Literary Devices Flashcards

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Alliteration

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Repetition of initial/beginning consonant sounds. Example: "Wild wooly walruses wait and wonder when we'll walk by."

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Assonance

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The repetition of vowel sounds in words or syllables. Example: "Fleet feet sweep near sleeping geese."

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Figurative Language

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A figure of speech that has a meaning other than the literal meaning used to make writing more interesting; opposite of "literal language."

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Hyperbole

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Language of extreme exaggeration, usually humorous as in a "Tall Tale." Example: "The ice cream cone was a mile high."

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Idiom

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A phrase that means something very different from the literal meaning. Example: "Up the creek without a paddle" means being in the middle of a problem or tough situation.

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Literal Language

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Words that mean exactly what they say.

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Metaphor

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Language comparing two unlike things NOT using like or as. Example: "Her skin was silk."

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Onomatopoeia

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The use of words that sound like what they mean, such as "hiss," "buzz," "slam," and "boom." Example: "The thump, boom, bang of my sister hitting tennis balls against our garage door was very irritating."

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Oxymoron

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A phrase with words that contradict each other (words with opposite meanings). Example: Civil war, jumbo shrimp, virtual reality.

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Personification

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Figurative language that gives human qualities to something that is NOT human. Example: "The wind whipped me and shoved me to the ground."