Literary Terms

By: Marcelino Sanchez

Analogy

• The similarity between like features of two things.

• Ex: "Writing a book of poetry is like dropping a rose petal down the Grand Canyon and waiting for the echo.“

• "Memory is to love what the saucer is to the cup."

Hyperbole

• The figure of the speech that people exaggeration do.

• Ex: I waited in line for centuries.

• Ex: You're always doing that.

Paradox

• The holding contradictory ideas together in order to point to a deeper truth.

• Ex: "War is peace."Ex:"Freedom is slavery."

Simile

• Comparison or compared between two things using like or as.

• Ex: "He was like a cock who thought the sun had risen to hear him crow."Ex:"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 direct comparison between two unlike things without using like or as.

• Ex: "The streets were a furnace, the sun an executioner."Ex: "But my heart is a lonely hunter that hunts on a lonely hill."

Rhyme

• When words have the same words.• Ex:"Yes, the zebra is fine.

But I think it's a shame,Such a marvelous beastWith a cart that's so tame.The story would really be better to hearIf the driver I saw were a charioteer.A gold and blue chariot's something to meet,Rumbling like thunder down Mulberry Street!"

Alliteration

• The repetition of the same consonant sounds in lines of poetry or prose.

• Ex: "You'll never put a better bit of butter on your knife."Ex: "The soul selects her own society.“

Irony

• A constant or incongruity between what is stated and what is meant or between what is expected to happen.

• Ex: I have no doubt your theatrical performance will receive the praise it so richly deserves.

• Ex: He is as smart as a soap dish

Imagery

• The use of words or phrases that evoke the sensations of sight, hearing, touch, smell, or taste.

• Ex: Though I was on the sheer face of a mountain, the feeling of swinging through the air was euphoric, almost like flying without wings.

• Ex: Her blue eyes were as bright as the Sun, blue as the sky, but soft as silk.

Onomatopoeia

• Words whose sounds suggests their meaning.

• Ex: Splash!!!!!

• Ex: Kapow!!!

Antagonist

• a person who is opposed to, struggles against, or competes with another opponent.

• Ex: of a villainous antagonist would be Iago in Shakespeare’s play Othello. Jealous Iago plots ways to bring the downfall of Othello, eventually succeeding in convincing Othello to kill his own wife.

Personification

• Giving human qualities to something not human.

• Ex: "The road isn't built that can make it breathe hard!"Ex: "Fear knocked on the door. Faith answered. There was no one there."

Foreshadowing

• Is that an author puts in clues as to how the plot is going to develop.

• Ex: That is definitely an example of foreshadowing. Any time when something in the story hints that something will happen later on is foreshadowing.

• Ex: The use of hints or clues that will help you figure out what will happen later in the story.

Flashback

• Is scene or event that happened earlier than beginning of a story.

• Ex: Movies

• Ex: Drama