Literary Devices
metaphor comparing 2 dissimilar objects that share a similar quality
ex: Zeke is a tank on the football field.
simile using like or as when comparing 2 dissimilar objects that share a similar quality
ex: Zeke is like a tank on the football field.
oxymoron terms that contradict each other. Shakespeare used them to show how characters felt confused or conflicted. ex: jumbo shrimp
assonance using a continuous vowel sound to create an image or feeling.
ex: The ghost moaned and groaned. (/o/)
alliteration using a continuous consonant sound to create an image or feeling. Used in tongue twisters.
ex: Sally sells seashells by the seashore. (/s/ & /sh/)
ex: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. (/p/).
repetition The repeating of a word or phrase to create a specific effect.
rhyme similar sounds in words that occur at the end of lines in poems or songs
symbol an image that represents an idea, object, or relationship
ex: = love
imagery a word or group of words that appeals to the 5 senses: seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, smelling.
couplet Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme.
running metaphor a comparison that runs throughout an entire work (sonnet)
pun a play on words
ex: Old teachers never die. They just lose their class.
hyperbole exaggeration ex: I am hungry enough to eat a horse.
personification giving a non-human object human qualities. ex: The sun kissed the smiling daffodils.
apostrophe a person talks to a non-human object. ex: Zeke threatened his broken-down car to get it to run.
foreshadow a comment or event that hints at what is going to happen.
allusion referring to a character or an event that is unrelated to the topic. (history, mythology, popular culture)
paradox a situation or statement that seems to contradict itself, but really doesn’t.
ex: The father is the child of the man.
irony The way something should be vs the way something is.
ex: Zelda posted a video on YouTube about how boring and useless YouTube is.