Literary Devices

Jennifer Vasquez

January, 17, 2011

Period # 3

Table of Contents:

Imagery: Definition: The use of vivid or figurative language to represent objects, actions, or ideas.

Examples:

From the family tree of old school hip hop

Kick off your shoes and relax your socks

The rhymes will spread just like a pox

Cause the music is live like an electric shock Beastie Boys, “Intergalactic”, Capitol, 1998

I took a walk around the world to

Ease my troubled mind

I left my body laying somewhere

In the sands of timeThree doors down, “Kryptonite”, Universal Republic, 2000

The showers beat

On broken blinds and chimney-pots,

And at the corner of the street

A lonely cab-horse steams and stamps.

And then the lighting of the lamps.T.S. Eliot, “Preludes”

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils. William Wordsworth, "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud"

Simile: Definition: A figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind.

Examples:

“It's been a hard day's night, and I’ve been working like a dog.” The Beatles, “A hard day’s night”.

“I marveled again at the perfect texture, satin smooth, cool as stone”Stephanie Meyer, Twilight, Pg. 261 line 13

“How could you be so cold as the winter wind when it breeze yo”Kanye West, “Heartless”

“They fought like cats and dogs.”http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-similes.html

Metaphor: Definition: A figure of speech in which an implicit comparison is made between two unlike things that actually have something in common.

Examples:

"Life is a journey, travel it well.”United Airlines Commercial

"Life is a game played on us while we are playing other games."Evan Esar, “ Life ”

"Love is a homeless guy searching for treasure in the middle of the rain and finding a bag of gold coins and slowly finding out they're all filled with chocolate and even though he's heart broken, he can't complain because he was hungry in the first place."Bo Burnham, "Love Is"

"Love is the wild card of existence."Rita Mae Brown, “In Her Day”

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

Examples:

And the wind, it cries MaryJimi Hendrix, “The Wind Cries”

"The sun's on my side, take me for a ride" Natasha Bedingfield’s “ A Pocketful Of Sunshine”

Pulverize the Eiffel towers, who criticize your government" Green Day's "Holiday"

"I walk the city lonely, memories that haunt are passing by" Avenged Seven fold’s "M.I.A."

Onomatopoeia:Definition: The formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named.

Examples:

With a "Quack,quack" here and a "Quack,quack" there.Old McDonalds Farm, Mike Resnik

“Clang ,clang, clang went the trolley”Judy Garland “ Trolley Song”

I get a feeling that I can’t describe, it goes “ uh uh uh” Todd Rundgren Onomatopoeia

OINK!http://answers.ask.com/Reference/Dictionaries/what_is_onomonopia

Alliteration:Definition: The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely

connected words.

Examples:

Coca- Cola

Home Sweet HomeCarrie Underwood “ home sweet home”

Mickey Mouse

SpongeBob SquarePants

Hyperbole:Definition: Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

Examples:

"I'll love you, dear, I'll love you till China and Africa meet”W.H. Auden: "As I Walked Out One Evening"

“Well now, one winter it was so cold that all the geese flew backward and all the fish moved south and even the snow turned blue”Paul Bunyan” Babe”

"Cause you know I'd walk a thousand miles if I could just see you tonight"Vanessa Carlton “A thousand miles”

I’m so hungry I could eat a horse. http://noms.icanhascheezburger.com/2011/05/31/funny-food-photos-so-hungry-i-could-eat-a-horse/

Symbol:Definition: Symbols is a word or object that stands for another word or object. The object or word can be seen with the eye or not visible.

Examples:

Roses: Symbol of love, passion, desire. Etc.

Crosses: Symbolize Christianity.

Dove: Symbol of Peace.

Donkey & Elephant: Represent Democratic and Republic party.