Figurative Language

Simile

comparing two unlike things using words such as "like" or "as"

Example: They fought like cats and dogs!

Personification

A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes

Metaphor

comparing two unlike items while connecting them using the word "is" or "was"

ex: The wind is an old man singing in the mountains.

Onomatopoeia

imitates a sound ex: BAM, BOOM, SNAP!

Hyperbole

extreme exaggeration for effect and not meant to be taken literally

Alliteration

words that have the same beginning sounds used to add emphasis to prose or poetry lines

Figurative Language

literary devices for word play and creative writing

Idiom

Example sentence:

Just before the curtains opened, the director said, "Break a leg!"

Alliteration

Example sentence:

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

Metaphor

Example sentence:

The road was a ribbon of moonlight!

Simile

Example sentence:

Jackson sleeps like a log.

Allusion

A reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art

Pun

a humorous play on words

Oxymoron

contradictory terms used together for an effect (as in 'deafening silence')

Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds for emphasis and effect

Symbolism

A device in literature where an object represents an idea.

Cliché

a worn-out idea or overused expression

synonym

A word that means the same as another word

antonym

a word that means the opposite of another word

homonym

a word that is spelled and pronounced like another word but is different in meaning

stanza

a fixed number of lines of verse forming a unit of a poem

imagery

Description that appeals to the senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste)

meter

A regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry; rhythmic "sound" pattern of poetry