Figurative Language:
not literal, playing with words to create layers of meaning
Alliteration:
repeated letter sounds, Example: “Dark dreary day”
Personification:
giving human qualities to non-living objects, Example: “the moon nodded in our direction”; moons don’t have necks and they can’t knowingly nod at us
Simile:
A direct comparison using “like” or “as”, Example: “sneaky as a fox” or “he eats like a pig”; comparing the man’s sloppy eating habits to a messy barnyard animal
Rhythm:
The beat or tempo from the syllables in the poem
Internal Rhyme:
Rhyming words within a line, Example: From Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”; “Ah. distinctly I remember, it was in the bleak December”
Metaphor:
A comparison without the use of “like” or “as”, Example: “The relationship she is in is a prison.”
External Rhyme:
Rhymes are at the ends of the lines. If the two lines, one after the other, rhyme, they become a couplet,
Example: ‘No tall oak trees; search the fields in vain;
only empty skylines and the cold, grey rain.’
Onomatopoeia:
Sound words; the words are spelled the way they sound. Example: Snap! Crackle Pop!
Hyperbole:
An obvious and extreme exaggeration, Example: “I’m so hungry, I could eat an elephant.”
Oxymoron:
Two opposite words side by side, Example: “old news” or “exact estimate” or “same difference”
Idiom:
A figure of speech specific to the English language that and cannot be taken word for word, Example: “raining cats and dogs”
Pun:
A deliberate homonym confusion to make a joke, Example: “A horse is a very stable animal.”
Juxtaposition:
Placing opposites side by side(or near one another) to highlight their differencesCan be words, symbols, or pictures.
Example: tall person next to a short person
Symbolism:
using symbolic images and indirect suggestion to express mystical ideas, emotions, and states of mind.
Stanza:
The chunk, or division, of a poem
Couplet:
Two lines with the same(or similar) rhythm(beat) and they share an external rhyme
Example: “But I have promises to keep
and miles to go before I sleep”
Paradox:
A statement with two opposite ideas, but both are true (a paradoxical statement)
Examples:
Colloquialism:
Slang, or informal, language. Example: Homie, peeps, cuz, ain’t, gotta, gonna, haz, etc…
Cliché:
An overused expression or image—so overused that it no longer holds meaning or appeal for the listener/viewer
Examples:
not literal, playing with words to create layers of meaning
Alliteration:
repeated letter sounds, Example: “Dark dreary day”
Personification:
giving human qualities to non-living objects, Example: “the moon nodded in our direction”; moons don’t have necks and they can’t knowingly nod at us
Simile:
A direct comparison using “like” or “as”, Example: “sneaky as a fox” or “he eats like a pig”; comparing the man’s sloppy eating habits to a messy barnyard animal
Rhythm:
The beat or tempo from the syllables in the poem
Internal Rhyme:
Rhyming words within a line, Example: From Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”; “Ah. distinctly I remember, it was in the bleak December”
Metaphor:
A comparison without the use of “like” or “as”, Example: “The relationship she is in is a prison.”
External Rhyme:
Rhymes are at the ends of the lines. If the two lines, one after the other, rhyme, they become a couplet,
Example: ‘No tall oak trees; search the fields in vain;
only empty skylines and the cold, grey rain.’
Onomatopoeia:
Sound words; the words are spelled the way they sound. Example: Snap! Crackle Pop!
Hyperbole:
An obvious and extreme exaggeration, Example: “I’m so hungry, I could eat an elephant.”
Oxymoron:
Two opposite words side by side, Example: “old news” or “exact estimate” or “same difference”
Idiom:
A figure of speech specific to the English language that and cannot be taken word for word, Example: “raining cats and dogs”
Pun:
A deliberate homonym confusion to make a joke, Example: “A horse is a very stable animal.”
Juxtaposition:
Placing opposites side by side(or near one another) to highlight their differencesCan be words, symbols, or pictures.
Example: tall person next to a short person
Symbolism:
using symbolic images and indirect suggestion to express mystical ideas, emotions, and states of mind.
Stanza:
The chunk, or division, of a poem
Couplet:
Two lines with the same(or similar) rhythm(beat) and they share an external rhyme
Example: “But I have promises to keep
and miles to go before I sleep”
Paradox:
A statement with two opposite ideas, but both are true (a paradoxical statement)
Examples:
- “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.”
- “They fight so much—they make a great couple.”
- The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Colloquialism:
Slang, or informal, language. Example: Homie, peeps, cuz, ain’t, gotta, gonna, haz, etc…
Cliché:
An overused expression or image—so overused that it no longer holds meaning or appeal for the listener/viewer
Examples:
- ‘There are plenty of fish in the sea.’
- ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’
- A typical horror movie scene.