Literary Terms

Marisela GutierrezPer: 3

Analogy

a similarity between like features of two things

Examples:Glove is to hand as

paint is to wall Citizens are to

president as solar system is to galaxy

Hyperbole

obvious and intentional exaggeration.

Examples: It is going to take a

b'zillion years to get through Medical School.

I ate the whole cow.

Paradox a statement or

proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses.

Examples: "The swiftest traveler is

he that goes afoot.“ "If you wish to preserve

your secret, wrap it up in frankness."

Simile

a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared using like or as.

Examples: "He was like a cock who

thought the sun had risen to hear him crow.“

"Human speech is like a cracked cauldron on which we bang out tunes that make bears dance, when we want to move the stars to pity."

Metaphor

A figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance.

Examples: Reach out for the

stars. The sun was a ball

of fire.

Rhyme

Identity in sound of some part, esp. the end, of words or lines of verse.

Examples: “ Tiger! Tiger! burning

bright In the forest at night.”

A girl was born, my sisters mate,We had to be together, it’s simply fate.

Alliteration

The commencement of two or more stressed syllables of a word group either with the same consonant sound or sound group.

Examples: Don't delay dawns disarming

display . Dusk demands daylight.

Dewdrops dwell delicatelydrawing dazzling delight .Dewdrops dilute daisies domain.

Imagery

The formation of mental images, figures, or likenesses of things, or of such images collectively.

Examples: I took a walk around the

world to ease my troubled mind.

I left my body laying somewhereIn the sands of time.

Irony

The use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning.

Examples: "It is a fitting irony that

under Richard Nixon, launder became a dirty word."

"I'm aware of the irony of appearing on TV in order to decry it."

Onomatopoeia

The formation of a word, as cuckoo or boom, by imitation of a sound made by or associated with its referent.

Examples: Splash, buzz, his, boom. "I'm getting married in the

morning!Ding dong! the bells are gonna chime."

Personification

The attribution of a personal nature or character to inanimate objects or abstract notions, especially as a rhetorical figure.

Examples: The camera loves me. Wind yells while blowing. The sun greeted me this

morning.

Antagonist A person who is opposed to,

struggles against, or competes with another; opponent; adversary. Like and evil person.

Examples: The Joker, as the main

antagonist, is superbly characterized and well voiced and his convoluted evil plan actually makes some sense.

As for his antagonists, they seemed much agitated; not so much by the value of their stake, as because they had some scruples about betting under conditions so difficult to their friend.

Flashback a device in the narrative of a motion

picture, novel, etc., by which an event or scene taking place before the present time in the narrative is inserted into the chronological structure of the work.

Examples: "First, it should follow a strong

opening scene, one that roots us firmly in your character's present. . . .

"In addition, the second-scene flashback should bear some clear relation to the first scene we've just witnessed. . . .

Foreshadowing

To show or indicate beforehand; prefigure. It is also the way an author puts some clues as to how the plot is develop.

Examples: When the Lord of the Flies

promises to have some "fun" with Simon, this foreshadows Simon's death.

She had a walk to class intill she foreshadows to see if she needs her book.