Literary Terms: A Review

Another look at hyperbole, alliteration, imagery, personification, simile, metaphor,

symbol, and analogy.

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What is hyperbole (and how do you pronounce it)?

Hyperbole (hahy-pur-buh-lee) deliberately exaggerates conditions for emphasis or effect.

Ex. I have a thousand reasons why I don’t have my homework done.

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What is the purpose of hyperbole?

It can be used to emphasize something.

Would Jeremy really rather be in the mouth of an alligator instead of meeting a girlfriend’s father?

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What is the hyperbole in the comic below?

What is the purpose of the exaggeration?

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Alliteration

What is alliteration and what is its purpose?

Alliteration is a pattern that includes the repetition of consonant sounds located at the beginning of successive words or words that are close together.

Writers may use alliteration to call attention to a word or phrase and fix it into the reader's mind; thus, it is useful for emphasis. Therefore, not only does alliteration provide poetry or prose with a unique sound, it can place emphasis on specific phrases and even represent the action that is taking place.

Alliteration often makes the reader read faster, thus adding a sense of speed and intensity to the sentence. WriteGuide’s Letter Writing Program

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Alliteration is often used in business when people decide what the name should be. Consider how easy it is to remember these:

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Let’s examine a couple lines from Edgar Allan Poe’s poem The Raven. What sound is repeated in the top line?

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain.Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;

What is Poe doing with the s sound in that line? Does the sound imitate the action?

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Alliteration is a sound device. There is another. The one that is hard to pronounce and harder to spell.

Onomatopoeiaare words that sound like what they are. WOW BUZZ

Ex. "Tis some visitor, I muttered, tapping at my chamber door..." Other examples for onomatopoeia Popping crack snap echo slap beating rustling

What is imagery and what is its purpose?

Imagery is the use of sensory images (those of sight, sound, taste, smell, touch). Its purpose is to create and convey a mental image to the reader of a certain action, event, mood, or thought. The writer wants the reader to see or hear or feel the subject matter.

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Let’s examine a poem by T.S. Eliot and find examples of sensory images. What do you picture? Determine what these images do to establish a mood.

3. Preludes

THE WINTER evening settles downWith smell of steaks in passageways.Six o’clock.The burnt-out ends of smoky days.And now a gusty shower wraps 5The grimy scrapsOf withered leaves about your feetAnd newspapers from vacant lots;The showers beatOn broken blinds and chimney-pots, 10And at the corner of the streetA lonely cab-horse steams and stamps.And then the lighting of the lamps.

T. S. Eliot

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Personification occurs when human thoughts, actions, perceptions and emotions are directly attributed to inanimate objects or abstract ideas. Even animals are sometimes given human traits in literature.

Because humans have emotions that we all can relate to, personifying some object gives it meaning on a more human level as well as often making it more interesting or amusing.

People frequently make comments such as “My computer hates me!” or “The camera loves me!” Obviously, objects such as computers and cameras cannot feel emotion.

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Garfield is a cat that is personified in comic strips.

What emotions are shown by Garfield? What is the humor in this personification?

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Remember King Kong? He wasn’t just a big, vicious gorilla. What other emotions did he exhibit. What was the purpose in showing him express these emotions?

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Emily Dickinson used personification in this poem:

Because I could not stop for Death,He kindly stopped for me;The carriage held but just ourselvesAnd Immortality.

What concept does the poet personify? What does this personification tell the reader about the attitude of the speaker?

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What is a simile and what is its purpose?

A simile is a comparison that uses 'like' or 'as' for the purpose of explanation, allusion or decoration.

Similes (and metaphors) are used to describe the new or the nearly-indescribable, to make new connections, to surprise and interest the reader, and to provide a comic effect.

Elton eats like a pig.

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In this case, Elton and pig are being compared. In a simile, usually the characteristics of the second word are applied to the first.

What is this simile saying about Elton?

First consider whether it is positive or negative. Then think of the traits of a pig and its eating habits. What might Elton be doing with his food?What is the purpose of this simile?

Can you think of other similes in which animal characteristics are applied to a person?

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Examine this sentence, find the simile, and describe the impression it creates.

“Her face was quiet and a curious look was in her eyes, eyes like the timeless eyes of a statue.” The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.

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Analyze the simile in this sentence:

“His face was deathly pale, and the lines of it were hard like drawn wires.” Dracula by Bram Stoker.

What purpose does this simile serve?

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What is a metaphor and what is its purpose?

A metaphor is a comparison that is implied or stated between two usually unconnected objects by speaking of one in terms of the other. Unlike a simile or analogy, metaphor asserts that one thing is another thing, not just that one is like another. Very frequently a metaphor is invoked by the to be verb.

His new business is blossoming.

What is business compared to? What makes this an effective metaphor?

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What is the metaphor in this comic strip?

Rose isn’t really in a dungeon. Explain the comparison. What makes this metaphor effective?

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Symbol

A symbol is the use of a concrete object to represent an abstract idea. For instance, a sword may be simply a sword, but it could also represent the concept of justice.

Sometimes symbols are universal: these types have widely recognizable meanings, such as light to symbolize knowledge or a skull to symbolize death or spring to represent life, growth or rebirth.

In literature, we often have constructed symbols that are given symbolic meaning by the way an author uses them, such as the white whale’s becoming a symbol of evil in Moby Dick.

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Examine this watch. Is it also a symbol? If so, what does it symbolize? For what groups of people could it be a symbol?

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Below is a well known symbol for Marlboro cigarettes.

What does he symbolize?

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Analogy

An analogy compares two things, which are alike in several respects, for the purpose of explaining or clarifying some unfamiliar or difficult idea or object by showing how the idea or object is similar to some familiar one. While simile and analogy often overlap, the simile is generally a more artistic likening, done briefly for effect and emphasis, while analogy serves the more practical end of explaining a thought process or a line of reasoning or the abstract in terms of the concrete, and may therefore be more extended.

Let’s examine part of a movie script.

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Lt. Cmdr. Ron Hunter: You know what's goin' on here?

Petty Officer Vossler: Yes, sir.

Hunter: No, I don't think you do. Let me explain it to you. If we launch and we're wrong, what's left of Russia is gonna launch at us. There will be a nuclear holocaust beyond imagination, so it's all about knowing, Mr. Vossler. We have to know whether or not our order to launch has been recalled or not. The only way we're gonna know is if you fix that radio. You understand me?

Vossler: Yes, sir.

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Hunter: You ever watch Star Trek? Star Trek...you know Star Trek, the USS Enterprise?

Vossler: Yeah....

Hunter: Alright. You remember when the Klingons were going to blow up the Enterprise and Captain Kirk calls down to Scotty? He says "Scotty, I gotta have more power --"

Vossler: He needs more, more warp speed....

Hunter: Warp speed, exactly.

Vossler: Yeah.

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Hunter: Well I'm Captain Kirk. You're Scotty. I need more power. I'm telling you, if you do not get this radio up a billion people are going to die. Can you handle it? Scotty?

Vossler: Aye, Captain.

-- delivered by Denzel Washington and Lillo Brancato (from the movie Crimson Tide)

Note: In this case a comparison is made between the current situational crisis and a similar situation in Star Trek. The comparison is made to further the line of reasoning that a) the present situation is critical and b) Vossler (like Scotty) must get the job done or else....

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Test Yourself

Read the following poem by Carl Sandberg and identify any literary term that applies and describe its purpose.

FOG

The fog comeson little cat feet.

It sits lookingover harbor and cityon silent haunchesand then moves on.

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In the poem "Fog" Sandburg helps us visualize

his description of the fog by using the figurative

language of a cat tiptoeing in on tiny cat feet,

patiently sitting and watching, and then silently

moving off. The slow, quiet fog is compared

figuratively to a delicate cat. There is a sense of

touch, sound and sight which adds to the

imagery.