Literary Terms

Rhetorical Devices that use tone for effect Imagery Hyperbole Irony Oxymoron Paradox Juxtaposition

Tone The author’s or speaker’s attitude toward the subject of the text. For example, the tone of a text could be pessimistic, optimistic, angry, or sarcastic.

Imagery The use of description that helps the reader imagine how something looks, sounds, feels, smells, or tastes. “Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square…(5)” --To Kill a Mockingbird

Vivid Imagery The use of colorful and dramatic descriptions. Which uses vivid imagery? She wore a pretty red dress. She wore high-heeled pumps and a red-and-white striped dress. She looked and smelled like a peppermint drop.

Hyperbole An extreme exaggeration. Principal Skinner: The things you don't know would fill a whole library and leave room for a few pamphlets. Superintendent Chalmers: There's no need for hyperbole, Seymour. ("Bart Stops to Smell the Roosevelts." The Simpsons, 2011)

Irony Language that conveys a certain idea by saying just the opposite. Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room. (Peter Sellers as President Merkin Muffley in Dr. Strangelove, 1964)

Oxymoron A figure of speech in which incongruous or seemingly contradictory terms appear side by side. Jumbo Shrimp bittersweet liquid gas almost always

Paradox A statement that appears to contradict itself. War is Peace Freedom is Slavery Ignorance is Strength (George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, 1949)

Wooden gate. Lock firmly bolted: Winter moon. Juxtaposition The placement of two or more things side by side, leaving it up to the reader to make a connection or infer meaning. Wooden gate. Lock firmly bolted: Winter moon. (Japanese Haiku)

Figurative Language Whenever you describe something by comparing it with something else, you are using figurative language. Whenever you call something “cool,” you’re not talking about its temperature but referring to some other quality it possesses.

Metaphor A comparison of two unlike things using any form of the verb “to be”–-i.e. am, are, is, was, were. But my heart is a lonely hunter that hunts on a lonely hill. (William Sharp, "The Lonely Hunter")

Simile Comparing two unlike things using “like” or “as.” Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep. (Carl Sandburg)

(proverb quoted by Christopher Moltisanti, The Sopranos) Personification Giving inanimate objects human characteristics. Fear knocked on the door. Faith answered. There was no one there. (proverb quoted by Christopher Moltisanti, The Sopranos)

for something else. A dove is a symbol of peace. Symbolism The use of one thing to represent another. Something that stands for something else. A dove is a symbol of peace.

Rhetorical Devices that use SOUND for effect Alliteration Assonance Onomatapoeia

Alliteration consonant sounds in a group of words. Peter Piper Picked The repetition of the initial consonant sounds in a group of words. Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers.

Assonance The repetition of vowel sounds in a group of words. “And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride. (Edgar Allan Poe, Annabel Lee)

Onomatopoeia The use of words that sound like what they mean. buzz bang tic-tock hiss

Rhetorical Devices that use structure for effect Parallelism Anaphora

Parallelism The use of similar grammatical forms or structures in a series of words, phrases, or clauses. After a few miles, we drove off a cliff. It wasn’t a big cliff. It was only about four feet high. But it was enough to blow out the front tire, knock off the back bumper, break Dad’s glasses, make Aunt Edythe spit out her false teeth, spill a jug of Kool-Aid, bump Missy’s head, spread the Auto Bingo pieces all over, and make Mark do number two. (John Hughes, "Vacation '58." National Lampoon, 1980)

To repeat words or phrases Anaphora To repeat words or phrases in a series of sentences or clauses to emphasize the author’s message or emotion. It's the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker's son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too. (Barack Obama, "The Audacity of Hope,” 2004)