Literary Elements
Descriptive language that appeals to the senses.
Imagery
A joke that uses wordplay or double meanings.
Pun
What is a hyperbole?
An extreme exaggeration
A comparison using like or as. (Ex. Santa's belly jiggled like a bowl full of jelly. Her eyes are as blue as the sea.)
Simile
This week has been a rollercoaster of emotions.
This computer is a dinosaur.
Metaphor
When something stands for or represents something else
Symbolism
A common phrase that doesn’t mean exactly what it says (like raining cats and dogs).
Idiom
What is juxtaposition?
Placing two things side by side to show contrast.
A comparison of two things that are not necessarily alike. (Ex. Her eyes are the sea. The computer is a dinosaur.)
Metaphor
Happy as a clam.
She's sleeping like a baby.
Simile
When the opposite of what is expected happens.
Irony
A reference to something well-known (like history, the Bible, or pop culture).
Allusion
What is foreshadowing?
Hints to things that might happen later in the story.
Words with the same beginning sound used together.
(ex. The red rocket raced with a roar.)
Alliteration
Betsy baked brownies for her son Billy.
Johnny jogged 10 miles in January.
Alliteration
The author’s attitude toward the subject.
Tone
An overused expression that has lost its originality.
Cliché
What is flashback?
A scene that goes back in time to show past events.
The idea of giving humanlike characteristics to an inanimate object or an idea. (ex. The trees chattered with excitement on the breezy day.)
Personification
Boom, Bang, Whack
Ding, Dong
Tick, Tock
Onomatopoeia
The feeling or atmosphere a reader gets from a text.
Mood
A speech where a character talks to themselves to reveal thoughts.
Soliloquy
What is an oxymoron?
Two opposite words put together (like jumbo shrimp).
When words sound very close to the sound they are meant to represent. (ex. The basketball swooshed through the hoop. The water gurgled as it went down the drain.)
Onomatopoeia
The bees played hide and seek with the flowers as they hunted for nectar.
The lightning danced across the sky.
Personification