Literary Elements

I am so hungry, I could eat a whole elephant!

• hyperbole

• personification

• alliteration

• metaphor

The alarm clocked mocked me as it blared in my ear.

• hyperbole

• personification

• alliteration

• metaphor

She was like a breath of fresh air.

• hyperbole

• personification

• simile

• metaphor

He was a basket case before the big game.

• idiom

• simile

• hypebole

• metaphor

Bam! The books hit the ground.

• hyperbole

• simile

• personification

• onomatopoeia

This genre often includes the appearance of gods and goddesses, sometime in disguised form.

• myth

• fable

• nonfiction

• fantasy

The alien ship hovered above the landing pad. The ground crew waited expectantly, hoping the ship would touch down without incident. Sure, they had a lot of shuttle traffic at the spaceport every day, but this would be the first time a ship from another planet would touch down.

• realistic fiction
• science fiction
• historical fiction
• fantasy

Autobiographies are written about someone else's life.

• True

• False

The children lined up outside the school house waiting for their teacher, Ms. Maple, to arrive. They ranged in age from seven to seventeen, and while there were only ten of them, they were the largest student-body ever to attend the Darlington School. Erick hoped he’d be able to stay for the entire term this year. Last year, he’d had to leave before the end to help his father on the farm. But, this year, his father had hired someone to help. Erick hoped he’d finish this year, and by 1900, be in Chicago attending medical school. 

• realistic fiction
• science fiction
• historical fiction
• fantasy

Sonya hobbled down the school hallway to look out the window at the field hockey field. All of her friends were out there, and she was stuck inside. She tapped absently on her cast. The doctor said it would be at least six weeks before the cast came off, and another two or three after that before she could play sports again. She sighed. “I’m going to miss the whole season.”

• realistic fiction
• science fiction
• historical fiction
• fantasy