2. The Elements of Literature Alex Hollis Chapman High School

3. Talk the Talk  The terms you will learn from this presentation apply to the techniques used by writers to achieve certain effects with their words.

4. Alliteration  The repetition of initial consonant sounds in writing.  An example is the repeated h and s sounds in the following lines: “Mother whose heart hung humble as a button on the splendid shroud of your son.” -Stephen Crane

5. Assonance & Consonance  Assonance- the repetition of a vowel sound within nonrhyming words.  Examples include: “Helter-Skelter” “Sweet Dreams” “High & Mighty”  Consonance- the repetition of consonant sounds within and at the ends of words.  Examples include: “Last but not least” “Stroke of luck”

6. Simile  A comparison of two unlike things using the words like or as. A simile states a comparison directly.  Example: “The little girl fluttered across the back yard like a beautiful butterfly.”

7. Metaphor  A form of figurative language that makes a comparison between two things. Unlike a simile, it does NOT use the words like or as.  Example: “Love is a door we shall open together.” - Carl Sandburg

8. Personification  A figure of speech in which human qualities are attributed to an object, animal, or idea.  Example: “The wind ran her fingers through my hair.”

9. Dialect  The particular variety of a language spoken in a definite place by a distinct group of people.  Following is an example of African- American dialect from Eugenia Collier’s Sweet Potato Pie: “Can’t you git a better shine on them shoes?…Lord, you done messed up that tie!”

10. Internal Rhyme & End Rhyme  Internal Rhyme- rhyme that occurs within a single line of poetry.  Ex: “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary.” - Edgar Allan Poe  End Rhyme- Occurs at the ends of lines of poetry.  Ex: Roses are red, Violets are blue; Sugar is sweet, And so are you.

11. Repetition  A literary technique in which a sound, word, phrase, or line is repeated for emphasis.  Ex: “Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way.”

12. American Memory Collection  Use the information on the previous slides to help you with your Web Quest. You may access the Web Quest at my homepage.my homepage