Allusion

Definition: A reference to a person,

place, poem, event, etc. which isnt part
of the story that the author expects the
reader will recognize
Example: Dont act like a Romeo in front
of her.

Flashback
Definition: a scene is a movie, novel,
etc. set in a time earlier than the main
story
Example: A man is about to give a
speech to a large audience on biology.
Suddenly, he remembers playing with
frogs and toads in his backyard as a
curious child. He smiles at the memory,
and then begins to speak to the audience
about a new, groundbreaking finding
about frogs.

Epiphany
Definition: the moment in a story where
a character achieves realization,
awareness, or feeling of knowledge after
which events are seen through the prism
of this new understanding.
Example: I used to smoke a lot.
Everyone let me know that it was bad for
my health however, I didnt pay any
notice. One day I saw my two years of
age offspring trying for a used cigarette
within an ashtray. Seeing this, abruptly it
dawned upon me how terrible smoking
was and I stopped smoking.

Imagery
Definition: an authors use of
descriptive language to add depth to
his/her work by appealing to the human
senses (sight, hearing, taste, touch, or
smell)
Example: Huge, waxy tears rolled down
his face.

Mood
Definition: the atmosphere in a literary
work

Example: The river, reflecting the clear

blue of the sky, glistened and sparkled as
it flowed noiselessly on. (From Charles
Dickens novel Pickwick Papers)

Symbolism
Definition: the use of something that
represents something else; a visible sign
for the invisible
Example: A red rose or red color stands
for love or romance.

Metaphor
Definition: comparison of two things,
through which one is described in terms
of the other
Example: I drove to work on a sheet of
ice.

Oxymoron
Definition: a combination of words that
have opposite or very different meanings
Example: My temporary eternity

Repetition
Definition: a literary device that repeats
the same words or phrases a few times
to make an idea clearer
Example: I ate the red, red apple quickly.

Onomatopoeia
Definition: word that imitates or
suggests the source of the sound it
describes
Example: The clickety clack of the rain
on the roof

Irony
Definition: an intentional contradiction
between what something appears to
mean and what it really means
Example: You laugh at a person who
slipped stepping on a banana peel and
the next thing you know, you slipped too.

Simile
Definition: a comparison of different
things using like or as

Example: His nose resembled a jagged

mountain.

Dialect
Definition: term that applies to specific
speech patterns or is characteristic to a
particular group of language speakers
Example:
Jim: Wes safe, Huck, wes safe! Jump
up and crack yo heels. Dats de good ole
Cairo at las, I jis knows it.
Huck: Ill take the canoe and go see,
Jim. It mightnt be, you know.
(From Mark Twains Huckleberry Finn)

Alliteration
Definition: repetition of sounds at the
beginning of words
Example: The bullets buzzed near the
bunker.

Rhyme
Definition: repetition of similar sounding
words occurring at the end of lines in
poems or songs
Example: The infernal flame/ hurts all of
us the same

Foreshadowing
Definition: the use of words, phrases,
and hints that set the stage for a story to
unfold and give the reader a hint of
something that is going to happen
without revealing the story or spoiling
the suspense; used to suggest an
upcoming outcome to the story
Example: In John Steinbecks novel Of
Mice and Men, George killing Candys
dog foreshadows George killing Lennie
because Lennie is identical to the dog.
Even the nature of the death of the dog
was the same as Lennies as both were
shot in the back of the head. He chooses
to kill Lennie himself in order to save him
from being killed by a stranger.

Personification

Definition: a figure of speech in which

an object, abstract idea, or animal is
given human characteristics
Example: The hurricane attacked us
mercilessly.

Tone
Definition: the attitude the author puts
in a literary work
Example(s):
Father: We are going on a vacation.
Son: Thats great!!!
(The tone of sons response is very cheerful.)

OR
Father: We cant go on vacation this
summer.
Son: Ok. Great! Thats what I
expected.
(The sons tone is sarcastic in the given
response.)

Assonance
Definition: repetition of an interior
vowel sound within a short section
Example: Whose woods these are I do
not know

Hyperbole
Definition: exaggeration for emphasis;
an overstatement
Example: I have loved you for 1000
years.

Idiom
Definition: phrase or expression that
means something different from what the
words actually mean
Example: Every cloud has its silver
lining.

Suspense
Definition: the sense of anticipation or
worry that the author makes the reader
feel; a lack of certainty the author
creates, leaving the reader to wonder
what will happen; it draws the reader into
the story and creates a sense of
momentum to the plot
Example:

One minute to go and hed be eleven.

Thirty secondstwentytennine may
be hed wake Dudley up, just to annoy
him threetwoone
BOOM.

The whole shack shivered and

Harry sat bolt upright, staring at the door.
Someone was outside, knocking to come
in.
(From J.K. Rowlings novel Harry Potter and
the Sorcerers Stone)