Literary Terms and Figurative Language

the giving of human qualities to an animal, object, or idea (e.g., The fire licked his wound).

• Alliteration
• Assonance
• Conflict
• Personification

Tags

CCSS.RI.4.10

CCSS.RI.5.10

CCSS.RI.6.4

CCSS.RI.7.4

CCSS.RI.8.4

the use of words that imitate sounds (e.g. Pow).

• Protagonist
• Hyperbole
• Onomatopoeia
• Imagery

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5

CCSS.L.5.5

CCSS.L.6.5

CCSS.L.7.5

CCSS.L.8.5

A comparison of two unlike things using like or as (e.g., He's as fast as a cheetah; My heart is like a stone).

• Mood
• Allusion
• Simile
• Analogy

Tags

CCSS.L.6.6

CCSS.RI.5.4

CCSS.W.5.2D

CCSS.W.6.2D

CCSS.W.7.2D

A direct comparison without using like or as (e.g., He is a cheetah; my heart is a stone)

• Metaphor
• Malapropism
• Mood
• Pun

Tags

CCSS.L.6.6

CCSS.L.7.6

CCSS.RI.5.4

CCSS.W.5.2D

CCSS.W.6.2D

exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally. (e.g., he would run away from his own shadow.)

• Hyperbole
• Assonance
• Analogy
• Simile

Tags

CCSS.L.6.6

CCSS.RI.5.4

CCSS.W.5.2D

CCSS.W.6.2D

CCSS.W.7.2D

Repetition of initial consonant sounds (e.g., peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers)

• Resolution
• Climax
• Allusion
• Alliteration

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5

CCSS.L.5.5

CCSS.L.6.5

CCSS.RL.2.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

Repetition of similar vowel sounds. (e.g. After awhile, crocodile)

• Mood
• Synecdoche
• Pun
• Assonance

Tags

CCSS.L.1.5A

CCSS.L.1.5B

CCSS.L.K.5A

A reference to another work of literature, person, or event. (Fable of Sigemund and Fitela told in the novel Beowulf.)

• Allusion
• Analogy
• Metaphor
• Pun

Tags

CCSS.L.7.5A

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

A joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings.

• Idiom
• Setting
• Mood
• Pun

Tags

CCSS.L.8.5A

The expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.

• Irony
• Imagery
• Plot
• Allusion

Tags

CCSS.L.7.5A

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.4