Identifying and Using Allusions

What is an allusion?

• an indirect reference

• the repetition of the same sound in words

• a word whose sound suggests its meaning

• an exaggeration or overstatement

To spot an allusion, a reader must first use....

• the internet.

• a dictionary.

• another book.

• prior knowledge.

True or False: Allusions are fully explained by the author of a text.

• True

• False

An artist may allude to...

• mythology only.

• books and movies only.

• Shakespeare's work only.

• literature, history, and pop culture.

West Side Story is a musical about a young man and woman who fall in love despite being from waring gangs. Which of Shakespeare's plays does it allude to?

• Richard II, which tells the story of King Richard, who killed his brothers and nephews to seize the crown of England.

• King Lear, in which a king gives his land to two evil daughters while disowning his one loyal daughter.

• Romeo and Juliet, in which two teens from enemy families get married and die for their love.

• All's Well that Ends Well, in which a young woman pursues a young man who doesn't love her back.

Using an allusion can improve your writing because it....

• adds diction to the text.

• helps convey urgency or excitement.

• adds another layer of meaning to the text.

• helps keep the plot original.

What are the sources for the allusions in the following lines of Flocabulary's "Allusion" song?

Opened up Pandora's Box, now we're Alice in the rabbit hole,

And alllusions make you dig the plot.

• the Bible

• literature and mythology

• pop culture, literature, and the Bible

• mythology only

Napoleon Bonaparte built a huge empire, but it fell apart after he lost the battle of Waterloo. Knowing that, what does the allusion to Waterloo in these lines of Flocabulary's "Allusion" song mean?

But if you met your Waterloo, don't be a Scrooge,

Just look it up and learn something brand new.

• If you lose a battle, then you lose the war.

• Don't feel defeated if you don't understand an allusion right away.

• Finding allusions is like fighting a war.

• Finding allusions is always easy, unlike a battle.