Elevated language or elevated style: formal, dignified language; it often uses more elaborate figures of speech. Elevated language is used to give dignity to a hero (note the speechs of heros like Achilles or Agamemnon in the Iliad), to express the superiority of God and religious matters generally (as in prayers or in the King James version of the Bible), to indicate the importance of certain events (the ritual language of the traditional marriage ceremony), etc. It can also be used to reveal a self-important or a pretentious character, for humor and/or for satire. http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/lit_term.html

MOCK HEROIC of or pertaining to a form of satire in which trivial subjects, characters, and events are treated in the ceremonious manner and with the elevated language and elaborate devices characteristic of the heroic style.

Writing Activity

ELEVATED LANGUAGE AND THE MOCK HEROIC 1. Choose an everyday object or activity. 2. Write about it using elevated language (syntax) and exaggeration. •Use as many figurative language techniques as you can. •You may use poetry or prose -Must be AT LEAST ½ page long TYPED for prose -poetry must be suited to the quality of the poem-MINIMUM OF 16 LINES 3. When you are finished. Identify and label (or color code and make a key) the techniques you used as well as places of inverted syntax. 4. Your writing should be typed and have a creative title. *You may reference and use your Devices of Satire handout as well.