Literary Terms Review
Wohoo!
(Yes, that’s an onomatopoeia.)
Name that literary term!
• “The road was a ribbon of
moonlight over the purple
moor.”
• I heard the swishing of her skirts
as she walked up the stairs.
• "Some day you will be old
enough to start reading fairy
tales again.“
• The pen is mightier than the
sword.
Name that literary term!
• "He was a remarkable Prime
Minister with feet of clay".
• The less you have the more free
you are.
• “My love is like a red, red rose.”
• Julie wears so much make-up
she has to use a sandblaster to
get it off at night.
• America is a melting pot.
• My desk is groaning
underneath the mountains of
papers to grade.
• I love it when my students
cheat on their tests.
Imagery
• Use of words to create a
sensory experience or
image
• Uses the 5 senses
• Ex: The family dinner was a
“combination of boisterous
conversation, badly burnt
chicken, and the scent of
freshly baked bread.”
Imagery
•
•
•
•
Your examples:
A sunset (sight)
A bowl of ice (touch)
A song you love (sound)
• Be ready to share!
Simile
• Figure of speech that makes a
comparison between two
seemingly unlike things by using
a connective word—like, as,
than, or resembles
• “My love is like a red, red rose.”
-Robert Burns
• “And the sudden flurries of
snow-birds, Like brown leaves
whirling by.” –James Russell
Lowell
Simile
• The desks overhead
sounded like the
thunderous dancing of
elephants.
• My eyes pooled like rivers
during the wedding vows.
• Your examples:
• Anger tastes like . . .
• Kindness smells like . . .
Metaphor
• Figure of speech that
makes a comparison
between two unlike things
without using a connective
word such as like or as.
Metaphors can be direct,
implied, extended, or
mixed
• Ex: “I am soft sift/ In an
hourglass.” –Gerard
Manley Hopkins
Metaphor
• “All the world's a stage,
And all the men and
women merely players
in it.” -William Shakespeare
• America is a melting pot.
• How could she date a
snake like that?
• Your example: fill in the
blank with an object
• Friendship is . . .
• Education is . . .
Personification
• Gives human qualities to
an animal, thing, or
concept
• The tree sighed sadly in the
cold wind.
• The warm sun wrapped me
in a blanket of peace.
Personification
• “The ruddy brick floor smiled up
at the smoky ceiling; the oaken
settles, shiny with long wear,
exchanged cheerful glances
with each other; plates on the
dresser grinned at pots on the
shelf . . .” --The Wind in the
Willows
• Your example:
• Describe a place in the style
above--giving a feeling to the
place by adding
personification.
Hyperbole
• Figure of speech that uses
exaggeration to express
strong emotion or create a
comic effect
• Ex: The limousine was as
long as the Titanic.
• Julie wears so much makeup she has to use a
sandblaster to get it off at
night.
Hyperbole
• “At last the garbage reached so high
That finally it touched the sky.
And all the neighbors moved away,
And none of her friends would come
out to play.
And finally Sarah Cynthia Stout said,
“OK, I’ll take the garbage out!”
But then, of course, it was too late. . .
--Shel Silverstein
Your example:
I laughed until . . .
I was hungry enough . . .
Symbolism
• Represents something else
and itself
• Always actually occurs in
the text, usually more than
once, instead of as a
comparison
• Common symbols:
– Rose
– Flag
– Rain
Symbolism
• “All this last day Frodo had not
spoken, but had walked halfbowed, often stumbling, as if his
eyes no longer saw the way before
his feet. Sam guessed that among
all their pains he bore the worst, the
growing weight of the Ring, a
burden on the body and a torment
to his mind.”
-J.R.R. Tolkien
• Your example:
Come up with your own symbol
that represents two different
meanings.
Irony--3 kinds
• A deliberate contrast between
two levels of meaning
• Verbal—implying a different
meaning than what is directly
stated
– Different than sarcasm, which is
much more direct and harsh
• Situational--the opposite of
what is expected happens
• Dramatic—audience knows
something that one or more of
the characters does not
Irony—which kind?
• The beautiful woman lawyer
walked into the courtroom wearing
a visibly stained suit that frayed at
the edges.
• “Oh, and there’s a thrilling shot of
one of the kids being sick on a
small fishing boat off the coast of
Florida and we are hovering over
him offering him salami and
mayonnaise sandwiches. That one
really breaks us up.”—Erma
Bombeck
• Juliet is actually not dead, but
asleep with the help of a strong
potion. Romeo sees her lying in the
tomb and kills himself because he
believes her to be dead.
Irony—your turn!
• Verbal Irony--a teenager is
being yelled at for being out
past curfew. What does he/she
say in reply?
• Situational Irony--You meet the
man/woman of your dreams
and expect to make a good
impression. Instead, . . .
• Dramatic Irony--Think of a
recent movie in which the
audience knows something the
characters do not.
Allusion
• Reference to a statement,
person, place, event, or thing
that is known from literature,
history, religion, myth, politics,
sports, science, or the arts
• Examples:
"Christy didn't like to spend
money. She was no Scrooge,
but she seldom purchased
anything except the bare
necessities".
Allusion
• Ex: The students were sure
that their teacher had
drunk from the river Styx
because of her complete
inattention to their pranks.
• Your example—think of a
recent example you’ve
heard or seen in which
someone references a
well-known work
Metonymy
• Type of symbolism or naming in
which the name of something is
replaced with something
closely associated with it
• Ex: The White House issued a
statement regarding the recent
economic downturn.
• What do these metonymies
represent?
– The throne
– The Kremlin
– Time to “hit the books”
Metonymy
• Create your own
metonymy! Decide what
thing closely associated
with school should
represent it. Then use it in
a sentence about school.
Paradox
• A statement that appears to be
contradictory, but actually
expresses a truth
• Ex: “Less is more”
• “Truth must dazzle gradually/Or
every man be blind” -Emily
Dickinson
• “Success is counted
sweetest/By those who ne’er
succeed” -Emily Dickinson
• “It is in giving that we receive”
-Francis of Assisi
Paradox
• “Though this be madness, yet
there is method in’t” -Polonius
in Hamlet
• Write your own paradox!
Humans are the best examples
of paradoxes. Think of
someone you know who has
seemingly opposite
characteristics that make sense
and are true.
• Mrs. Bell is rarely on time and
yet chose a career that is
governed by time and a bell
schedule.
Oxymoron
• Figure of speech which seems
to be self contradictory, but is
actually true; a compressed
paradox
• Ex: Romeo describes love using
several oxymorons, such as “cold fire,”
“feather of lead” and “sick health”
• Ex: She had a terrible beauty. There
was a deafening silence.
• Create your own oxymoron using this
same adjective-noun form.
Allegory
• A constant set of symbols
operating on two levels in a story
• Ex: Plato’s Allegory of the Cave-People are chained in a cave and
think that the shadows they see
are truth. When people break
free, they leave the cave and see
things as they truly are.
• Ex: “Young Goodman Brown”
ignores warning of his wife Faith,
travels into the forest and meets a
man with a snake staff and
witches. He loses his faith.
Satire
• Genre of comedy ridiculing human
faults such as vanity, hypocrisy,
stupidity, and greed--the aim is to
evoke laughter, to expose and criticize
• Ex: Anything on Saturday Night Live or
The Daily Show
• Austin Powers--ridicules the spy movies
and heroes
• Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” in which he
proposes a solution to the problem of
over-population in Ireland--the children
of the poor should be a food source for
the rich
• Think of an example you’ve seen in
pop culture and explain what it
ridicules
Point of View
• The identity of the narrative voice; the
person or entity through whom the reader
experiences the story.
• First-person is narrated by a character in
the story or a direct observer).
• Second person style which addresses the
reader as you, hoping to make you identify
with the character
• Third-person Omniscient knows all about all
the characters and is only limited by what
she may want to tell you.
• Third-person Limited describes a narrator
who knows everything but only follows the
point of view of one particular character.
Point of View
Which point of view are each of the
following?
1. Mary's uncertainty cut like a knife in
my gut.
2. Mary's uncertainty cut like a knife in
John's gut.
3. You know how uncertainty can cut
like a knife?
4. Mary’s uncertainty cut like a knife in
John’s gut, froze her mother in shock
and made the entire room stand still.
Create your own example of third person
omniscient, giving one of your
characters ant bites.