Literary Devices

Ohmigosh, it took forever to get there!

• Onomatopoeia

• Hyperbole

• Alliteration

• Metaphor

Answer explanation

A hyperbole is an exaggerated statement not meant to be taken literally.

Fee fie foe fum!

• Personification

• Simile

• Oxymoron

• Alliteration

Answer explanation

Alliteration is the repetition of the same first sound.

It was a dark and stormy night.

• Foreshadowing

• Personification

• Allegory

• Metaphor

Answer explanation

Foreshadowing is often used early on in a story (or chapter or scene) to allude to imminent scenarios.

Life is a highway.

• Alliteration

• Hyperbole

• Metaphor

• Simile

Answer explanation

A metaphor is a figure of speech that describes an object or action in a way that isn’t literally true, but helps explain an idea or make a comparison.

The leaf hopped and danced in the breeze.

• Personification

• Allegory

• Symbolism

• Onomodapeia

Answer explanation

Personification is the representation of a thing or abstraction as a person.

Beth is a real Einstein.

• Personification

• Foreshadowing

• Allusion

• Imagery

Answer explanation

An allusion is a literary device that references a person, place, thing, or event in the real world.

It's a bouncing baby boy!

• Personification

• Alliteration

• Metaphor

• Oxymoron

Answer explanation

Alliteration is the repetition of the same first sound.

The sweet aroma of the baking cookies drifted through the house and into the noses of the boys, who swiftly dropped their game controllers and raced each other down the stairs to the warm and brightly-lit kitchen.

• Metaphor

• Hyperbole

• Allusion

• Imagery

Answer explanation

Imagery involves sensory details that enable the reader to visualize what's taking place. The details should involve sight, touch, smell, hearing, or taste.

It was a tragedy that he made himself sick by worrying so much about his health.

• Irony

• Alliteration

• Imagery

• Oxymoron

Answer explanation

Irony occurs in literature AND in life whenever a person says something or does something that departs from what they (or we) expect them to say or do.

That's awfully good!

• Allusion

• Oxymoron

• Symbolism

• Onomatopoeia

Answer explanation

An oxymoron is a phrase that combines two words that seem to be the opposite of each other.