SAY IT LIKE THIS
The moon was like a giant glowing ball in the night sky.
Simile
The bees buzzed around the flowers.
Onomatopoeia
We will not give up. We will not surrender. We will not forget. We will not stop.
Anaphora
Everyone in a town believes that the new mayor is an honest and kind person. However, the reader knows that he has secretly been stealing money from the town.
Dramatic irony
An author's choice of words and the way those words create meaning, tone, or feeling.
Diction
The classroom was a zoo after the teacher left.
Metaphor
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Alliteration
The two brothers stood on opposite sides of the room. One wore a bright white suit; the other wore a completely black one.
Juxtaposition
At the beginning of a story, a character's mother warns, “Whatever you do, stay away from the old bridge.” Later, the character decides to cross the bridge.
Foreshadowing
A teacher describes a student as “confident” rather than “arrogant.”
Positive connotation
The old house groaned and complained as the storm raged outside.
Personification
After running a marathon, a student says, “That was a little tiring.”
Understatement
A character walks into a dark, abandoned house and notices a broken wedding photograph, a child's toy covered in dust, and a clock that has stopped at midnight.
Imagery
After his friend accidentally breaks his expensive new television, Marcus looks at the shattered screen and says, “Wow. Great job.”
Verbal irony
Two friends describe the same person as being "stubborn" instead of "confident."
Negative connotation
She’s walking on air after hearing that she won the competition.
Idiom
I have a thousand assignments to finish tonight!
Hyperbole
A character describes the crowded school dance as a “deafening silence” after everyone suddenly stops talking.
Oxymoron
A man buys a brand-new security system to protect his house from burglars. That same night, the security system malfunctions and accidentally unlocks every door in the house.
Situational irony
The arrangement and structure of words and sentences.
Syntax
A student explains, “A strong argument is a building: evidence forms the foundation, and the thesis holds everything together.”
Analogy
A character sees a scratch on his brand-new car and says, “Well, I suppose it could use a little polishing.”
Understatement
A character says, “My little brother thinks he's Einstein just because he got one A on his math test.”
Allusion
A character says, “My little brother thinks he's Einstein just because he got one A on his math test.”
Allusion
“The boy slowly walked through the dark, empty hallway, listening carefully to every sound around him.” Or “The boy walked. Slowly. Through the hallway.”
Syntax