Onomatopoeia – when a word sounds just as it is spelled, e.g BAM!, BOOM!
, hiss,
buzz
Imagery – when the writer creates a picture in the reader’s mind, using the 5 senses,
e.g. “As he walked down the stairs to breakfast, the smoky smell of bacon frying on the
stove came drifting up.”
Simile – comparing two unlike things using the words, “as”, “like”, or “than”, e.g. “Her
lips were as red as a rose.”
Metaphor – comparing two unlike things WITHOUT using “like”, “as”, or “than”, e.g.
“Henry slithered up to Paul and whispered in his ear.”
Personification – when the writer gives human-like qualities to something non-human,
e.g. “The engine of the car hummed as it sat in the driveway.”
Hyperbole – an exaggeration for literary effect, e.g. “I have a million things to do before
lunch.”
Alliteration – when the first consonant of each word is the same to give a poetic sound,
e.g. “How does the busy bee buzz past the breezy trees?”
Allegory – when the writing has a hidden political, moral, or social meaning, e.g. fairy
tales or fables
Situational irony – when the reader expects one thing to happen and the writer
surprises them by showing the opposite, e.g. “A man is afraid of flying but is comforted
by his wife that everything will be fine and flying is very safe. Then his plane crashes.”
Pathos – when the writer appeals to the reader’s emotions to persuade them, e.g. “A
poster of a little kitten to get people to donate money to the animal shelter.”
Foreshadow – when the author gives the reader hints that something is going to
happen, e.g. “A character mentions that his grandmother is very sick and then later in
the story, she dies.”
Allusion – when the author makes a reference to something well known in politics,
popular culture, literature, or history to make a comparison for the reader, e.g. “He was
as calm as the Buddha himself.”, it is like a metaphor but the problem is: if the reader
doesn’t know the allusion, it won’t work
Diction – the words that the author chooses to create character and setting, e.g. Using
old fashion language for a story that takes place in 1910.
Catharsis – when the writer uses very powerful emotions with the reader and then
makes them feel relieved to get the emotion out, e.g. “A man dies in the arms of his love
but then she sees his spirit go up to Heaven.”
Ethos - when the author appeals to the reader’s ethics, e.g. “A doctor tells the
audience that cutting out sugar from their diet is healthy.”
Pathetic fallacy – when nature mirrors the human situation/emotion, e.g. “The family
attends a funeral and it is raining.”
Cliché - it is an overused phrase or sentence, e.g. “He crushed him on the basketball
court.”
Oxymoron – when the writer puts two opposite words directly beside each other for
effect, e.g. “jumbo shrimp”, “bittersweet”
Juxtaposition - the same as an oxymoron but instead of words, it is ideas, e.g. “The
movie shows a couple having a new baby. The next scene is a woman sitting beside her
grandmother in a hospital.”
Pun – a play on words to show the different meanings, e.g. “The rabbit raced the
tortoise and the man says, “He won by a hare.” Hare/hair
Satire – a form of comedy when the jokes are making deeper social, political, moral
comments to show the absurdity, e.g. “Family Guy”, “The Simpsons”
Dramatic irony – irony used in drama (plays, movies, t.v. shows), when the audience
knows something that the character(s) does/do not know, e.g. “A woman comes home
late at night, the audience knows that the killer is hiding under her bed.”
Motif – a continuous symbol throughout the whole story, e.g. “the dog in The Curious
Incident of the Dog in the Night-time represents the lies in Christopher’s life”
Colloquialism – use of informal language
Symbol – when something concrete represents something abstract for a deeper
meaning to the story or character, e.g. a country’s flag has meaning important to the
nation, a heart represents a rose, the morning dawn represents a new beginning
