Rhyme’s Reason: Reading: Literature - Literary Devices & Figures of Speech - Introductory

If you want to understand the tools and techniques that great writers use, learn these literary devices and figures of speech. Review this vocabulary list and you'll be a master of metaphor, an authority on alliteration, and a pro at puns.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. alliteration
    use of the same consonant at the beginning of each word
  2. ambiguity
    unclearness by virtue of having more than one meaning
  3. analogy
    drawing a comparison in order to show a similarity
  4. contradiction
    opposition between two conflicting forces or ideas
  5. flashback
    a transition in a story to an earlier event or scene
  6. foreshadowing
    the act of providing vague advance indications
  7. metaphor
    a figure of speech that suggests a non-literal similarity
  8. personification
    representing an abstract quality or idea as a human
  9. pun
    a humorous play on words
  10. repetition
    the continued use of the same word or word pattern
  11. sarcasm
    witty language used to convey insults or scorn
  12. simile
    a figure of speech expressing a resemblance between things
  13. understatement
    something said in a restrained way for ironic contrast
Created on Thu Jan 12 15:16:44 EST 2017 (updated Wed Mar 29 15:30:22 EDT 2017)

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