Personification

The cloud cried tears of grief over the town.

Definition: Personification is giving human qualities to non human things.

Explanation: The cloud is not really crying, but is raining. The author uses the words tears and grief to help create a mood of sadness for the story.

SimileStanley is as

grumpy as a bear who just woke up in January!

Definition: A simile is a comparison using like or as.

Explanation: The author is comparing Stanley to a bear that woke up when he should be hibernating. A bear in that situation would be extremely upset and out of sorts. Stanley must have been very grumpy!

Metaphor

• Frank is nothing but a snake!

Definition: A metaphor is a comparison not using like or as, but stating that one thing is something else.

Explanation: The author is not just saying that he is like a snake with all of a snakes attributes, but goes so far as to state that he is a snake. This is very powerful, and helps the author establish a stronger emotion in the reader.

HYPERBOLE

• I must have called you a thousand times last night!

Definition: an exaggeration.

Explanation: Through exaggeration a character can show just how much he or she really feels about a situation. By suggesting that he/she called you a thousand times, he/she is telling you that they really needed to tell you something.

Pun

To write with a broken pencil is pointless.

Definition: A play on words.

Explanation: The author uses the word pointless to make a joke. Pointless can mean “without a sharpened end”, or it can mean “without purpose or benefit.”

IdiomsI’ll take a hotdog with relish!

Definition: an expression whose connotation is not the same as its denotation.

Explanation: The author wants a hotdog that is eaten on a bun, not a dog that is hot. By playing with the connotation, the author allows his character to be surprised or confused.

OxymoronThe living dead were taking over the city!

Definition: Two words that contradict each other.

Explanation: The author puts together the words living and dead. A person can only be one or the other; they can not be living and dead at the same time. A zombie is not living, they are reanimated dead people.

Onomatopoeia The buzzing bees slurped loudly on the garden flowers.

Definition: When a word sounds like the sound it makes.

Explanation: The word buzzing makes the person saying it out loud sound like a bee, and the word , makes the person saying sound like they are slurping liquid through a straw.

AlliterationPlayful puppies purposely pounce.

Definition: a poetic or literary effect achieved by using several words that begin with the same consonants.

Explanation: The author uses the words puppies, purposely, and pounce to create a physical “bounce” as the reader speaks the words. In this case the author’s word choice feels like you are actually watching the puppies play.