1. Short Story Unit Module 1: “The Banana Tree”
Literary Devices
Short Story Unit Module 1:
“The Banana Tree”

2. Do Now: Copy down these terms. Then define them if you can.
Imagery
Simile
Metaphor
Onomatopoeia
Dialect
Asyndeton
Polysyndeton
Allusion
Hyperbole
personification

3. imagery
Using the five senses or literary devices to create vivid pictures in the reader’s mind.
Any device (like simile or metaphor) that paints a picture in your mind is imagery.
The giant tree was ablaze with the orange, red, and yellow leaves that were beginning to make their decent to the ground.

4. simile A direct comparison between two unlike things using like or as.
My books are as heavy as bricks.

5. metaphor A comparison between two unlike things without like or as.
She is a firecracker.

6. onomatopoeia BOOM! Whoosh.
A sound device; when a word resembles the sound it means.
BOOM! Whoosh.

7. dialect
The expressions, words, and phrases used in a particular region.
Howdy, y’all!

8. asyndeton
Not using conjunctions when you have a list of words or phrases. This makes the sentence more powerful.
My heart, my soul, my life are yours.
"We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punch line." -- delivered by Jack Nicholson (from the movie A Few Good Men)

9. polysyndeton
Overusing conjunctions when you have a list of words or phrases. Used for emphasis.
For homework tonight, I have math and science and social studies and English and Spanish and music!
"It's [football] a way of life, really, to those particular people who are a part of it. It's more than a game, and regardless of what level it's played upon, it still demands those attributes of courage and stamina and coordinated efficiency and goes even beyond that for [it] is a means -- it provides a mental and physical relaxation to everybody that watches it, like yourself." -- Vince Lombardi

10. allusion A text to world, history, or literature connection.
Calling a young couple, Romeo and Juliet
"Iran and ISIS are competing for the crown of militant Islam. Both want to impose a militant Islamic empire first on the region and then on the entire world. They just disagree among themselves who will be the ruler of that empire. In this deadly game of thrones, there’s no place for America or for Israel.- Benjamin Netanyahu, Third Joint Session of Congress Address

11. hyperbole
Exaggeration .
My book bag weighs three tons.
"So first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." -- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address
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12. personification
Giving human qualities to nonliving things or to animals
The tree danced in the wind.