Literary Terms Practice Quiz

Which literary term is defined as a figure of speech that compares two unlike things using the words "like" or "as"?

• Allusion

• Alliteration

• Simile

• Symbolism

What is the term for the use of words that imitate the sounds they describe, such as "buzz" or "hiss"?

• Onomatopoeia

• Irony

• Paradox

• Imagery

In literature, what is the term for the use of exaggeration for emphasis or dramatic effect?

• Personification

• Metaphor

• Allusion

• Hyperbole

Which literary term refers to the repetition of initial consonant sounds in a series of words or phrases? For example "And, baby, now we’ve got bad blood" from Taylor Swift's Bad Blood.

• Alliteration

• Symbolism

• Parallelism

• Irony

What is the term for a figure of speech in which contradictory ideas or concepts are combined to create a deeper meaning? For example, "It was the beginning of the end."

• Paradox

• Simile

• Imagery

• Allusion

Which literary term is defined as the use of words or phrases that appeal to the five senses to create vivid mental pictures?

For example, "She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with new spring life.  The delicious breath of rain was in the air.  In the street below a peddler was crying his wares.  The notes of a distant song which someone was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves." - by Kate Chopin

• Imagery

• Personification

• Onomatopoeia

• Metaphor

What is the term for a literary device in which words or phrases are used in a way that contradicts their literal meaning? For example, a character stepping out into a hurricane and saying, “What nice weather we're having!”

• Irony

• Alliteration

• Symbolism

• Simile

What is the term for a comparison between two unlike things without using "like" or "as"? For example, He is a couch potato.

Which literary term refers to the use of words or phrases to give human characteristics to non-human objects or ideas? For example, "The flowers danced in the wind."

• Personification

• Symbolism

• Onomatopoeia

• Alliteration

What is the term for the use of a recurring object, idea, or dialogue in a literary work that comes to take on additional meaning beyond itself? For example, the sunflower seeds in Ghost.

• Symbolism

• Irony

• Paradox

• Imagery