Literary Terms

A comparison of two things using “like” or “as”

Kenny is as fast as a cheetah on the soccer field. 

He made that poor piano moan with melody.

Repetition of the same consonant sounds at the beginning of words

Saying one thing but meaning another OR when something occurs that is the opposite of expected

A direct comparison of two unlike things without using “like” or “as”

Grendel moved up from his swampland, sliding silently toward the group of warriors.

When she is angry, Dakota is a tornado destroying everything in her path.

Morning = Birth/New Beginnings AND Night=Death/Old Age/The End

Her smile is like the sun.

Ian is a real Romeo with the ladies. 

It is raining so hard! I hope it doesn’t rain for forty days and forty nights.

The author’s attitude toward the subject, the characters, or the audience.

Our Chemistry teacher is 900 years old!

Boom, Click, Clack, Bam! 

Kathy’s dog was run over by an animal rescue van.

The bright stars danced excitedly in the night sky. 

A figure of speech where an object, person, or situation represents something else.

The message about human life that is revealed in a literary work, movie, or song.