book is David.

Major Conflict

The main conflict is when characters allow attitude to prevent them from achieving their full potential.

Climax

The main climax is the characters' victory over obstacles to attain their full potential. For instance, characters like Boies and Freireich rise above their challenges to attain their full potential. Boies overcomes dyslexia to become a vibrant lawyer, and Freireich overcomes the loss of a parent at an early age to become a responsible citizen.

Foreshadowing

Boies and Freireich’s victory over life challenges is foreshowed by the inspiration derived from the story of David and Goliath.

Understatement

The ability of David to defeat Goliath is understated. Without sophisticated weaponry, David uses a slingshot and a small rock to kill Goliath.

Allusions

The story alludes to inspirational motivation that nothing is impossible regardless of an individual’s situation and status.

Imagery

Sight imagery is used to describe how David kills Goliath. Through sight imagery, the reader comprehends that Goliath is a giant with all the privileges of smashing David within a second. David is described as tiny, but he emerges victorious.

Paradox

The main paradox is that disability is inability. Boies overcomes dyslexia to become a successful lawyer. The other paradox in the book is that despite David being a tiny man, he kills Goliath, a giant and the most feared living person.

Parallelism

N/A

Metonymy and Synecdoche

Goliath, the giant, is used as a metonymy to refer to life obstacles.

Personification

Dyslexia is personified as a hindrance to human success.

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