Download Literary Terms Cheat Sheet and more Exams Literature in PDF only on Docsity! Literary Terms Cheat Sheet ! Level of Difficulty Subject Term Definition Example Essential Sophisticated! Simile& A!comparison!of!one!thing!to!another,! stating!that!one!thing!is!like!another! thing.! ‘our!hands…!folded,!one! over!the!other,!like!a!pair! of!wings!settling!after! flight’! Metaphor& A!comparison!of!one!thing!to!another,! stating!that!one!thing!is!another!thing! which!it!can’t!be.! ‘The!boy!is!Ignorance.! The!girl!is!Want.’! Extended& Metaphor& A!comparison!between!two!unlike!things! that!continues!throughout!a!series!of! sentences!in!a!paragraph!or!lines!in!a! poem.! ‘my!thoughts!do!twine! and!bud!about!thee…!oh! my!palm!tree…’! Personification& When!an!object!or!animal!is!made!to! seem!like!it's!doing!something!human.! ‘I!have!no!spur…!but!only! vaulting!ambition,!which! o'er!leaps!itself’! Repetition& Repeating!a!word!or!phrase!more!than! once!to!emphasise!an!idea.! ‘As!good!a!friend,!as! good!a!master,!and!as! good!a!man,!as!the!good! old!city!knew.’! Pathetic&Fallacy& Using!weather!features!to!reflect!or!set! the!mood!of!a!text.! ‘The!rain!set!early!in!toB night,!the!sullen!wind! was!soon!awake…’! Alliteration& The!repetition!of!the!same!letter,! especially!at!the!beginning!of!words.! ‘No!warmth!could!warm,! no!wintry!weather!chill! him.!No!wind!that!blew...’! Assonance& The!repetition!of!similar!vowel!sounds.! ‘Too!young!maybe—but! more’s!to!do!at!harvestB time!than!bide!and!woo.! Consonance& The!repetition!of!similar!consonant! sounds.! ‘Old!Marley!was!as!dead! as!a!doorBnail.’! Sibilance& The!repetition!of!‘s’!sounds.! ‘Look!like!th’!innocent! flower!but!be!the!serpent! under’t.’! Hyperbole& Deliberate!exaggeration!to!emphasise! an!idea!or!point.! ‘Will!all!great!Neptune's! ocean!wash!this!blood! Clean!from!my!hand?!No’! Allusion& A!reference!to!another!event,!person,! place!or!work!of!literature!which!is! usually!implied,!providing!another!layer! of!meaning.! ‘that!blessed!Star!which! led!the!Wise!Men!to!a! poor!abode.’! Anaphora& Repetition!of!the!same!word!or!group!of! words!at!the!beginning!of!successive! clauses,!sentences,!or!lines.! ‘In!secret!we!met—In! silence!I!grieve…! Anadiplosis& The!repetition!of!the!last!word!of!one! clause!or!sentence!at!the!beginning!of! the!next!clause!or!sentence.! ‘Fair!is!foul!and!foul!is! fair.’! Helping to make your search for something to say a bit more fruitful!
