Idioms--an expression that means something different from its actual
word-for-word meaning; slight exaggeration
Example:
a piece of cake---very easy
"Bob said the test was difficult, but I thought it
was a piece of cake."
pay the piper---face the consequences
"I stayed up too late tonight. Tomorrow I'll have to pay the piper."
shoot the breeze---make relaxed, casual conversation
"No, we weren't talking about anything important. We were just
shooting the breeze."
Idiom Practice
Come up with 2 idioms.
1. Write the idiom
2. Draw or describe the literal meaning
3. What does it really mean?
Example:
1. It is raining cats and dogs.
2.
3. This means it is raining
really hard.
Alliteration—the matching or repetition of consonants, or the
repeating of the same letter (or sound) at the beginning of words.
“Dewdrops Dancing Down Daisies”
Don't delay dawns disarming display.
Dusk demands daylight.
Dewdrops dwell delicately
drawing dazzling delight…
Alliteration
**Use your name and create a sentence filled
with alliteration using the first sound in your
name.
Example:
• Claudia craves cake and clams.
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.
1. He lies so much! I am surprised that his nose has
not grown like Pinocchio's.
2. She acts like Scrooge, and will never enjoy
even the simple pleasures of life.
3. He can scale any structure as if he
were Spider-Man.
4. Everything was on target, until
that Benedict Arnold, Chris, decided
to switch over to our rivals along with
our trade secrets.
Simile
Simile—the comparison of two things using
like or as—the comparison is clearly stated
The sheets smell as fresh as a daisy.
His skin is as tough as leather.
The man eats like a pig.
Metaphor
Metaphor—(like a simile) comparison of two unlike things that suggest
one thing is another—does not use like or as
My heart is a bomb ready to explode.
She is a beautiful red rose.
Similes vs Metaphors
Q: What’s the difference between a simile and
a metaphor?
A: A metaphor substitutes one thing for
another while a simile is a comparison with
“like” or “as”.
“The setting sun was like an angry red eye” is a
simile, while “The setting sun was an angry
red eye” is a metaphor.
Onomatopoeia—a word that imitates the sound it represents; a Greek
word meaning “name-making”
Example:
splash, pow, gush, kerplunk
Dave whooshed down the hill.
They were listening to the crackle of the fire.
Oxymoron
Two words that have opposite meanings are combined to
create a new meaning
Almost done!
Pretty ugly
A little big
Inside out
Freezer burn
Plastic glasses
Cold sweat
Hyperbole— extreme exaggeration for effect, not to be taken literally;
used by writers to emphasize an idea or to create a humorous effect
Example:
I'm so hungry I could eat a horse.
He's as big as a house.
I could sleep for a year.
This book weighs a ton.
Assignment: Write a statement using hyberbole about your family.
Personification--giving human qualities to animals or objects
Example:
a smiling moon, a jovial sun
the little waves, with their soft, white hands
"Mirror“
by Sylvia Plath
I am silver and exact.
I have no preconceptions.
Whatever I see I swallow immediately
Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.
I am not cruel, only truthful--