Literary terms

1. Literary Terms Review
Wohoo!
(Yes, that’s an onomatopoeia.)

2. Imagery
•Use of words to create a sensory
experience or image
•Uses the 5 senses
•Helps you imagine the place,
smell the food, get angry, etc.
•Ex: The family dinner was a
“combination of boisterous
conversation, badly burnt chicken,
and the scent of freshly baked
bread.”

3. Imagery
#1 Write a sentence that is
FILLED with imagery

•Your examples:
•A sunset (sight)
•A bowl of ice (touch)
•A song you love (sound)
•Or choose something on
your own

4. 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
•His skin was as cold as ice.
•http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=sWDSxmMo9Z0

5. 5

6. Simile
•The desks overhead sounded
like the thunderous dancing
of elephants.
•My eyes pooled like rivers
during the wedding vows.
•#2 Write a simile
•Your examples:
•Anger tastes like . . .
•Kindness smells like . . .
•Or anything you would like...

7. 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

8. 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?

9. #3 Write a metaphor
•Your example: fill in the
blank with an object
•Friendship is . . .
•Music is . . .
•She is...
•Or use anything to make a
comparison
9

10. 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.

11. 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
•#4 Your example:
•Describe a place in the style
above--giving a feeling to the
place by adding personification.

12. Hyperbole
•Figure of speech that uses
exaggeration to express
strong emotion or create a
comic e"ect
•Ex: The limousine was as
long as the Titanic.
•Julie wears so much
make-up she has to use a
sandblaster to get it o" at
night.

13. 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
#5 Your example:
I laughed until . . .
I was hungry enough . . .

14. 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

15. Symbolism
•“All this last day Frodo had not
spoken, but had walked half-
bowed, 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
•# 6 Your example:
Come up with your own symbol
that represents two di"erent
meanings.

16. Irony--3 kinds
•A deliberate contrast between
two levels of meaning
•Verbal—implying a di"erent
meaning than what is directly
stated
–Di"erent 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

17. Irony—which kind?
•Donkey: Can I stay with you? Please?
•Shrek: Of course.
•Donkey: Really?
•Shrek: NO.
•A couple appears in court to finalize a
divorce, but during the proceeding,
they remarry instead.
•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.

18. Irony—your turn!
•#7 Verbal Irony--a teenager is
being yelled at for being out
past curfew. What does he/she
say in reply?
•#8 Situational Irony--You
meet the man/woman of your
dreams and expect to make a
good impression. Instead, . . .
•#9 Dramatic Irony--Think of
a recent movie in which the
audience knows something the
characters do not.

19. 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".

20. Allusion
•Ex: The students were sure
that their teacher had
drunk from the river Styx
because of her complete
inattention to their pranks.
•#10 Your example—think
of a recent example you’ve
heard or seen in which
someone references a
well-known work

21. 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

22. Paradox
•“Though this be madness,
yet there is method in’t”
-Polonius in Hamlet
•Humans are the best
examples of paradoxes.
•Mrs. Bell is rarely on time
and yet chose a career that is
governed by time and a bell
schedule.

23. 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.

24. 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.
•George Orwell's Animal Farm is a historical
allegory of the Cold War/Bolshevik Revolution
in Soviet Union. The book is actually about
animals rebelling against the farmers, but then
the pig leader abuses his power and
manipulates the rest of the animals, just like
how Joseph Stalin ruled the Soviet Union in real
life.

25. •Ex: “Young Goodman Brown”
ignores warning of his wife
Faith, travels into the forest and
meets a man with a snake sta"
and witches. He loses his faith.
•In the story the husband is
questioning his religion and his
relationship with his wife is
faltering, it is allegorical because
his wife's name is symbolic of
both his loss in religious belief
and loss in "Faith" aka his wife.
25

26. 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

27. 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.