ACT Review: Key Literary Terms

What is the literary term for the repetition of initial sounds in neighboring words? Example: sweet smell of success, a dime a dozen, bigger and better.

• Alliteration

• Metaphor

• Onomatopoeia

• Hyperbole

What is the literary term for the repetition of vowel sounds, as in “another antelope ate the apple”?

• Assonance

• Alliteration

• Consonance

• Onomatopoeia

What is the literary term for the repetition of consonant sounds, as in “dark deep dread dampened the day”?

• Consonance

• Assonance

• Alliteration

• Onomatopoeia

What is the literary term for a brief reference to a person, event, or place, real or fictitious, or to a work of art?

• Allusion

• Metaphor

• Hyperbole

• Irony

What is the literary term for the comparison of two pairs which have the same relationship? Example: hot is to cold as fire is to ice.

• Analogy

• Metaphor

• Hyperbole

• Alliteration

What is the literary term for the method used by a writer to develop a character, including showing appearance, actions, thoughts, speech, and reactions of others?

• Characterization

• Foreshadowing

• Irony

• Allusion

What is the literary term for the use of hints or clues to suggest what will happen later in literature?

• Foreshadowing

• Irony

• Metaphor

• Flashback

What is the literary term for a comparison of two unlike things using the verb "to be" and not using "like" or "as"? Example: He is a pig. Thou art sunshine.

• Metaphor

• Simile

• Personification

• Hyperbole

What is the literary term for the comparison of two unlike things using like or as? Example: He eats like a pig. Vines like golden prisons.

• Simile

• Metaphor

• Personification

• Alliteration

What is the literary term for a word or words that sound like the action or thing they describe or represent?

• Onomatopoeia

• Metaphor

• Alliteration

• Hyperbole