Climax

Climax
Climax is the term used to refer to the part of story or play where the tension or action reaches its highest part. Sometimes, the climax is a "crisis" point in the plot. Sometimes, it is just where things "come to a head" and something happens or the main character must make a decision that will lead to one outcome or another.


Examples of Climax:
Examples of Climax in a Plot

1. A little girl has been looking for her lost dog. She hears a bark coming from around the corner, and she looks around to see . . .

2. Kevin has worked very hard to try out for the soccer team at school. The coach has posted a list of this year's team members on his office door. Kevin walks forward to look at the list . . . .

3. Mary's parents have been discussing whether or not to move to another state. They call Mary and her sister down to talk with them about their decision . . .

4. Lois has performed in the state gymnastics finals. She waits anxiously to hear the names of the winners. The announcer says, "And first place goes to . . ."

5. The school's football team is down by three points in the fourth quarter. They are in field goal range. The kicker kicks, the ball is up, and the kick is . . . (good or bad?).

Examples of Climax in Famous Literary Plots

1. The deaths of Romeo (who kills himself because he thinks Juliet is dead) and Juliet (who kills herself when she awakes and sees Romeo dead). Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare

2. Peeta and Katniss agree to eat the poisonous berries instead of attempt to kill each other (and the outcome is that they are both declared winners). The Hunger Games

3. Wilbur is declared the winner at the county fair, and his life is saved (the farmer will not butcher him). Charlotte's Web

4. When Gaston and the townspeople come to attack the beast, and Belle admits her love for the beast. Beauty and the Beast, Disney

5. In "The Three Little Pigs," suspense builds up until the confrontation between the third pig and the wolf. This confrontation is the climax.

Pun

Pun
A pun is a joke that plays on the multiple meanings of a word, or on two words that sound the same. Authors make use of pun to add humor, or sometimes, the author exploits the double meaning of words in order to add ambiguity or make a statement.

Examples of Pun:
1. You were right, so I left.

2. Geometry is so pointless.

3. It's hard to beat scrambled eggs for breakfast!

Examples of Puns in Literature

1. "Not I, believe me. You have dancing shoes With nimble soles; I have a soul of lead So stakes me to the ground I cannot move." Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare (Romeo on why he won't dance.)

2. "Tomorrow, you shall find me a grave man." Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare (Mercutio as he is dying.)

3. "I'll re you, and fa you. Do you note me?" Romeo and Juliet, Shakespare (Peter to musician)

4. "Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight". "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night," Dylan Thomas

5. "Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana." Groucho Marx

Parallelism

Parallelism
Parallelism is the term used to refer to the repetition of similar grammatical constructions in a sentence or over successive lines of prose or poetry. Parallelism helps to create coherence by adding rhythm and flow to sentences and lines of text.

Examples of Parallelism:
1. On vacation, our family went fishing, went swimming, and went horse-back riding.

2. I am woman; I am mother; I am fierce.

3. In class, at work, and on the field, Martin strives for excellence.

4. Easy come, easy go.

5. The phone was ringing, the dishes were washing, and the dinner was burning.

Examples of Parallelism in Literature

1. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness . . ." A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens

2. "I'll give my jewels for a set of beads, My gorgeous palace for a hermitage, My gay apparel for an almsman's gown, My figured goblets for a dish of wood . . . ." Richard II, Shakespeare

3. "O well for the fisherman's boy, That he shouts with his sister at play! O well for the sailor lad, That he sings in his boat on the bay!" "Break, Break," Tennyson

Oxymoron

Oxymoron
An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which words or phrases that appear to express opposite thoughts are used in conjunction and describe a situation where both words or phrases are aptly applied.

Examples of Oxymoron:
1. wakeful sleep

2. patient zeal

3. quiet fury

4. deafening silence

5. dark day

Literary Examples of Oxymora

1. "The last shall be first and the first shall be last." The Bible

2. "Parting is such sweet sorrow." Romeo and Juliet

3. "Beautiful tyrant! Fiend angelical! Dove-feather'd raven! Wolvish-ravening lamb!"Romeo and Juliet

4. "We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!" "The World is Too Much With Us," William Wordsworth

5. "All changed, changed suddenly / A terrible beauty is born." "Easter 1916," William Butler Yeats

Jargon

Jargon
Jargon is the term for specialized or technical language that is only understood by those who are members of a group or who perform a specific trade. For example, the legal profession has many terms that are considered jargon, or terms that only lawyers and judges use frequently.

Writers sometimes use jargon to appeal to a specific group, or to embed a hidden meaning behind their writing that only certain groups would understand. Jargon is also used as a method of characterization. When characters use jargon it tells us something about that character and his/her interests and profession.

Examples of Jargon:
1. I need a script in order to pick up the medicine. (medical jargon for "prescription")

2. I need a nurse to room 12 stat. (medical jargon for "in a hurry")

3. Your objection is overruled. (legal jargon)

4. We need to take data points to determine if there has been a response to the intervention. (educational jargon)

5. The suspect is headed west on Route 10. All available units, respond. (police jargon)

Examples of Jargon in Literature

From Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried On an afternoon in 1969 the platoon took sniper fire . . . It only lasted a minute or two and nobody was hurt, but even so Lieutenant Jimmy Cross got on the radio and ordered an air strike.

From Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird All the spectators were as relaxed as Judge Taylor, except Jem. His mouth was twisted into a purposeful half-grin, and his eyes happy about, and he said something bout corroborating evidence, which made me sure he was showing off.

From Shakespeare's Hamlet

Why, may not that be the skull of a lawyer? Where be his quiddities now, his quillities, his cases, his tenures, and his tricks? Why does he suffer this mad knave now to knock him about the sconce with a dirty shovel, and will not tell him of his action of battery? Hum! This fellow might be in's time a great buyer of land, with his statutes, his recognizances, his fines, his double vouchers, his recoveries: is this the fine of his fines, and the recovery of his recoveries, to have his fine pate full of fine dirt? Will his vouchers vouch him no more of his purchases, and double ones too, than the length and breadth of a pair of indentures? The very conveyances of his lands will scarcely lie in this box; and must the inheritor himself have no more, ha?

Imagery

Imagery
Imagery is the literary term used for language and description that appeals to our five senses. When a writer attempts to describe something so that it appeals to our sense of smell, sight, taste, touch, or hearing; he/she has used imagery. Often, imagery is built on other literary devices, such as simile or metaphor, as the author uses comparisons to appeal to our senses.

Examples of Imagery:
1. I could hear the popping and crackling as mom dropped the bacon into the frying pan, and soon the salty, greasy smell wafted toward me.

2. Glittering white, the blanket of snow covered everything in sight.

3. The golden yellow sunlight filtered down through the pale new leaves on the oak trees, coming to rest on Jessica's brown toes that were splayed in the red Georgia mud.

Examples of Imagery in Literature

1. The poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth uses imagery throughout:

A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

2. Charlotte's Web is full of imagery, such as this passage describing the fair: "In the hard-packed dirt of the midway, after the glaring lights are out and the people have gone to bed, you will find a veritable treasure of popcorn fragments, frozen custard dribblings, candied apples abandoned by tired children, sugar fluff crystals, salted almonds, popsicles, partially gnawed ice cream cones and wooden sticks of lollipops."

3. Romeo's description of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet is full of imagery:

Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven, Having some business, do entreat her eyes To twinkle in their spheres till they return. What if her eyes were there, they in her head? The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars,

As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven Would through the airy region stream so bright That birds would sing and think it were not night.-- See how she leans her cheek upon her hand!

Idiom

Idiom
An idiom is a phrase that has a different meaning that that of the words that make it up. The meaning of an idiom cannot be determined by looking up the meanings of the separate words. Rather, when these words are put together in a specific way, the meaning is something new and separate.

Many languages have idiomatic expressions that must be learned. Native speakers of a language pick up the meaning of these phrases as they experience the language. Those who are trying to learn a language must memorize the meanings of idioms

Examples of Idiom:
Examples of Idioms in English

1. It'sraining cats and dogs. (hard rain)

2. This is a piece of cake. (very easy)

3. Break a leg when you go on stage. (do a good job in the performance

4. You just hit the nail on the head. (said something accurate)

5. Don't let the cat out of the bag. (tell a secret)

Examples of Idioms Used in Literature

William Shakespeare invented many idiomatic expressions:

Sea-change-significant transformation

Full fathom five thy father lies;

Of his bones are coral made;

Those are pearls that were his eyes:

Nothing of him that doth fade

But doth suffer a sea-change

Into something rich and strange.

Dead as a doornail-dead "Look on me well: I have eat no meat these five days; yet, come thou and thy five men, and if I do not leave you all as dead as a doornail, I pray God I may never eat grass more." Henry VI

Be all and end all-the last word; the thing that ends a search for something better

"If it were done, when 'tis done, then 'twere well It were done quickly. If th' assassination Could trammel up the consequence, and catch With his surcease, success: that but this blow Might be the be-all and the end-all".Macbeth

Greek to me-couldn't be understood; unintelligible "Nay, an I tell you that, Ill ne'er look you i' the face again: but those that understood him smiled at one another and shook their heads; but, for mine own part, it was Greek to me." Julius Caesar

Epithet

Epithet
Epithet is the literary term for the application of a word or phrase to someone that describes that person's attributes or qualities. Often, this word or phrase, used to describe the person, becomes synonymous with the person and can be used as part of his/her name or in place of his/her name.

Examples of Epithet:
Catherine the Great

Richard the Lion-Heart

The Great Emancipator (Abraham Lincoln)

The Piano Man(Billy Joel)

Examples of Epithets in Literature:

1. Epithets were often used in Greek Mythology to describe the gods or heroes:

a. Grey-eyed Athena

b. White-armed Hera

c. Swift-footed Achilles

2. Shakespeare also made use of epithets in his plays:

a. Star-crossed lovers-describes Romeo and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet

b. "Turn, hell-hound, turn."-Macduff to Macbeth in Macbeth

c. Fair Ophelia in Hamlet

Chiasmus

Chiasmus
Chiasmus is the term for a rhetorical device in which a sentence or phrase is followed by a sentence or phrase that reverses the structure and order of the first one.

In chiasmus, the words do not have to be repeated-the second sentence does not just reverse the words of the first sentence. Different words can be used. The key is that the sentence is grammatically the same, just reversed.

Writers and speakers use chiasmus for the effect. Sometimes, chiasmus is implied-the reversal of reality is present in the words that are spoken or written.

Examples of Chiasmus:
1. She went to church, but to the bar went he.

2. The day was dawning, but setting was his life.

3. You can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl.

4. Her life was full of children, and her children full of life.

Examples of Chiasmus from Literature and Rhetoric:

1. "Suit the action to the word, the word to the action." Shakespeare's Hamlet

2. "For 'tis a question left us yet to prove, whether love lead to fortune, or else fortune love." Shakespeare's Hamlet

3. "Foul is fair and fair is foul." Shakespeare's MacBeth

4. "Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate." John F. Kennedy Inaugural Address

5. "Many who are first shall be last, and the last shall be first." The Bible

6. "A hard man is good to find." Mae West (reversal of the popular saying, "A good man is hard to find."

Symbolism

Symbolism
Symbolism is the term used when we use an object to represent something else. Often, we use tangible symbols-actual objects-to represent ideas or qualities that are not tangible. These ideas and qualities are typically abstract nouns (remember, that an abstract noun is an idea or concept that cannot be seen or touched).

Examples of Symbolism:
1. Hearts-love

2. Eagle-freedom

3. White-peace; surrender

4. Dove-peace

5. Red-love (in some cultures, red means other things)

6. Green-envy

7. Snake-evil

8. Fire-knowledge; passion

Examples of Symbolism in Literature

1. "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but . . . sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." From Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird (The mockingbird is a symbol for an innocent person who is harmed-like Tom is harmed in the book.)

2. In The Hunger Games, Katniss covers Rue's body with flowers: "I want to do something, right here, right now, to shame them, to make them accountable, to show the Capitol that whatever they do or force us to do that there is a part of every tribute they can't own. That Rue was more than a piece in their Games. And so am I." (The flowers are a symbol of her humanity; a tribute to her as a person.)

Personification

Personification
Personification is the literary term for giving human characteristics to something that is not human.

When an author or speaker personifies something, he or she describes the thing as acting as a living, thinking, feeling human being might act.

Examples of Personification:
1. The grease jumped out of the pan.

2. The curtains danced in the breeze.

3. The tree branch scratched and clawed at my windowsill, trying to break into the house.

4. During the night, the blanket crept up until it was snuggled under my chin and my feet were bare.

5. The mother duck scolded her young, encouraging them to walk in a line.

6. The diving board taunted me, daring me to approach.

Examples of Personification in Literature

"Quoth the raven, "Nevermore." . . . But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke onlyThat one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour." Edgar Allan Poe, "The Raven"

"The grey-eyed morn smiles on the frowning night." Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

All of the animals in Charlotte's Web have been given human characteristics.

"We have to stand for a few minutes in the doorway of the train while the cameras gobble up our images, then we're allowed inside and the doors close mercifully behind us." The Hunger Games

Hyperbole

Hyperbole
Hyperbole is the literary term used for exaggeration. When authors use hyperbole, they do not mean for their statements to be taken literally-they are exaggerating the facts for effect.

Examples of Hyperbole:
1. My father drives 1,000 miles per hour!

2. I ate a ton of food for dinner.

3. Mom, if I don't get some dinner soon, I will starve to death!

4. I don't think a herd of elephants would be as noisy as this class is today!

5. It seems to have been raining for 40 days and 40 nights.

6. The mayor's speech was never-ending.

7. I like that outfit, but it would cost me an arm and a leg.

Examples of Hyperbole in Literature

Wordsworth describes a field of daffodils, using hyperbole: "Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:"

Wordsworth, "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud"

"What hands are here? ha! they pluck out mine eyes. Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? No, this hand will rather. The multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red."

Shakespeare, MacBeth

Abstract Nouns

Abstract Nouns
Remember that a noun is the word for a person, place, or thing.

There is also another type of noun-an idea. Abstract nouns are nouns that are not concrete things. You can't hold them or touch them, but they are "ideas". Abstract nouns are words for ideas, feelings, or experiences.

Examples of Abstract Nouns:
Love-Love is a wonderful thing!

Peace-Let there be peace on Earth.

Fear-I was full of fear.

Freedom-Freedom is important to people in the United States.

Dream-I had a dream last night.

Anger-His anger caused him to yell.

Joy-Her face was full of joy.

Misery-I could feel the misery in his frown.

Friendship-Our friendship has lasted for many years.

Pride-Do you feel the pride?

Famous Quotations with Abstract Nouns

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed." Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Love is patient; Love is kind." 1 Corinthians; The Bible

"There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty that makes human nature rise above itself, in acts of bravery and heroism." Alexander Hamilton

Metaphor

Metaphor
A metaphor is a figurative device in which one thing is compared to another unlike thing.

A metaphor directly compares the two things-saying that one thing is the other. This makes it different from a simile because a simile says that it is like the other.

Examples of Metaphor:
1. That child is a bear when he is sleepy.

2. The dancer was a graceful eagle taking flight.

3. This pie is heaven!

4. You are my sunshine!

5. The book was an addiction-I couldn't put it down.

Examples of Metaphors in Literature

1. "My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss". Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

2. "But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet, the sun!" Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet.

3. "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate." Shakespeare, Sonnet 18

4. There are several metaphorical comparisons in The Hunger Games series: Katniss is called the mockingjay; she is also girl on fire.

Similes

Similes
A simile is a figurative device in which two unlike things are compared by using the word "like" or "as". In a simile one thing is not said to be the other-only like it.

A simile is different from a metaphor. A metaphor compares two things by saying that one thing is the other.

Examples of Similes:
1. He runs like a horse.

2. He eats like a pig.

3. Her dancing was a smooth as a flowing river.

4. She was as cool as a cucumber under pressure.

5. I turned as white as a ghost when you jumped out at me.

6. That little girl is as sweet as sugar.

7. This math problem is as easy as pie.

8. The child chattered like a magpie.

9. The baby was as busy as a bee.

10. Swinging on those bars, you look like a monkey.

Examples of Similes in Literature

1. From Shakespeare'sRomeo and Juliet: "Her beauty hangs upon the cheek of night,Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear."

2. In William Wordsworth's "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud": "I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high o'er vales and hills."

3. From Emily Dickenson: "There is no frigate like a book / to take us lands away. / Nor any coursers like a page / of prancing poetry."

4. From Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven": "Suddenly there came a tapping / as of someone gently rapping."

Palindrome

Palindromes
A palindrome is a word that is spelled the same way forwards and backwards. Palindromes can also be formed from phrases or sentences that read the same way forward as backward.

Examples of Palindromes:
1. Hannah-name is spelled the same way forward and backwards

2. Bob-name is spelled the same way forward and backwards

3. Madam-word is spelled the same way forward and backwards

4. Nurses run-phrase is spelled the same way forward and backwards

5. Madam, I'm Adam-phrase is spelled the same way forward and backwards

6. A man, a plan, a canal-Panama!-sentence spelled the same forward and backwards

Examples of Palindromes in Music

Weird Al Yankovic wrote an entire song in which each line is a palindrome. Here are some lines from the song:

Rise to vote, sir.

Never odd or even.

Race fast, safe car.

No lemons, no melon.

We panic in a pew.

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia is the figurative term for words that attempt to represent a sound. These words are used in writing and literature for effect. They are the attempt of writers to put sounds into words.

Examples of Onomatopoeia:
Buzz-The bee buzzed in my ear.

Boom-The boom of the fireworks scared the baby.

Meow-The cat meowed for some milk.

Bark-Bark! Bark! The dog woke me up.

Swish-The swish of the basketball through the hoop excited the crowd.

Sizzle-The sizzle of bacon on the griddle is music to my ears.

Scratch-The scratching of the tree limb on the window was spooky.

Howl-The wolf howled in the night.

Pop-The pop of the balloon echoed through the room.

Rustle-The papers rustled as they fell to the floor.

Onomatopoeia in Literature

1. In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Bells"-"How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle in the icy air of night!"

2. In Shakespeare's The Tempest-"Hark! Hark! Bow-wow. The watch dogs bark."

3. In William Butler Yeats' "Isle of Innisfree"-"I hear the lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore."

Double Negatives

Double Negatives
The term double negative is used to refer to the use of two words of negation in a single statement. These two negative elements typically cancel each other out, making the statement positive.

Typically, a double negative is formed by using "not" with a verb, and also using a negative pronoun or adverb.

Sometimes the speaker wants to produce a negative statement, but the effect is to produce a positive statement-the two negatives "cancel" each other. It is considered incorrect to use a double negative.

However, there are some instances when a double negative may be appropriate.

Examples of Double Negatives:
1. I don't want nothing. (If you don't want "nothing," you must want "something.")

2. She didn't see nothing. (If she didn't see "nothing," she must have seen "something.")

3. He is not unattractive. (This might be a time when a double negative is needed-the person doesn't want to say he is "attractive," but also doesn't want to say he's not "attractive".)

4. I did not know neither the date nor the month. (If you did not know neither of them, then you must know both of them.)

5. I am not uncaring. (This might be a time when a double negative is needed-"I" doesn't want to say that he cares, but also doesn't want to say he doesn't care.

Examples of Double Negatives in Literature

1. Shakespeare's Twelfth Night uses a triple negatives in the following line: "And that no woman has nor never none Shall mistress of it be, save I alone".

2. Chaucer makes use of double negatives to describe characters, such as the Friar, in The Canterbury Tales: "There never was no man nowhere so virtuous."

3. Douglas Adams in The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy: "plastic cup filled with a liquid that was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea."

Consonance

Consonance
Consonance is typically used to refer to the repetition of ending sounds that are consonants, but it can refer to repetition of consonant sounds within the word as well. Often, consonance is used to create a rhyme or cadence.

Consonance differs from alliteration and assonance. Alliteration, remember, is the repetition of a sound at the beginning of a word. Assonance is the repetition of a vowel sound.

Consonance is the repetition of a consonant sound and is typically used to refer to the repetition of sounds at the end of the word, but also refers to repeated sounds in the middle of a word.

Examples of Consonance:
1. Pitter Patter, Pitter Patter-repetition of the "t," and "r" sounds.

2. The lint was sent with the tent-repetition of the "nt" sound.

3. I think I like the pink kite-repetition of the "k" sound.

4. I held my nose in the breeze so I would not sneeze on your knees-repetition of the "z" sound (caused by "z" and "s").

5. Her foot left a print on the carpet-repetition of the "t" sound.

6. Odds and ends-repetition of the "d" and "s" sounds.

Examples of Consonance in Literature:

1. William Blakes "Tyger": "TygerTyger, burning bright-repetition of the "g" and "r" sounds.

2. Shakespeare's Sonnet 64: "Increasing store with loss and loss with store"-repetition of the "s" sound at the beginning of "store" and end of "loss".

3. William Butler Yeats' "The Man Who Dreamed of Fairyland": "Old silence bids its chosen race rejoice, / Whatever raveled waters rise and fall / Or stormy silver fret the gold of day"-repetition of the "r" sound.

Verbal Irony

Verbal Irony
You already know that irony is when events are words appear to be the opposite of reality.

Verbal Irony is when words express something contrary to truth or someone says the opposite of what they really feel or mean. Verbal irony is often sarcastic.

Examples of Verbal Irony:
Verbal Irony Examples:

1. Looking at her son's messy room, Mom says, "Wow, you could win an award for cleanliness!"

2. On the way to school, the school bus gets a flat tire and the bus driver says, "Excellent! This day couldn't start off any better!"

3. Mark is very upset over the fact that his brand new truck has a little speck of mud on the bumper, and Jennifer, who has a used car, says, "My goodness! That's a shame!"

4. A student who goes to the restroom every day during class asks the teacher if he can go. Her response is "Sure, it's not like we do anything important in this class."

5. A mother with three noisy children has been waiting in line at the market. When it is her turn, the cashier asks if she would mind waiting while she runs to the restroom. The mother says, "Of course not-why in the world would you think I would mind?"

6. A small child does not flush the toilet, and the mother says, "I really appreciate when you flush the toilet! Thank you for remembering your manners!"

Examples of Verbal Irony in Literature:

1. In the movie Annie, the orphans say, "We love you Ms. Hannigan," to their guardian who is mean to them.

2. In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Marc Antony gives a speech in which he repeatedly refers to Brutus as "an honorable man," when Brutus just participated in murdering Caesar.

3. In Beauty and the Beast, an animated Disney movie, Belle refuses to marry Gaston by saying "I just don't deserve you!"

4. In The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a group of school boys is stranded on an island while a war is going on in the world around them. Piggy, one of the characters, says that they are acting like a "crowd of kids," and that grownups would have "tea and talk" about their situation. His statement is ironic because of the grownup war that is raging in the world.

Irony

Irony
Irony is the figurative term for the disconnect between what appears to happen or what is apparently being said and the actual truth or reality.

Examples of Irony:
There are three types of irony:

Situational Irony-where actions or events have the opposite result from what is expected or what is intended

Verbal Irony-where someone says the opposite of what they really mean or intend; sarcasm is a particularly biting form of verbal irony

Dramatic Irony-occurs when the audience or reader of a text knows something that the characters do not

Situational Irony Examples:

1. There are roaches infesting the office of a pest control service.

2. A plumber spends all day working on leaky faucets and comes home to find a pipe has burst in his home.

Verbal Irony Examples:

1. Looking at her son's messy room, Mom says, "Wow, you could win an award for cleanliness!"

2. On the way to school, the school bus gets a flat tire and the bus driver says, "Excellent! This day couldn't start off any better!"

Dramatic Irony Examples:

1. The audience knows that a killer is hiding in the closet, but the girl in the horror movie does not.

2. The reader knows that a storm is coming, but the children playing on the playground do not.

Examples of Irony in Literature:

1. In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the audience/reader knows that Juliet has faked her death, but Romeo does not and he thinks she is really dead. (dramatic irony)

2. In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the main character Scout goes to school and is already able to read. While one would expect a teacher to be pleased about that, Scout's teacher does not like that she is already able to read. (situational irony)

3. In Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, Mr. Darcy says of Elizabeth Bennett that she is not "handsome enough to tempt me," but he falls in love with her in spite of himself. (verbal irony)

Assonance

Assonance
Assonance is the figurative term used to refer to the repetition of a vowel sound in a line of text or poetry. The words have to be close enough together for the repetition to be noticeable.

Tongue twisters often use a combination of alliteration (repetition of same beginning consonant sound) and two different forms of assonance-or the repetition of two different vowel sounds. This is what makes them so difficult to say.

Assonance is used for some of the same reasons as alliteration. It can affect the rhythm, tone, and mood of a text. The repetition of certain vowel sounds-think short vowels sounds from the letters u or o-can create a melancholy mood.

Examples of Assonance:
Examples of Assonance:

1. The light of the fire is a sight. (repetition of the long i sound)

2. Go slow over the road. (repetition of the long o sound)

3. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers (repetition of the short e and long i sounds)

4. Sally sells sea shells beside the sea shore (repetition of the short e and long e sounds)

5. Try as I might, the kite did not fly. (repetition of the long i sound)

Examples of Assonance in Literature:

1. Edgar Allan Poe's "Annabelle Lee": "And so all the night-tide, I lie down by the side of my darling-my darling-my life and my bride" (repetition of the long i sound)

2. William Blake's "Tyger": "Tyger, Tyger burning bright in the forest of the night" (repetition of the long i sound)

3. From William Wordsworth's "Daffodils": "A host of golden daffodils" (repetition of the long o sound)

4. From the movie My Fair Lady: "The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain." (repetition of the long a sound)

Appositives

Appositives
Appositives are nouns, noun phrases, or noun clauses that rename a noun that comes just before them. Remember that an appositive can be a single word or several words.

Appositives can be essential or nonessential. If the appositive is necessary for the meaning of the sentence, then it is essential. This means that it cannot be left out. If the appositive is not essential for the meaning of the sentence, and it could be left out, then it is nonessential.

Nonessential appositives should be set apart from the sentence with commas. Essential appositives are not set off with commas.

Examples of Appositives:
Examples of Sentences with Appositives with Explanation

1. My sister Jane is 27 years old. (Jane renames sister)

2. My mom, who is a nurse, drives a red car. (Who is a nurse renames mom, but it is not essential for the meaning of the sentence.)

3. The boy who painted this picture is named Kevin. (Who painted this picture renames boy, and it is essential for the meaning of the sentence.)

4. Sarah's dog Rover is a golden retriever. (Rover renames dog.)

More Examples of Sentences with Appositives

1. That ladybug, an insect, just landed on the rose bush.

2. Mr. Harrison, the principal at my school, wears a tie every day.

3. I like spaghetti, an Italian dish with noodles and sauce.

4. Marcus, my sister's hamster, likes to run in a wheel.

5. The play was brilliant, and I enjoyed Mary, the best actress in our school.

6. I really like my grand father's horse Chester.

Apostrophes

Apostrophes
Apostrophes are punctuation marks that are used for a variety of purposes. Two of the main uses of apostrophes are for forming possessives and for showing where letters have been omitted in words.

Examples of Apostrophes:
Apostrophes in Possessives:

When making a noun possessive, you typically add an apostrophe + s. When the noun is plural and already ends in "s," just add the apostrophe after "s". If the noun is singular and ends in "s," you add the apostrophe + s if it's one syllable. You add just the apostrophe after the "s" if it is more than one syllable.

Apostrophes for Omitted Letters

When making a contraction, an apostrophe is used to show where letters have been omitted. There are also other words that we don't think of as contractions that are formed with an apostrophe to show where letters were omitted.

Examples of Apostrophes with Possessives

dog's bone (singular)
girl's bag (singular)
girls' locker room (plural)
students' shoes (plural)
Mark's house (singular)
Mrs. Sims's classroom (singular, ends in "s," one syllable)
Mr. Jones' car (singular, ends in "s," two syllables)
Children's playground (plural but does not end in "s")

Examples of Apostrophes for Omitted Letters

Contractions
Cannot = can't
Will not = won't
Is not = isn't
It is = it's

Other Words

o'clock (of the clock)
'tis (it is)
'twas (it was)

Analogy

Analogy
An analogy is the figurative term for drawing a comparison between two things in order to better explain one of them. An analogy is different from a metaphor or simile in that it attempts to make a logical argument. While a metaphor or simile makes a short comparison between two things, an analogy makes an extended comparison, showing how the characteristics or features of one thing are like another.

Examples of Analogy:
Examples of Analogy:

1. Drawing a comparison between a heart and a pump

2. Drawing a comparison between a construction crew and a colony of ants

3. Drawing a comparison between analyzing a work of literature and a detective solving a crime

4. Drawing a comparison between an overprotective mother and a mother hen

5. Drawing a comparison between living life and running a race

6. Drawing a comparison between raising children or teaching children to growing and tending a garden.

Examples of Analogy in Literature:

1. Shakespeare's As You Like It includes a monologue where an analogy is drawn between life and a play: "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players . . .".

2. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet draws an analogy between a sweet-smelling rose and Romeo (who will be just as "sweet" regardless of his name): "What's in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

3. Walt Whitman's "O, Captain! My Captain!" draws an analogy between Abraham Lincoln and a captain of a ship. This is a common analogy-a leader of a nation to a captain of a ship.

Allusion

Allusion
An allusion is when a person or author makes an indirect reference in speech, text, or song to an event or figure. Often the allusions made are to past events or figures, but sometimes allusions are made to current famous people or events.

The allusion does not give much detail about the reference-it does not describe things in detail. Rather, because these events are momentous-significant historically, culturally, or politically-the speaker or author expects that people in general would understand the allusion without explanation.

Allusions are often used within a metaphor or simile. The comparison alludes to an event or person of significance that everyone should understand.

Allusions often make reference to previous works of literature, especially references to the Bible and Greek or Roman mythology.

Examples of Allusion:
Examples of Allusions:

1. Your backyard is a Garden of Eden. (Biblical allusion)

2. I guess I should see this message about a new job as my burning bush. (Biblical Allusion)

3. When you feel betrayed by a friend, you can say, "You too, Brutus?" (allusion to Julius Caesar-Brutus betrayed Caesar)

4. You're a regular Einstein. (allusion to a historical figure)

5. When your parents learn about your new plan to raise money, it's going to sink like the Titanic. (allusion to a historical event)

6. You are carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. (reference to Atlas in myth)

7. That man is so narcissistic. (reference to Narcissus in mythology)

8. Don't be a Scrooge! (reference to A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens)

9. Potato chips are my diet's Achilles heel. (reference to Achilles in mythology)

10. Many states have laws that protect Good Samaritan's. (reference to the Bible)

Alliteration

Alliteration
Alliteration is the figurative term for when a beginning consonant sound is repeated over and over in a poem or text.

Alliteration is often used to provide a certain rhythmic sound to the poetry. The repetition of a specific sound can also affect the mood. For example, a repeated "w" sound often gives a lulling mood. The repetition of a harder sound-like "p" or "b"-sets a different mood.

Alliteration is heavily used in "tongue twisters."

Examples of Alliteration:
Examples of Alliteration:

1. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. (repeated p sound)

2. Sally sells seashells by the sea shore. (repeated s sound)

3. How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood. (repeated w and c/ch sounds)

4. The sly, slithering snake snuck into the shed. (repeated s sound)

5. The river rushed rapidly over the rocks. (repeated r sound)

Example of Alliteration from Literature:

1. From Romeo and Juliet: "From forth the fatal loins of these two foes . . ." (repeated f sound)

2. From "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe: "Once upon a midnight dreary while I pondered weak and weary" (repeated w sound)

3. William Blake's "Tyger": "burning bright," "frame thy fearful symmetry"

4. Shel Silverstein's "Where the Sidewalk Ends": "We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow / and watch where the chalk-white arrows go" (repeated w sound)

Allegory

Allegory
An allegory is a text that has a hidden meaning. It can be a story or a poem, and the meaning behind it is usually political or moral. In an allegory, the characters often symbolize a concept or idea from real life.

An allegory is a type of extended metaphor. The story or poem is used to draw an extended comparison between two different things-a character or event in the text and something in real life.

Many works of art are also allegorical, with the pictures representing people or ideas in real life.

Allegory makes use of symbolism, as things in the text represent concepts from life. What makes allegory different from symbolism is that an allegory is the narrative while symbolism is the device used.

Examples of Allegory:
Examples of Allegories

1. Orwell's Animal Farm-animals in the story and their interactions stand for political figures and events

2. Spenser's The Faerie Queene-an allegorical poem in which the knights represent virtues of chastity and holiness.

3. T.S. Eliot's "The Wasteland"-an allegorical poem relating to war

4. The Harry Potter series can be read as a Christian allegory-allegorical fight between good and evil with Harry as a Christ figure.

5. Milton's Paradise Lost is another allegorical text relating to Christianity, good versus evil, God versus Satan.

6. The Hunger Games series can be read as a political allegory that makes a statement about our modern society (e.g. The Capitol is like Hollywood; obsession with reality TV).

7. The Lord of the Flies is another allegorical text relating to the effects of war on society.