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Literary Devices
What is Figurative Language?
When the meaning of the words have
a different meaning than the literal
meaning.
Any language that goes beyond the
literal meaning of words in order to
furnish new effects or fresh insights
into an idea or a subject.
Meaning must be inferred
Similes
A figure of speech that makes a
comparison of TWO unlike things.
Similes use two words to compare:
LIKE or AS
*Similes Example*
The news Paulina received over the
phone must have been terrible; she
turned limp as a dishrag.
The teacher was busy teaching, when
suddenly, an obstinate student
interrupted the lesson. The teacher’s
face reddened like a hot iron.
Metaphor
Compares two basically unlike things,
BUT it does not use the words like or
as. Says that one thing “is” another.
A metaphor describes something as
“it is”
*Metaphor Example*
The contestant’s knees were jiggling
jelly when she stepped forward to
take her turn.
The small blonde girl’s hair was silk.
Personification
This is a device in which authors give
human characteristics to non-human
things.
These non-human things could be: an
animal, a piece of furniture, a stuffed
animal…etc.
*Personification Example*
Which uses personification?
The car groaned as it climbed up the
hill.
The car made a sound as it went up
the hill.
Hyperbole
This is an exaggeration used for
effect.
It helps the reader to understand the
extent of the emotion, attitude, or
feeling. ADDS EMPHASIS
*Hyperbole Example*
I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse!
Jan is so tired, she could sleep for a
week!
The rain that fell Thursday fell for a
million hours.
Stylistic Devices
Ways an author can use and arrange
words or form sentences in order to
impact the meaning or tone of the text
Imagery
Language creating a mental
picture that makes readers see,
hear, smell, taste, or feel things in
their imagination.
*Imagery Example*
Which sentences uses imagery?
The sun was shining brightly in the
sky.
The bright yellow sun beamed down
on my shoulders, wrapping me in a
blanket of sunshine.
Alliteration
Repeating the consonant sound at the
beginning of a word.
Using alliteration adds emphasis to
the phrase
*Alliteration Example*
“While I nodded, nearly napping…”
“For the rare and radiant maiden
whom the angels named Lenore-”
Assonance
Repetition of identical or similar vowel
sounds in neighboring words
*Assonance Examples*
“And the silken, sad, uncertain
rustling of each purple curtain…”
“In the fell clutch of circumstance…”
Onomatopoeia
Word that represent sounds.
EXAMPLE:
“It's a jazz affair, drum crashes and
coronet razzes.
The trombone pony neighs and the
tuba snorts.”
Polysyndeton
When several coordinating conjunctions are used
in succession to achieve an artistic effect
“I willed myself to stay awake, but the rain was so
soft and the room was so warm and his voice was
so deep and his knee was so snug that I slept.”
-To Kill a Mockingbird
PURPOSE: to create an artistic effect for rhythm or
emphasis
Anaphora
Repetition of a word within a phrase
(or paragraph)
Purpose: Emphasis/rhythm
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of
times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the
age of foolishness, it was the epoch of
belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was
the season of Light, it was the season of
Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was
the winter of despair.” –Charles Dickens