Elements of Style A look at literary devices

Figures of Speech  Expressions that are not literally true, but suggest similarities between unrelated things

Examples  He is tied up in traffic.  That check you wrote bounced!  I sat at the foot of the bed.

Simile  Compares two unlike things using the words “like” or “as”

Examples of Simile  Her hands were like ice.  Life is like a box of chocolates. More examples

Metaphors  Compares two unlike things directly without using a word of comparison, such as “like” or “as”

Examples of Metaphor  His heart is made of stone.  Lewis is a rotten skunk. More examples

Personification  Describes something nonhuman as if it had human qualities

Examples of Personification  A falling leaf danced in the breeze.  The sun smiled on our cookout. More Examples

Alliteration  Repetition of consonant sounds, usually at the beginning of words  Often used in tongue twisters  Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.  See Sally sell seashells by the seashore.  More examples More examples

Idiom  Expressions that are particular to a language or group.  An expression that cannot be understood from the meaning of its separate words, but must be learned as a whole.

Examples of Idiom  That book blew me away!  Literal: a gust of wind came up from the book and lifted me into the air.  Figuratively: I liked the book a lot.  It’s raining cats and dogs!  Literal: Cats and dogs are falling from the sky  Figuratively: It’s raining very hard.

Hyperbole  An exaggeration--not to be taken seriously.  usually used in humorous poems or light- hearted prose.  it can be used to make fun of someone or something.

Examples of Hyperbole  I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse!  I’m hungry.  I’m doing a million things right now.  I’m busy.  Your sister's so skinny, she has to run around in the shower to get wet.  She is thin.

The End!