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Abandon all logic ye who enter here, because we are about to start talking Lucy. You might want to leave reason and science by the door while you’re at it, you won’t have much call to use either of those for the next 90 minutes or so. - giantfreakinrobot.com

So I'm not really sure if this has any literary techniques but if there isn't, what kind of language is the writer using?

Also what would this literary technique be? "People have their minds broken" its more like a literal meaning but I'm not sure what technique it's using.

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"Abandon hope, all ye who enter here" is the usual English translation of the motto inscribed on the gates of Hell in Dante's Divine Comedy.

“THROUGH me you pass into the city of woe:
Through me you pass into eternal pain:
Through me among the people lost for aye.
Justice the founder of my fabric moved:
To rear me was the task of Power divine,
Supremest Wisdom, and primeval Love.
Before me things create were none, save things
Eternal, and eternal I endure.
All hope abandon, ye who enter here.”

Such characters, in color dim, I mark’d
Over a portal’s lofty arch inscribed.

http://www.bartleby.com/20/103.html

The author is alluding to that well-known quote.

Alternatively, the author could be reusing a phrase they have heard before, without being aware of its origin. That could be termed intertextuality, although that's not exactly a 'literary technique'.

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  • This isn't really an answer to the OP's question (which was about rhetorical devices, not the origin of the quote). Please take a few minutes to take the site tour and visit the help center for guidance on how to use this site. – anongoodnurse Oct 20 '14 at 12:06
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    @medica: The literary technique being 'allusion', which is why I said "The author is alluding to that well-known quote". – A E Oct 20 '14 at 12:10
  • You might want to check on that. – anongoodnurse Oct 20 '14 at 13:18
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    @medica: I'm not following. Are you saying that allusion isn't a literary technique, or that "Abandon all logic ye who enter here" isn't an allusion to Dante? – A E Oct 20 '14 at 13:31
  • I think the literary device in that passage isn't best described as allusion. The guy belongs in the seventh circle of hell is an allusion to Dante's Inferno. I'm not sure your quote is an allusion to Dante, but to the quote, yes. Is that the literary device that marks the writing style in the OP's question? I don't think so. – anongoodnurse Oct 20 '14 at 14:10

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