#1 Simile  A comparison of two things using the words “like” or “as.”  Example – Mr. Gallagher plays hockey like Wayne Gretzky.  Example – Nate Davis, of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, is as big as a house.

#2 Metaphor  A direct comparison of two objects.  A metaphor does NOT use like or as, but instead it states that something “is” something else.  Example – Life is a yo-yo.

# 3 Hyperbole  An exaggeration of the truth for emphasis.  Example: That music is so loud it can be heard across the sea.  Example - His shirt was so big his brother could wear it at the same time.

#4 Alliteration  Repetition of a letter or sounds, usually at the beginning of words. This is how tongue twisters are formed.  Examples: She wore sixty shimmering shells under her shawl. The majestic moonlight made Maria melancholy.

#5 Onomatopoeia  Words which suggest the sound of what they are describing. (buzz words)  Examples: The ducks were quacking and the bees were buzzing. The silence was broken by the sound of the cuckoo clock.

# 6 Personification  To give human qualities and characteristics to an inanimate object. To describe something that is inanimate as if it were human.  Example – The tsunami grabbed tourists and fled with them.  The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up.