Language Features Chart

 Simile 

A figure of speech that compares two things that are alike in some way. To help you identify a simile versus a metaphor, know that the words ‘like’ or ‘as’ are typically used in a simile. As fast as a leopard. “O my Luve's like a red, red rose.” This is from a poem called Red Red Rose by Robert Burns. I was as cold as a ice cube.

Metaphor 

An implied comparison between different things that does not use “like” or “as” The road was a ribbon of moonlight “ I’m a princess cut from marble, smoother than a storm.” This is the lyrics of a song called Yellow Flicker Beat. By Lorde. Faster than a tiger.

Personification

 A form of metaphor in which a lifeless object, an animal or an idea is made to act like a person. The sun smiled down on us. “ Here comes the sun, here comes the sun and it says it’s alright. Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter Little darling, it feels like years since it’s been here” This is the lyrics of a song called Here Comes The Sun by The Beatles. Lightning danced across the sky. The computer was very smart.

Hyperbole 

An exaggeration; not meant to be taken literally. My feet were on fire. “So high up, Higher than the clouds, You know it’s not for me, I like it on the ground” This is the lyrics of a song called Crash by Jamie Mcdell. The wind is so strong it could cut your face.

 Onomatopoeia 

The word sounds like it “is” Buzzing WHAM! Hoot! Hoot! “Boom boom boom. Boom boom boom. Yo I got the hit that beat the block.You can get that bass overload.” This is the lyrics of a song called Boom Boom Pow by Black Eyed Peas. The door slammed. Wham!

Idioms 

Figure of speech, usually specific to a certain language. When picked apart, may not make sense. I’m tongue-tied. “I cut my teeth on wedding rings in the movies.” This is the lyrics of a song called Royals by Lorde. Glad to see the back of.

 Cliché

 Something that is a tired phrase; used because it is generally is true; has been repeated so many times, however, it’s become stale. Money doesn’t grow on trees! “We will be counting stars.” This is the lyrics of a song called Counting Stars by OneRepublic. Fit as a fiddle.

Alliteration 

The repetition of same or similar consonant sounds Pretty, Polly parrot with a long pink tail, lived on potatoes! “Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater…” “I saw Susie sitting in a shoe shine shop. Where she sits she shines, and where she shines she sits.” A English Tongue Twisters in the 1st International Collection of Tongue Twisters. Magic Morgan marched merry down the mountain.

 Assonance 

The similarity of two or more vowel sounds or the repetition of two or more consonant sounds, especially in words that are close together a poem. Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. `'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door - Only this, and nothing more.' From “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe “Poetry is old, ancient, goes back far. It is among the oldest of living things. So old it is that no man knows how and why the first poems came.” Carl Sandburg’s Early Moon a poem book for kids. That fat cat was on the mat with a rat wearing a hat .

Oxymoron 

A literary device which combines two contradictory terms “Why, then, O brawling love! O loving hate! O anything, of nothing first create! O heavy lightness! Serious vanity! Mis-shapen chaos of well-seeming forms! Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health! Still-waking sleep, that is not what it is! This love feel I, that feel no love in this.” Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet Alone in a crowd. All natural artificial flavor.

Analogy

A comparison between two things that are similar in some way, often used to help explain something or make it easier to understand; a form of reasoning, similarities in some aspects Formal analogies are in this general form: a:b::c:d This is read as follows: "a is to b as c is to d". What that means in plainer English is that the relationship between "a" and "b" is similar somehow to the relationship between "c" and "d." Here are more specific examples: 1. shoe is to foot as tire is to wheel 2. followers are to a leader as planets are to a sun 3. shells were to ancient cultures as dollar bills are to modern culture "Memory is to love what the saucer is to the cup." Elizabeth Bowen, The House in Paris, 1949 I feel like a fish out of water.