It's been a while, but welcome back to the Fan's Guide to the Elements of Writing. This time, let's take a look at a very popular device: irony. We all throw that word around, we all use the device, but what are we actually talking about?
As I've gone through writing courses, I've learned a great deal about seemingly simple devices that recur in many works and that can prove very useful, whether you're analyzing a story or writing one of your own. This is the first in what will be a recurring series on The Storyologist: The Fan's Guide to the Elements of Writing. We're going to look at these devices and their uses through the lenses of films, TV shows, books, and theater that many of you are probably familiar with.
We're going to start with a very well-known device used in foreshadowing: Chekov's Gun. Or, as I'm going to look at it here, John Watson's Gun.
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I thought I'd try something a little different for this post, something a little more academic. But not dry, I promise! The musical I lo...