literary terms

Literary TermsLiterary TermsLiterary TermsLiterary Terms

66thth Grade Grade

Alliteration• The repetition of initial consonant sounds• Writers use alliteration to create musical

effects and to draw attention to certain words or ideas.

Laughing Lions Turtle Taxi

Dandy Dolphins

Onomatopoeia• The use of words whose sound

suggests their meaning.

BangHissThudPow

Thwack

Mood• The feeling created in the reader by a

literary work or passage• Writers use many devices to create

mood, including images, dialogue, setting, and plot.

What is the mood in “Why Dogs are Tame”?

Happy

Idiom• An expression of language that

means something different from what it appears to mean.

He has his head in the clouds.You drive me up a wall.

Imagery• Language that stresses or

emphasizes sense impressions that help the reader see, hear, feel, smell, and taste things described in the literary work.

Ballad• A short poem of songlike quality and usually has a

refrain.

Lord Randal

"O where ha you been, Lord Randal, my son?And where ha you been, my handsome young man?""I ha been at the greenwood; mother, mak my bed soon,For I'm wearied wi hunting, and fain wad lie down."

"An wha met ye there, Lord Randal, my son?And wha met ye there, my handsome young man?""O I met wi my true-love; mother, mak my bed soon,For I'm wearied wi huntin, and fain wad lie down."

Epic Poetry• Lengthy narrative poem usually

about the deeds of a hero.

Beowulf

The Iliad and The Odyssey

Hyperbole• Use of over exaggerated words,

ideas and comparisons to emphasize an idea.

When I lost my new scarf at Mardi Gras, I almost died!

I am so hungry I could eat a horse.

Fable• A short story that teaches a moral

about human nature.

“The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg”

Folktales• A story with no known author that

originally was passed on from one generation to another by word of mouth.

He LionBruh Bear

Bruh Rabbit

Legends• Stories set in the past that are

based on a real-life hero and his/her mighty deeds.

“The Legend of John Henry”“Paul Bunyan”

Myths• Stories involving gods, goddesses,

and supernatural heroes.

“Perseus”

“Wings”

Odes• Lyrical poems written to the praise

of a person, animal, or thing.

“Ode to an Artichoke”

“Ode to Mi Gato”