Literary Devices

Question 1

Imagery

Answer 1

Representing or appealing to the 5 senses

Question 2

Dictation

Answer 2

choice of words

Question 3

Alliteration

Answer 3

series of words beginning with the same letter

Question 4

Assonance

Answer 4

repetition of vowel sounds

Eg: “And the gulls scream over the beach”

Question 5

Consonance

Answer 5

repetition of constant sounds

Eg: “the mistress of the Mississippi”

Question 6

Euphony

Answer 6

pleasant flowing sounds

Eg: “Softly as the cloud we go”

Question 7

Cacophony

Answer 7

Harsh unpleasant sounds

Eg:“a grotesque mask of death, with hands like claws about his begging bowl”

Question 8

Onomatopoeia

Answer 8

the suggesting or reproduction of the meaning of a word through
Eg:“hiss, moan, gurgle”

Question 9

Figurative Language

Answer 9

the imaginative use of words to imply more than their literal meaning.

Question 10

Smilie

Answer 10

a stated comparison using “like” or “as”

Eg:“My love is like a red, red rose.”

Question 11

Metaphor

Answer 11

an implied or suggested comparison, not using “like” or “as”

Eg: “The road was a ribbon of moonlight.”

Question 12

Personification

Answer 12

giving an inanimate object human qualities

Eg:“night arrived” “The trees lifted their stark limbs in petition.”

Question 13

Symbol

Answer 13

an object which stands for another
Eg:maple leaf = Canada
colours – red = love, war, passion, death

Question 14

Oxymoron

Answer 14

apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction

Eg: bittersweet, living death, deafening silence

Question 15

Techniques

Answer 15

method of presentation

Question 16

Irony

Answer 16

saying one thing but meaning the opposite

e.g. “You’re a bright boy!” when the tone of voice suggests he’s not.

Question 17

Satire

Answer 17

lending criticism and humor
e.g. “All handsome hunting men
Fire your little gun . . . . . . Oh what fun!”

Question 18

Pun

Answer 18

a play on words based on the similarity of sounds between two words with different meaning
e.g. “Would you like some cheese for your whine (wine)?”

Question 19

Hyperbole

Answer 19

extreme exaggeration (usually clichés)
 e.g. “rolling in money”

Question 20

Cliché

Answer 20

an expression that has been used so often that it has become
meaningless.
e.g. “better late than never,” “last but not least”

Question 21

Rhyme

Answer 21

repetition of similar or identical sounds in the end-stressed syllables of words.
e.g. “Ah, distinctly remember, it was in the bleak
December.”
(middle and end rhyme)

Question 22

Rhythm

Answer 22

the pattern produced by accented and unaccented syllables.

Question 23

Mood

Answer 23

the emotional tone or feeling of the poem - sad, bold, happy, bitter, etc.

Question 24

Form

Answer 24

arrative - tells a story
lyric - tells of the poet’s personal feelings
free verse - no regular rhyme or rhythm.
sonnet - fourteen-line poem (Shakespeare wrote many)

Question 25

Theme

Answer 25

the truth about life in a piece of writing

• the central idea of the poem
• the poet’s message to his readers

Question 26

Audience

Answer 26

Seen/Unseen, Familiar/Unfamiliar, Informed/Uninformed, Formal/Informal, Historical/Modern, Objective/Subjective, Supportive/Unsupportive, Personal/Impersonal, Private/Public
Age: self, peers, adults

Question 27

Purpose

Answer 27

To establish and maintain contact To record - fact, opinion, emotion
To order, inform, instruct
To explain a process
To describe: objects, scenes, feelings
To narrate
To entertain, present an idea, persuade To mislead
To explore, hypothesize To express, create
To celebrate, reflect