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What literary techniques appear in this quote from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë?"She played: her execution was brilliant; she sang: her voice...

In this quote from Chapter 17 of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, Jane describes Miss Blanche Ingram. Jane essentially lists Miss Ingram's good qualities, for Jane is slightly intimidated by her, but also knows that Miss Ingram is self-aware and proud of her own accomplishments, which is unappealing to Jane. Jane describes Miss Ingram as "self-conscious," and says that she plays on the ignorance of the other people in the room by being clever and promoting her talents. Jane also describes Miss Ingram as "majestic," and "the very type of majesty."


It is Jane's opinion of Miss Ingram and her tone while describing her that influence the structure of the quote. The alternating use of colons and semi-colons make the quote read like a list. The quote therefore suggests through the use of repetition that everything about Miss Ingram is equally fine. For if her playing, her voice, and her French are "brilliant," "fine," and "well," it can be assumed that her appearance and other talents are also remarkable. Punctuation use and parallel sentence structure serve to create a better image of Miss Ingram through the eyes of Jane Eyre. 

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