Style Devices (6th Grade)

1)figurative language: language that does not mean exactly what it says; it’s not literal; it has a deeper meaning

2)idiom: phrase or saying that is an old common expression and is not literal

  [I’m tickled pink! You’re pulling my leg!]

3) simile:  comparing two unlike things using “like,” “as,” or “than”

  [Fame is like a bee…it will sting you if you’re not careful.]

4) oxymoron:  an expression that is contradictory but works for effect

  [bittersweet, long short story]

5) metaphor:  comparing two unlike things NOT using “like,” “as,” or “than”

  [My love is a rose…delicate at times and protective at others.]

6) onomatopoeia: when words are spelled the way they sound

  [buzz; meow; slam; crunch; growl]

7) personification:   giving human characteristics to an object, idea, or animal

  [The darkness wrapped its arms around me.]

8) imagery:  language that appeals to the senses (creates word pictures)

9) symbol: when one thing represents something larger than itself

  [a dove is a symbol of peace]

10) hyperbole:  an exaggeration or overstatement

  [He jumped so high that I thought he’d have cloud residue on his nose when he landed.]

11) alliteration:  repetition of a sound at the beginning of words

  [The loose kite falls fluttering.]

12) word choice:  choosing words that are creative and imaginative instead of cliché

  [prodigious instead of big; sublime instead of  beautiful; stomped instead of walked;

  swayed instead of moved]

13) allusion: a reference to literature, history, current events, religion, or mythology

  [I was surprised his nose was not growing like Pinocchio's; You’re a regular Einstein.]

14) pun: pun: play on words

  [A boiled egg every morning is hard to beat; “Ask for me tomorrow, you shall find me   a grave man.”   –Mercutio, who has been stabbed and is dying]