Literary Devices Flashcards

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Simile

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Definition: Compares two unlike things using "like" or "as." Example: "Myra's head is as empty as a flower pot." -Holes by Louis Sachar

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Metaphor

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Definition: Comparing two things that are not alike to suggest they have something in common. Example: "It was said that Green Lake was 'Heaven on earth' and Miss Katherine's peaches were food for the angels." -Holes

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Hyperbole

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Definition: An exaggeration that can’t possibly be true. Example: "Mama was crying, and the rain made it seem as if the whole world was crying." -Number the Stars

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Allusion

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Definition: An allusion is a figure of speech that makes a reference to a place, person, or event. Example: "Don’t act like a Romeo in front of her." – "Romeo" is a reference to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

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Alliteration

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Definition: The repetition of beginning consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words or syllables. Example: The worm worked its way up the warm path.

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Personification

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Definition: Giving something unhuman, actual human qualities. Example: "The plane went into a glide, a very fast glide that ate altitude, and suddenly there weren’t any lakes." -Hatchet

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Irony

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Definition: The expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite. Example: With a smile on her face and after her son took first place in the race she said, "You were like a snail out there."

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Idiom

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Definition: An expression of two or more words that means something other than the actual or literal meaning. Example: After the math test was so easy, Hannah told Jojo, "That test was a piece of cake."

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Onomatopoeia

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Definition: Naming a thing or an action by imitating the sound associated with it. Example: "Boom" or "buzz."

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Adage

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Definition: A proverb or short statement expressing a general truth. Example: "Slow and steady wins the race."