Figurative Language Flashcards
Knowing the different types of literary devices and their definitions
What is a metaphor?
The comparison of two things without using “like” or “as”
Example: The river was a winding snake in the forest.
What is a simile?
Using “like” or “as” to compare two things
Example: The necklace around my neck swung like a pendulum on a clock.
What is personification?
Giving human qualities to non-human things or inanimate objects
Example: The thunder boomed angrily in the night sky
The reference to thunder booming “angrily’’ personifies thunder by giving it emotion
What is a hyperbole?
A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect.
Examples: This book weighs a ton. or I could sleep for a year.
What is an idiom?
When you make an expression that doesn’t actually mean what you literally said
What is a metonymy?
Using a word or a phrase to represent something that’s closely related to it
What is symbolism?
Using objects, colours, or other elements to represent deeper meanings
What is alliteration?
The repetition of the same letter or sound at the beginning of multiple words in a sentence.
What is an anaphora?
The repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of multiple sentences, usually done in poems.
What is an onomatopoeia?
Using a word that sounds exactly like what it means.
Examples: pow, boom, crash, etc.
What is a flashback?
Something that interrupts a story and goes back to a past event; usually done to show how something or someone was before the story took place.
What is foreshadowing?
When future events in a story, or sometimes the outcome, are suggested or hinted to by the author before they actually happen.
What is imagery?
An author’s use of descriptive and figurative language to create a picture in the reader’s mind.
What is a rhyme?
The repetition of the same or similar sounds in words; many times writers and poets repeat vowel sounds and ending sounds that appear close together.
