1. Figurative Language
Any language that is not intended to be interpreted in a strict literal sense.

2. Simile
A comparison of two very different things using the words, like or as.
e.g. The twins are as alike as two peas.
The girl’s hair is as soft as silk.

3. Metaphor
A comparison of two very unlike things. The metaphor does not use like or as. It just makes a direct comparison.
e.g.
My sister is an angel.
The road was a ribbon of moonlight.

4. Alliteration
The repetition of a sound in a group of words. The repetitious sounds add meaning to the line.
E.g.
The snake slithered slowly along the sandy shore.
The kangaroo caught the colourful kite.

5. Personification
A figure of speech in which something non human is given human qualities.
e.g.
The oleander trees nodded in unison.
The chair groaned when the sumo wrestler sat in it.

6. Onomatopoeia
The use of a word whose sounds imitates or suggests its meaning.
e.g.
Buzz, hiss, bang, splash

7. Hyperbole The use of gross exaggeration to prove a point. e.g.
I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse.
This suitcase weighs a ton.

8. Foreshadow
With this literary device the writer provides subtle hints about what is going to happen later.
Example
In Of Mice and Men the death of the puppy foreshadows the death of Curley’s wife.

9. Irony
A contrast between what is stated and what is really meant, or between what is expected to happen and what actually happens.
Two kinds of irony are verbal irony and dramatic irony.

10. Verbal Irony – occurs when a writer or speaker says one thing but means something entirely different
Dramatic Irony – occurs when the reader or audience perceives something that a character does not know, e.g. the audience knows Juliet is not dead in Romeo and Juliet but Romeo does not.

11. Symbolism Something that represents something else beyond itself E.g.
For the children, summer meant paradise.
The rose he gave her was a sign of his love.

12. Oxymoron The bringing together of two contradictory terms. E.g.
“Oh, loving hate!” she cried.
She ordered jumbo shrimp for lunch.

13. Assonance
The repetition of vowel sounds in stressed syllables containing dissimilar consonant sounds.
E.g. Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp

14. Consonance
The repetition of consonant sounds in stressed syllables containing dissimilar vowel sounds
E.g. Hot, heat

15. Iambic Pentameter A line of verse that contain five iambs
(an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable)
E.g. For thou/ art with/ me here/ u/pon the banks

16. Snow Day The snow fell like a fluffy blanket.
It lulled the dark earth to sleep.
This warm blanket enveloped them
Who hid from the hideous heat.

17. Blank Verse
Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter lines.

18. Quatrain
Four lines of verse that express a complete thought and sometimes rhyme.

19. Tone
The reflection of a writer’s attitude or mood, and manner of writing
e,.g. Tone can be humorous, sad, serious, happy, reflective, etc.

20. Rhyme Scheme A pattern of rhymes in a poem.
E.g. It is not only the rose,
It is not only the bird.
Not only where the rainbow glows
Nor in the song of woman heard.

21. Rhyme Scheme A pattern of rhymes in a poem.
E.g. Twinkle, twinkle little star A
How I wonder what you are A
Up above the world so high B
Like a diamond in the sky B

22. Stanza A group of lines forming a unit in a poem.
E.g The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

23. Couplet
Two lines of verse with similar end rhyme that usually express a complete thought.
E.g.
As graceful as morning flower
Comes the rain a gentle shower
It fills the quench of every thirst
With nature’s bloom ready to burst