Literary Terms
in
A reference to a
historical figure, place,
or event.
The teams
competed in a
David and Goliath
struggle.
A figure of speech that uses
exaggeration to express strong
emotion, make a point, or
evoke humor.
He was so hungry
he could have
eaten a horse.
A direct comparison between
two basically different things.
A simile is introduced by the
words “like” or “as”.
My love
is like a
red, red
rose.
A comparison between
two different things not
using the words “like” or
“as”.
The eyes
were
daggers that
cut right
through me.
Human characteristics are
given to non-human
animals, objects, or ideas.
My stereo
walked
out of my
car.
The voice that communicates
with the reader of a poem,
similar to a narrator of a story.
This is usually a character
separate from the actual poet.
A group of lines forming a unit in
a poem (as a paragraph in a
story would).
The use of sensory
details that appeal to
the five senses.
Cold, wet
leaves floating
on mosscolored water.
A figure of speech which
imitates the sound of what it
describes.
Boom!
Crash!
The overall
emotional feeling of
a work.
“It was the
best of times,
it was the
worst of
times.”
A pair of words
consisting of two
seemingly
contradictory terms.
The repetition of
identical sounds at
the ends of lines of
poetry.
“He clasps the crag
with crooked hands
Close to the sun in
lonely lands”
from “The Eagle”
The repetition of
identical sounds within
a line of poetry.
“We three shall flee across the sea to Italy.”
Or
“Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.”
A slant rhyme or half
rhyme occurs when the
vowel sounds are not
quite identical.
“And on that cheek and
o’er that brow”
A mind at peace with all
below”
The pattern that the end
rhymes form in a poem or
stanza.
Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
Sugar is sweet,
and so are you.
a
b
c
b
The repeating of a
sound, word, phrase, or
more in a given literary
work.
“I sprang to the stirrup, and Jarvis, and he;
I galloped, Derrick galloped, we galloped all three”
The repetition of
consonant sounds at
the beginnings of
words.
“Swiftly, swiftly flew
the ship”
The repetition of
consonant sounds that
are preceded by
different vowel sounds.
“Wherever
we go
Silence will
fall like
dews”
Something concrete, such as an
object, action, character, or
scene that stands for something
abstract such as a concept or an
idea.
“Do not go gentle into that good night
Rage, Rage against the dying of the light”
Both phrases are symbols that
stand for death.
The main idea or
underlying meaning
of a literary work.