1. Literary Devices
A Year Down Yonder

2. Alliteration
The repetition of (usually) initial consonant sounds in 2 or more neighboring words or syllables.
Example: The wild and woolly walrus waits.

3. Assonance A resemblance of sound in words or syllables.
Example: Holy and stony; Fleet feet sweep by Geese

4. Cliché
A word or phrase that has become overly familiar or commonplace.
Example:
No pain, no gain
Waste not, want not
Time flies when you’re having fun!
Once upon a time…

5. Hyperbole Big exaggeration, usually with humor. Examples:
The ocean went on forever.
The mile-high ice cream.

6. Idiom The language particular to a group of people. Examples:
You’re on top of the world!
She’s wicked smart!
I smell trouble.
There’s a frog in my throat.

7. Onomatopoeia
Naming a thing or an action by imitating the sound associated with it.
Examples:
Hiss
Roar
Buzz
Woof
Ding-dong

8. Metaphor
A direct relationship where one thing or idea substitutes for another. (Similar to a simile, but does not use “like” or “as.”
Example: He was a raging bull.

9. Irony
Where an event occurs which is unexpected in the sense that it is somehow absurd or mocking opposition to what would be expected or appropriate.
What are some examples from AYDY?

10. Personification Giving something human qualities. Examples:
The stuffed bear smiled as the little boy hugged him.
The flowers danced in the moonlight.

11. Antagonist
Counterpart to the main character and source of a story’s main conflict. The person may not be bad or evil, but he/she opposes the protagonist in a significant way.
Who is the antagonist in AYDY?

12. Characterization
The author’s means of conveying to the reader a character’s personality, life, history, values, physical attributes, etc.
Example: Atticus is characterized as an almost impossibly virtuous man, always doing what is right.

13. Climax
The turning point in a story, at which the end result becomes inevitable, usually where something suddenly goes terribly wrong; the “dramatic high point” of a story.
When is the climax in AYDY?

14. Setting The time and place where a story occurs.
Example: The setting of AYDY is Southern Illinois in 1937.

15. Simile
An indirect relationship where one thing or idea as described as being similar to another. Similes usually contain “like” or “as.”
Example: “Mildred riding astride like a bounty hunter.”

16. Theme The main idea or message conveyed by the piece.
What are some themes in AYDY?