Literary Terms and Concepts

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Literal Language

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the dictionary definition

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Figurative Language

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figurative language differs from literal language. Writers use this to create fresh and original descriptions.

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Simile

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a comparison between two objects using 'like' or 'as' (example: 'Life is like a box of chocolates')

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Metaphor

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a comparison between two objects (example: 'Life is a bowl of cherries'; the stars in the sky are diamonds)

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Alliteration

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the repetition of sounds at the beginning of words (example: Peter Piper picked a pepper; sitting solemnly on a summer day)

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Onomatopoeia

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words that sound like their meaning (example: 'creek', 'bang', 'thud')

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Hyperbole

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a large exaggeration (example: I am so hungry, I could eat one thousand pizza pies.)

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Personification

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giving an inhuman thing human qualities (example: The wind whispered through the city streets)

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Connotation

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An idea or meaning suggested by or associated with a word or thing (example: Hollywood holds connotations of romance and glittering success.)

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Rhyme Scheme

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the pattern of rhymes in a poem. A rhyme scheme can be described by using a different letter to represent each rhyming sound (example: from Dorothy Parker’s 'The Choice,' words at the end of alternate lines rhyme: He’d had given me rolling lands a, Houses of marble, and billowing farms, b, Pearls, to trickle between my hands, a, Smoldering rubies, to circle my arms. b)