Mrs. Pardington’s Literary Devices

1. Mrs. Pardington’s Literary Devices By Mrs. Pardington 4th Grade, 2002-2003

2. Alliteration • Alliteration is the repeating of the beginning consonant sounds in words. • Example:Seven swans slid gracefully into the serene sea.

3. Repeated Pattern • A repeated pattern is the repetition of a word or phrase to add rhythm, or to emphasize a certain idea. • Example: See the next page for an example...

4. Repeated Pattern (continued) • The delicate breeze dances through the leafy trees: swish, swish, swash, swish. • The toddler hollered, “No bath! No bath!No sleep! No sleep!”

5. Personification • Personification is a figure of speech in which an idea, object, or animal is given qualities of a person. • Example: The fog tiptoed menacingly across the chilly meadow.

6. Simile • A simile is a figure of speech in which two things are compared using “like” or “as.” • Example: The rain pelted the barn like hammers in a cobbler factory.

7. Point of View • “Point of View” is the angle from which the story is told. “First-person” means one of the characters is telling the story. “Third-person” means someone outside of the story is telling it. • Example: • 1st-person: I can’t stand it when it rains! • 3rd-person: Hillary can’t stand it when it rains!

8. Imagery Imagery is the words or phrases a writer selects in order to create a certain picture in the reader’s mind. It usually involves all or almost all of the 5 senses. Example: The cold, chilling, white ice cream filled her nose with sweet vanilla scents and her mouth with cool, creamy delight. Melissa slapped her tongue around in her lips in a rousing “Mmmmmmm.”

9. Supporting Details Supporting details are the details used to develop a subject or bring a story to life. In my example on the next page, I use supporting details to prove my opinion.

10. Supporting Details Example Blue is my favorite color! When we look at the earth from space, the color we see the most is blue. It reminds me of the blue ocean or the sky. When my teacher uses a red pen, the color hurts my eyes. But when she uses blue, it’s not so harsh. It almost makes me smile. And when I smile, my blue eyes twinkle! So blue is a part of me, too. That’s why I love blue.

11. Mood The mood is the feeling a reader gets from a story. Examples: (sad) Leslie dropped her head as huge tears plopped from her cheeks. (happy) Concetta “whooped” and jumped like a pogo-stick when her dad said they were going to Florida.

12. Flashback Flashback is returning to an earlier time (in a story) for the purpose of making something in the present more clear. Example: (from Stone Fox) Willy was sure that if the crop failed, his Grandfather would die too. A friend offered to help, but little Willy said no. “Don’t accept help unless you can pay for it,” Grandfather had always said. “Especially from friends.”

13. Metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things without using a word of comparison such as like or as. Example: The street wound around the quaint neighborhood, a ribbon wrapping a beautiful package.

14. Foreshadowing Foreshadowing means giving hints and clues of what is to come later in a story. Example: The end of chapter 2 of The Sign of the Beaver reads “So he [Matt] was not so quick-witted as he should have been when unexpectedly someone arrived.”

15. Onomatopoeia • Onomatopoeia is the use of words whose sounds make you think of their meanings. • Example: The car swooshed through the slushy snow.

16. Symbolism • Symbolism is the use of a person, a place, a thing, or an event to represent something else. • Example: In The Lilly Cupboard by Shulamith Levey Oppenheim, Miriam taking care of the rabbit symbolizes her parents and friends protecting her from the Nazi soldiers.

17. Hyperbole Hyperbole is an exaggeration, or overstatement. Example: I was so tired that I could have slept for 20 years.