Download Elements of Style

ELEMENTS OF STYLE
A look at literary devices
FIGURES OF SPEECH
Expressions that are not literally
true, but suggest similarities
between unrelated things
EXAMPLES
 He is tied up in traffic.
 That check you wrote bounced!
 I sat at the foot of the bed.
SIMILE
• Compares two unlike things
using the words “like” or “as”
EXAMPLES OF SIMILE
 Her hands were like ice.
 Life is like a box of chocolates.
More examples
METAPHORS
• Compares two unlike things
directly without using a word of
comparison, such as “like” or
“as”
EXAMPLES OF METAPHOR
 His heart is made of stone.
 Lewis is a rotten skunk.
More examples
PERSONIFICATION
Describes something
nonhuman as if it had human
qualities
EXAMPLES OF
PERSONIFICATION
A falling leaf danced in the
breeze.
The sun smiled on our
cookout.
More Examples
ALLITERATION
 Repetition of consonant sounds,
usually at the beginning of words
 Often used in tongue twisters
 Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled
peppers.
 See Sally sell seashells by the seashore.
 More examples
IDIOM
 Expressions that are particular to a
language or group.
 An expression that cannot be
understood from the meaning of its
separate words, but must be learned
as a whole.
EXAMPLES OF IDIOM
• That book blew me away!
• Literal: a gust of wind came up from the book
and lifted me into the air.
• Figuratively: I liked the book a lot.
• It’s raining cats and dogs!
• Literal: Cats and dogs are falling from the sky
• Figuratively: It’s raining very hard.
HYPERBOLE
 An exaggeration--not to be taken
seriously.
 usually used in humorous poems or
light-hearted prose.
 it can be used to make fun of someone
or something.
EXAMPLES OF
HYPERBOLE
• I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse!
• I’m hungry.
• I’m doing a million things right now.
• I’m busy.
• Your sister's so skinny, she has to run around in
the shower to get wet.
• She is thin.
THE END!