The Elements of Literature

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The Elements of Literature

• Alex Hollis
• Chapman High School

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Talk the Talk

• The terms you will learn from this presentation
  apply to the techniques used by writers to
  achieve certain effects with their words.

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Alliteration

• The repetition of initial consonant sounds in
  writing.
• An example is the repeated h and s sounds in the
  following lines Mother whose heart hung
  humble as a button on the splendid shroud of your
  son. -Stephen Crane

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Assonance Consonance

• Assonance- the repetition of a vowel sound within
  nonrhyming words.
• Examples include Helter-Skelter
• Sweet Dreams High Mighty

• Consonance- the repetition of consonant sounds
  within and at the ends of words.
• Examples include
• Last but not least Stroke of luck
  

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Simile

• A comparison of two unlike things using the words
  like or as. A simile states a comparison
  directly.
• Example The little girl fluttered across the
  back yard like a beautiful butterfly.

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Metaphor

• A form of figurative language that makes a
  comparison between two things. Unlike a simile,
  it does NOT use the words like or as.
• Example Love is a door we shall open
  together.
• - Carl Sandburg

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Personification

• A figure of speech in which human qualities are
  attributed to an object, animal, or idea.
• Example The wind ran her fingers through my
  hair.

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Dialect

• The particular variety of a language spoken in a
  definite place by a distinct group of people.
• Following is an example of African-American
  dialect from Eugenia Colliers Sweet Potato Pie
  Cant you git a better shine on them
  shoes?Lord, you done messed up that tie!

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Internal Rhyme End Rhyme

• Internal Rhyme- rhyme that occurs within a single
  line of poetry.
• Ex Once upon a midnight dreary, while I
  pondered weak and weary.
• - Edgar Allan Poe

• End Rhyme- Occurs at the ends of lines of poetry.
• Ex Roses are red, Violets are blue Sugar is
  sweet, And so are you.

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Repetition

• A literary technique in which a sound, word,
  phrase, or line is repeated for emphasis.
• Ex Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the
  way.

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American Memory Collection

• Use the information on the previous slides to
  help you with your Web Quest. You may access the
  Web Quest at my homepage.