Allusion Notes

1
Allusion Notes

• What is an allusion?

2
What is an allusion?

• An allusion is a reference to something or
  someone.
• It is not the same as the word illusion. Illusion
  is when your eyes play tricks on you and you
  think you see something that is not really there.

3
Where can I see and hear allusions?

• Commercials
• Movies
• Books
• The store
• School
• The mall
• Just about anywhere

Allusions are all around us. People use them
every day.
4
Most allusions come from one of the following
sources

• The Bible
• Mythology
• History
• A Culture
• Shakespeare
• Literary

5
A Biblical Allusion

• A reference to a character, story, place, or
  scripture from The Bible.
• Example1
• He was a Good Samaritan yesterday when he helped
  the lady start her car. This refers to the
  biblical story of the Good Samaritan. 
• Example 2
• This place is like a Garden of Eden. The Garden
  of Eden was the paradise God made for Adam and
  Eve.

6
A Mythological Allusion

• A reference to Greek or Roman Mythology. This can
  be a reference to a god or goddess, or a mythical
  hero or creature.
• Example
• Chocolate was her Achilles heel. This means
  that her weakness was her love of chocolate.
  Achilles is a character in Greek mythology who
  was invincible. His mother dipped him in magical
  water when he was a baby, and she held him by the
  heel. The magic protected him all over, except
  for his heel. 

7
Example 2 of Mythological Allusions
This is an allusion to the Greek warrior Ajax,
who was known for his skills in battle in Homers
book, The Iliad
8
A Historical Allusion

• A reference to a historical person, place, or
  event.
• Example

This is an allusion to Abraham Lincoln. If you
were not familiar with the US presidents, you
might not know who Honest Abe is.
9
Example 2 of Historical Allusions

• These are lyrics from a song
• Can you guess who theyre singing about?
• Early morning, April 4
• Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
• Free at last, they took your life
• They could not take your pride

10
A Cultural Allusion

• A reference to a person, place, event, or thing
  within a specific culture. If someone is not
  familiar with that culture, he or she will
  probably not understand the allusion.
• Some cultural allusions will overlap with
  historical, biblical, literary, Shakespearean,
  and mythological allusions.

11
Example of a Cultural Allusion

• 1 Youre killing me Smalls. Quote from the
  movie The Sandlot.
• 2 Hes as jolly as Old Saint Nick. - reference
  to Santa Claus

12
Example 3 Cultural Allusion

• Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!
• This is an allusion to The Wizard of Oz.

13
A Shakespearean Allusion

• A reference to one of William Shakespeares
  characters or a reference to one of his quotes.
• Example 1
• Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your
  ears
• Quote from Julius Caesar
• Example 2
• Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?
• He was a real Romeo with the ladies.

14
A Literary Allusion

• A reference to any character, author, or quote
  from any piece of literature throughout history
  however, literary allusions usually refer to
  classic pieces of literature.
• Example 1When she lost her job, she acted like
  a Scrooge, and refused to buy anything that
  wasnt necessary. Scrooge was an extremely
  stingy character from Charles Dickens, A
  Christmas Carol.

15
Example 2 Literary Allusion

•  I was surprised his nose was not growing like
  Pinocchios. This refers to the story of
  Pinocchio, where his nose grew whenever he told a
  lie. It is from The Adventures of Pinocchio,
  written by Carlo Collodi.