Stylistic Devices

Alice Munro is indeed the great writer and the master of the contemporary short story. From the first line of “boys and girls”, reader is absorbed in this story.  Realistic events and details which the author skilfully describes in the story make us read it with the great interest. The author reaches this effect by using different stylistic devises.To emphasize the disparity of the women and show the idea that “the kitchen is the women place” author uses irony (“Could of fooled me.” said the salesman. “I thought it was only a girl.”)The main character did not like work in the house. And to show girl’s bad attitude to this, Author uses such hyperbole    “It seemed to me that work in the house was endless”
To portray the beauty of nature and add more expressiveness to the text   author uses several epithets :cold blue sky, black pine forests, treacherous northern rivers, plumed adventures, magnificent savagesthe unaccustomed sunlight and fresh air.Also author uses epithet to give Henry evaluative characteristic:  atisfied, bubbly breaths: derisive eyes; winter-paled face.
There are some metaphors, they are used to add to the description more expressiveness and vividness :“a weight in my stomach”,  “the sadness of unexercised guilt”, “yet-to-be-worked-out piece of heroism”.
To compare snowdrifts to whales that swim in the ocean without any wish Munro uses simile “when snowdrifts curled around our house like sleeping whales”
In order to show Henry’s emotions and temper there is oxymoron“Henry didn't answer me. Instead he started to sing in a high, trembly ,mocking-sorrowful voice.”As for Syntactical devises there are  :repetition (He would cough and cough until his narrow face turned scarlet – to show that Henry was ill; She was always plotting. She was plotting now to get me to stay in the house more…- to lay an emphatic stress on the girl’s usual habit, condition)
detachment (It might be a boy from our class at school, or even Mr. Campbell, our teacher, who tickled girls under the arms; We were afraid of inside, the room where we slept;She was plotting now to get me to stay in the house more, although she knew I hated it(because she knew I hated it) – to emphasize the sentence, to make it more exact)
ellipsis (“Listen,” I said in an unusually bright and friendly voice, “you aren't going to tell, are you?
“No,” he said absently. “Promise.” – it reproduces colloquial speech)antithesis (We were afraid at night in the winter. We were not afraid of outside though… - to emphasize communicative and expressive value of the narration, to give a piece of fear to the story)