I am hungry as a horse. You run like a rabbit. He is sneaky as a snake. She is happy as a clam.

The girl was a fish in the water. The clown was a feather floating away.

Hunger Games Divergent Uglies 2012

The flowers danced in the wind. The Earth coughed and choked in all of the pollution. The friendly gates welcomed us.

Stan the strong surfer saved several swimmers on Saturday. Tiny Tommy Thomson takes toy trucks to Timmy’s on Tuesday.

Princess Kitty will kiss Timmy Tippers’ lips The pain may drain Drake, but maybe the weight is fake.

Chug chug chug!! Swish swish swish Yeeeeee Ahhhhhhhh Glippp Gluppp Gluppp

Words that are sounds

A story which has meaning on both the literal and figurative or moral level.

"The girl's love of sweets was her Achilles heel," referencing the warrior in Greek mythology, Achilles, who could only be harmed if something hit his heel because he was dipped in magic water as baby when his mother held him by a heel. Achilles' only weakness is his heel, so an Achilles heel reference means a downfall or weakness, in this example a weakness for sweets.

Indirect or casual reference to another work. The author assumes that the reader is familiar with the movie, book, song, or event he is referring to. Most times the author wants to apply elements the reader knows of the original piece to his own literary work.

Works based on Literary Allusions: Wicked, the novel and musical based on The Wizard of Oz

where things get complicated…

The Four Types of Conflict: Man vs. Man Man vs. Nature Man vs. Society Man vs. Himself

“Should I do my homework or check Twitter? Hmmm…”

There are three different types of literary irony. (The term “ironic” is often misused in everyday language. Read on and violate no longer!)

An event or outcome of events opposite to what was or might naturally have been expected.

When one of the characters is unaware of important information that the audience is made aware of. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet Romeo believes Juliet to be dead when she is merely asleep. This turns into tragic irony when he decides to end his life to be with her.

The speaker or writer of verbal irony says one thing while INTENDING the reader to get a different meaning. When using Sarcasm, the speaker says one thing but his tone implies another meaning.

And this?

“I have a bone to pick with her!” “He woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” “The early bird gets the worm.”

an expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its words.

See if you can determine what these idioms are really saying.

1) He was all ears when his boss called. 2) She was just a chip off the old block. 3) His comments threw a wet blanket on the discussion. 4) They were beat after a hard day’s work. 5) After the manager quit, they were all in the same boat.

The point at which the action in a story or play reaches its emotional peak.

The climax in Romeo and Juliet is when … Romeo, Juliet, and Paris die.

A technique in which an author gives clues about something that will happen later in the story.

To say that it took you hours to walk home when in reality it was only 10 minutes. I'm so hungry, I could eat a horse.

An extreme exaggeration.

“Noticing the bunch of bananas, the hungry gorilla went ape.” I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. It's impossible to put down.

The use of a word in a way that plays on its different meanings.

e.g. “Tita was so sensitive to onions, any time they were being chopped, they say she would just cry and cry; when she was still in my great-grandmother’s belly her sobs were so loud that even Nacha, the cook, who was half-deaf, could hear them easily.” --Like Water for Chocolate

The use of description that helps the reader imagine how something looks, sounds, feels, smells, or tastes.

Cowards die many times before their deaths. --Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar "The swiftest traveler is he that goes afoot." (Henry David Thoreau, Walden)

a statement that is apparently self-contradictory or absurd but really contains a possible truth.

In A Raisin in The Sun, sunlight is a symbol for hope and Mama's plant is a symbol for the family's attempts to grow. A dove is a symbol of peace.

The use of one thing to represent another. Something that stands for something else.

Plastic Silverware Cold hotdog Grotesque beauty

A combination of contradictory terms

Glove is to hand as paint is to wall are to past societies as are to future societies Horses computers

Similarity in some respects between things that are otherwise dissimilar.

After the long Ohio winter, I was so happy to see the first signs of spring that I ran outside as soon as I saw our first flower blooming. I plucked the dewy, white blossom and tucked it into my hair band and went about my day with joy in my heart. Unfortunately, I didn't notice that my big white flower had been host to a dozen or so tiny bugs, that apparently enjoyed a new home in the warmth and security of my hair. I was soon itching and twitching like a scrappy dog. Next time I stop to smell the flowers, I'll make sure I'll do it with my eyes wide open.“

a short little scene or story taken from a personal experience. Anecdotes can be useful for setting the stage for a speech or personal essay. An anecdote often relays a story that can be used as a theme or lesson.