Explain the literary device in this sentence: "The princess kissed the frog; he croaked."I believe my teacher said this was a pun. I also have to...

The literary device used in the sentence "the princess
kissed the frog; he croaked" is known
as anthropomorphism.

ANTHROPOMORPHISM
is the attribution of human characteristics to animals or
objects.

In the sentence "the
princess kissed the frog; he croaked,' the frog is an animal and the pronoun 'it' should
be used instead 'he,' the third person singular personal pronoun is used to refer to the
animal 'frog.'

The word 'croaked' could mean either 'to
make a low hoarse sound' or 'to die.' The pun results because it could either mean that
the frog 'made a low hoarse sound' as soon as the princess kissed it or it could mean
that the frog 'died' as soon as the princess kissed it.

A
semicolon is used to connect two independent clauses. Independent clauses are clauses
which make complete sense on their own. In this sentence the two independent clauses
'the princess kissed the frog' and 'he croaked' make complete sense on their own and are
connected  by a semicolon.

The humour results because of
the punning on the meaning of the word 'croaked' and also because of the use of the
semicolon. The semicolon unlike the comma creates a lot of anticipation. In the fairy
tale the frog turns into a handsome prince as soon as it is kissed by the princess. But
in this sentence just as the reader conventionally expects the frog to turn into a
prince, it does not turn into a prince but it either makes a hoarse sound or it dies.
 The humour results because just as the reader pauses at the semicolon and expects the
conventional result his expectations are not fulfilled.