Allusions
Making References
What is an Allusion?

An allusion is a reference to a statement, a
person, a place, or an event from literature,
history, religion, mythology, politics, sports,
or science.
good Samaritan
sour grapes
Camelot
World
Series
Gettysburg
Address
Cupid’s
arrows
Albert
Einstein
Responding to Allusions

Recognizing and understanding allusions
can make reading more interesting and
enjoyable because you

connect your knowledge of the reference to
the text
 respond emotionally to the reference and
connect those emotions to the text
Recognizing Allusions
Look for direct references as you read.

direct quotations from speeches, people, or
works
 titles of books, songs, art, or other works
 names of peoples, places, and events
© 2002-2003 clipart.com

Recognizing Allusions

Look for indirect references as you read.

She didn’t have snakes growing
out of her head, but her stare
could stop me in my tracks and
turn me into stone.
© 2002-2003 clipart.com
paraphrased statements from speeches,
people, or works
 descriptions of people, places, or events
Recognizing Allusions
“In the future, everyone will be world-famous for
15 minutes.”
 Andy Warhol- commenting on explosion of
media coverage- Today, when someone
receives a great deal of media coverage for
something fairly trivial- “15 minutes of fame”

Recognizing Allusions
“Christy didn’t like to spend money. She was
no Scrooge, but she seldom purchased
anything but the bare necessities.”
 Scrooge- pinches money/hoards money
 Allusion- Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol

Recognizing Allusions
“As the cave’s roofs collapsed, he was swallowed
up in the dust like Jonah, and only frantic
scrabbling behind a wall of rock indicated that
there was anyone still alive.”
 Allusion- Jonah- Jonah and the whale“swallowed alive”

Recognizing Allusions


The moon now is a crescent that looks like
the Cheshire Cat smiling down at us- I
almost never see it looking this way. Why
does the crescent moon look like a grin?
Allusion to Cheshire cat character in
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis
Carroll
Researching Allusions

To fully understand an allusion and how it relates
to the text, you may need to do some additional
research.

Check for footnotes that contain more information
about the allusion.
 Refer to dictionaries, encyclopedias, or other
reference books.
 Ask others—teachers, librarians, family, and friends.
What have you learned?
Indicate whether the following statements
are true or false.
True
_____________— An allusion may refer to an event from
history.
False
_____________— You should only look for direct
references to people, places, or events
as you read.
True
_____________— Dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other
reference books are good places to
look for information about an allusion.