Literary Techniques

Question 1

Define Literary Techniques.

Answer 1

Literary techniques refer to any specific, deliberate constructions or choices of language which an author uses to convey meaning in a particular way.

Question 2

Alliteration

Answer 2

The repetition of consonant sounds within close proximity, usually in consecutive words within the same sentence or line.

Question 3

Anthropomorphism

Answer 3

Where animals or inanimate objects are portrayed in a story as people, such as by walking, talking, or being given arms, legs, facial features, human locomotion or other anthropoid form. (This technique is often incorrectly called personification.)

Question 4

Hyperbole

Answer 4

A description which exaggerates, usually employing extremes and/or superlatives to convey a positive or negative attribute; “hype.”

Question 5

Metaphor

Answer 5

A direct relationship where one thing or idea substitutes for another.

Question 6

Oxymoron

Answer 6

A contradiction in terms.

Question 7

Personification

Answer 7

Personification is giving human traits (qualities, feelings, action, or characteristics) to non-living objects (things, colors, qualities, or ideas).

Question 8

Simile

Answer 8

An indirect relationship where one thing or idea is described as being similar to another. Similes usually contain the words “like” or “as,” but not always.

Question 9

Creative license

Answer 9

Exaggeration or alteration of objective facts or reality, for the purpose of enhancing meaning in a fictional context.

Question 10

Onomatopoeia

Answer 10

Where sounds are spelled out as words; or, when words describing sounds actually sound like the sounds they describe.