Literary Elements

Simile: Comparing two unlike things using like or as.

What are the two things being compared in this simile?

"Good coffee is like friendship: rich and warm and strong."(slogan of Pan-American Coffee Bureau)

Pick out the two items being compared in the following similes.

She danced as gracefully as a swan.

My father grumbles like a bear in the morning.

Metaphor: Comparing two unlike things without using like or as.

Time is money. Time is being compared to money because ____________.

The sun is an yellow balloon. The sun is being compared to a yellow balloon because ____________.

Complete the following statements that explain the metaphors.

1. Brian was a wall, bouncing every tennis ball back over the net.

This metaphor compares Brian to a wall because __________.

a. He was very strong.b. He was very tall.c. He kept returning the balls.d. His body was made of cells.

2. We would have had more pizza to eat if Tammy hadn’t been such a hog.

Tammy was being compared to a hog because she __________.

a. looked like a hogb. ate like a hogc. smelled like a hogd. was as smart as a hog

Personification: A non-human subject is given human characteristics.

Two Sunflowers Move in the Yellow

Room"Ah, William, we're weary of

weather,"said the sunflowers, shining with

dew."Our traveling habits have tired

us.Can you give us a room with a

view?"

They arranged themselves at the window

and counted the steps of the sun,and they both took root in the

carpetwhere the topaz tortoises run.

William Blake(1757-1827)

Example of Personification

The Cat & The Fiddle

Hey diddle, Diddle,The cat and the fiddle,

The cow jumped over the moon;

The little dog laughed To see such sport,

And the dish ran away with the spoon.

By Mother Goose

Which of the following sentences are examples of personification?

Cars dance across the icy road.

The dog stares carefully at me.

Ronnie Johnson smiles at the fox.

Wind whispers like a tree in the breeze.

Hyperbole: An exaggeration

"I was helpless. I did not know what in the world to do. I was

quaking from head to foot, and could have hung my hat on my

eyes, they stuck out so far."(Mark Twain, "Old Times on the

Mississippi")

Hyperbole Example:

"My toaster has never once worked properly in four years. I follow the instructions and push two slices of bread down in the slots, and seconds later they rifle upwards. Once they broke the nose of a woman I loved dearly."(Woody Allen, "My Speech to the Graduates." The New York Times, Aug. 10, 1979)

Idiom: An "idiom" is a word or phrase which means something different from what it says.

"In a pickle" - In an awkward or embarrassing situation.

"Fill someone's shoes" - Take someone else's place.

Examples of idioms:

"Pull the wool over someone's eyes" - Trick or deceive.

Example of idioms:

"The buck stops here." - Taking responsibility for something, instead of blaming someone else.

Repetition: Two or more uses of the same sound, word, phrase, clause or sentence.

Humpty DumptyHumpty Dumpty sat on a wall,Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;

All the King's horses and all the King's men

Couldn't put Humpty together again

From Mother Goose

Example of repetition:

I'm nobody! Who are You?

I'm nobody! Who are you?Are you nobody too?Then there's a pair of us-don't tell!They'd banish us you know.

How dreary to be somebody!how public, like a frog.To tell your name livelong dayTo an admiring bog!

Emily Dickinson 1830-1885

Paraphrase: When you put something into your own words

“I was a child and she was a child, The two of us were kids,

In this kingdom by the sea; In this seaside town;

Theme: The important message about life that the author is trying to convey in the literary piece.

The theme of Tortoise

and the Hare is: slow and

steady wins the race.