Figures of Speech Flashcards
A comparison in which one thing is said to be another
Example: My mom is a teddy bear
Metaphor
Giving human qualities to animals or objects
Example: The stars winked at me
Personification
An exaggerated statement
Example: My backpack weighs a ton
Hyperbole
A comparison of two things by using the words “like” or “as”
Example: He is as tall as a giraffe
Simile
An expression that doesn’t exactly mean what the words say
Example: She spilled the beans (she talked too much and told the secret)
Idiom
A humorous play on words which suggests multiple meanings
Examples: “Where do pancakes live? In a flat!”
“I used to be a baker, but I didn’t make enough dough.”
“Seven days without pizza makes one weak.”
Pun
The use of the the same beginning consonant sound in a line or verse
Ex: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers
Alliteration
The repetition of identical or similar vowel sound in a series of words, phrases, and/or syllables
Ex: Try to light the fire
Assonance
A word that imitates the sound it represents
Example: Bang!!
Onomatopoeia
A reference to a famous person, place, or event
Example: He studies all the time and is a regular Einstein
Allusion
Contradictory terms appear side by side. Known as a compressed paradox
Example: Criminal Justice
Oxymoron
The use of words that mean the opposite of what you really think, especially in order to be funny
Example: She’s a great singer who sings like a crow
Irony
When an author mentions or hints at something that will happen later in the story
Ex: Don’t talk to any strangers and watch out for the wolf in the woods
Foreshadowing
When an author refers back to something that already took place in the story
Ex:Little Red Riding Hood thought back to what her mother told her
“Don’t talk to any strangers and watch out for the wolf in the woods”
Flashback
