Literary Terms QUIZ #6: hyperbole, imagery, metaphor, motif, onomatopoeia, oxymoron,personification, simile, symbol

Hyperbole

a figure of speech in which the truth is exaggerated for emphasis or humorous effect

imagery

the use of words and phrases that appeal to the five senses. Writers use sensory details to help readers imagine how things look, feel, smell, sound, and taste.

metaphor

a type of figurative language in which a comparison is made between two things that are essentially unalike but may have one quality in common.Does not contain an explicit word of comparison, such as "like" or "as."

motif

a recurring object, concept, or structure in a work of literature that takes on further significance and meaning

Simile

a type of figurative language that makes a comparison between two otherwise unlike objects or ideas by connecting them with the words "like" or "as."

oxymoron

a form of figurative language combining contradictory words or ideas. When apparently contradictory terms are grouped together and suggest a paradox.

Onomatopoeia

the use of words whose sounds suggest their meaning. The use of a word which imitates or suggests the sound that the thing makes.

Personification

a figure of speech where animals, ideas or inanimate objects are given human characteristics.Giving human-like qualities to something that is not human

Symbol

using something specific to stand for something else, especially an idea. A person, place, object or action that for something beyond itself.

Imagery

his brown skin hung in strips

like ancient wallpaper,

and its pattern of darker brown

was like wallpaper:

shapes like full-blown roses

stained and lost through age.

Hyperbole

I had to wait in the station for ten days- an eternity.

Onaomatopoeia

Rain pitter-patters, drip-drops, and rat-a-tats on the tin roof. Creeks babble and churn. Lakes ripple. Rivers rush. Oceans crash, roar, and thunder against the shore.

Personification

That piece of chocolate cake is calling my name.

Metaphor

She was a rock star at our last business presentation.

Simile

He sat as still as a mouse, in the futile hope that whoever it was might go away after a single attempt.

Oxymoron

I saw

Ten thousand people, maybe more.

People talking without speaking,

People hearing without listening,

Motif

Throughout a poem, a man wears a tuxedo for a variety of occasions: his wedding, his father's funeral, and his own daughter's wedding. The tuxedo becomes a symbol of his changing duties as a husband, son, and father as he ages.

Symbol

In the Lord of the Rings movies and books, the One Ring is represents power, selfishness, and greed. Everyone wants it and many characters are willing to kill for it.