1. Allusion Notes An allusion is a figure of speech that makes a reference to a place, person, a work of literature, or something that happened in history.allusion Allusions can come from many sources such as the Bible, Greek or Roman Mythology, or Shakespeare. Allusions can also include paintings, opera, folk tales, fairy tales, etc. The reference can be direct or may be inferred, but an allusion broadens the reader’s understanding of the text.

2. Allusion Notes Allusions are dependent upon the reader knowing about the story or event that is referenced. Allusions are NOT references to something only a small group of people know. (Sally’s smile looked like my mom’s smile.)

3. Allusion Example “When she lost her job, she acted like a Scrooge, and refused to buy anything that wasn’t necessary.” Scrooge was an extremely stingy character from Charles Dickens’, A Christmas Carol.

4. Allusion Example “He was a real Romeo with the ladies.” Romeo was a character in Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, and was very romantic in expressing his love for Juliet

5. At our basketball game last night, we pulled a real underdog, and I do not mean Oscar Meyer; I mean we were Olympic-style awesome! No one expected us to win. The Titans (and they really are!) were the Supermen of this year’s regular season, not even kryptonite could stop them! Apparently, we were their Achilles heel last night, though, because they fell like Goliath!