Literature terms Flashcards
Allegory
An extended metaphor to illustrate.
Alitteration
Repetition of the same sounds at the beginning of words
Allusion
An indirect reference to another work of literature or art
Assonance
Repetition of vowel sounds
Euphemism
Substitution of a less offensive or more agreeable term for another
Hyperbole
Exaggerated or extravagant statement used to make a strong impression
Exaggeration
When a poem or story stretches the truth
Ex: I’m as hungry as a bear
Irony
Expressing a meaning directly contrary to that suggested by the words
Metaphor
Two things are compared without using like or as
Onomatopoeia
Words used to imitate sounds
Ex: buzz, hiss, zing, clippety-clop, and tick tock
Oxymoron
A condensed paradox using two terms
Parable
An extended metaphor told as an anecdote to illustrate or teach a moral lesson
Personification
A figure of speech in which things or abstract ideas are give human attributes
Simile
Two things are compared using like or as
Rhetorical question
A figure is speech in the form of a question posed for rhetorical effect rather than to receive an answer
