Literary TermsMr. Geerlings – ENG2D

Figurative language Various techniques to enhance writing,

from short stories to essays, although each term is not universal (think formal vs informal!)

Try to include a range of literary terms in your writing

Literary Terms

Metaphor Simile Alliteration Personification Hyperbole Onomatopoeia Symbol Foreshadowing Imagery Irony

The List (1 of 2)

Diction Methods of Development (x3) Parody Allusion Pathetic Fallacy Satire

The List (2 of 2)

• The comparison of two unlike things to suggest things which they have in common

• Example:• Joe is a lion of the playing field• Life is a journey, travel it well• Children have an enormous appetite for

learning

Metaphor

• A comparison of two unlike things using like or as• Example:

• Watching that shows was like watching grass grow• He is as strong as an ox• She is as thing as a toothpick

Simile

• The repetition of a single letter in the alphabet throughout a phrase

• Example:• Peter Piper picked a peck of pickle peppers• She was wide-eyed and wondering as she

waited for Walter to wake• Becky’s beagle barked and bayed, becoming

bothersome for Billy

Alliteration

• The description of an inanimate object as if it were a human being or an animal (giving that object traits)

• Example:• The kite tugged and pulled at the string,

longing for the freedom of the skies• The tree moaned as the wind struck it

violently• The stars danced playfully in the moonlit sky

Personification

• An obvious and unrealistic exaggeration • Example:

• His gaping jaw could hold a flock of the King’s fattest sheet• I’ve told you a million times to clean your

room• I am so hungry I could eat a horse

Hyperbole

• Use of a word which sounds like it means• Example

• He was zapped by a Taser in the U.T.B. championship.• Buzz, crackle, plunk, bong

Onomatopoeia

• A person, place, action, word, or thing that (by association, resemblance, or convention) represents something other than itself

• Batman• Snake• Guy Fawkes mask

Foreshadowing is a way of indicating or hinting at what will come later.

It can be subtle, like storm clouds on the horizon suggesting that danger is coming

It can also be more direct, such as Romeo and Juliet talking about wanting to die rather than live without each other.

Foreshadowing

Imagery includes all the "mental pictures" that readers experience with a passage of literature

This means encompassing the senses also It uses many of the other literary terms in

order to achieve these images

Imagry

A dryly humorous or lightly sarcastic figure of speech in which the literal meaning of a word or statement is the opposite of that intended

Irony

Irony - example

Irony - example

Diction is the distinctive tone or tenor of an author’s writings

Diction is not just a writer's choice of words it can include the mood, attitude, dialect and style of writing

Diction

Arranges events in the piece of writing via a time sequence, usually beginning with the first event and proceeding to the last

Method of Development:Chronological Order

Fragments of story that come together to create a whole

Not always told in chronological order Example:Esther does thisThen she does thatFred meets her and they talkEsther does thisThen thatThen this

Esther does this BUTShe stumbles into that ANDTHEN she discovers thisWHICH leads her to overcome THISAnd eventually she learns THATEXCEPT she will have to sacrifice THIS

Method of Development: Episodic

Takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached to retell a past event, often revealing an important detail

Examples◦ The Borne Trilogy◦ Butterfly Effect◦ Forest Gump

Method of Development:Flashback

An imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target

Parody

A literary term that makes a reference to, or representation of, people, places, events, literary work, myths, or works of art, either directly or by implication

It is left to the reader to make the connection

Example:◦ In the movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark, the plane

which Indy takes in the initial minutes of the footage has the registration number 'OB-3PO', which is a reference to a character in Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi and C-3P

Allusion

A form of specific personification attributing human emotion or responses to

nature, inanimate objects, or animals Example:

◦ smiling or dancing flowers◦ angry or cruel winds◦ brooding mountains ◦ moping owls

Pathetic Fallacy

In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement

Although it is meant to be funny, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism

Satire

Satire - Example