FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE - LITERARY DEVICES

Alliteration: words are used in quick succession and begin with letters belonging to the same sound group.

Example:

The Wicked Witch of the West went her own way. (The ‘W’ sound is highlighted and repeated throughout the sentence.)

Allusion: An allusion is a figure of speech whereby the author refers to a subject matter such as a place, event, or literary work by way of a passing reference. It is up to the reader to make a connection to the subject being mentioned.

Example: 

It’s no wonder everyone refers to Mary as another Mother Teresa in the making; she loves to help and care after people everywhere- from the streets to her own friends. In the example the author uses the mention of Mother Teresa to indicate the sort of qualities that Mary has.

Idiom: often used as a synonym for dialect or idiolect. In its more scholarly and narrow sense, an idiom or idiomatic expression refers to a construction or expression in one language that cannot be matched or directly translated word-for-word in another language.

Example:

"She has a bee in her bonnet," meaning "she is obsessed," cannot be literally translated into another language word for word.

Metaphor: meaning or identity ascribed to one subject by way of another. In a metaphor, one subject is implied to be another so as to draw a comparison between their similarities and shared traits.

Example:

“Henry was a lion on the battlefield.” This sentence suggests that Henry fought valiantly.

Rhyme: Rhyme is a matching similarity of sounds in two or more words, especially when their accented vowels and all succeeding consonants are identical.

Example:

skating/inflating        emotion/devotion        plain/stain        there/hair

Simile: the practice of drawing parallels or comparisons between two unrelated and dissimilar things, people, beings, places and concepts. Similes are marked by the use of the words ‘as’ or ‘such as’ or ‘like’.

Example:

He is like a mouse in front of the teacher.