BRONX MASQUERADE

MASKS

Alliteration - The repetition of initial consonant sounds. Assonance - The repetition of vowel sounds. Imagery - Words or phrases that appeal to any sense or any combination of senses. Metaphor - A comparison between two objects with the intent of giving clearer meaning to one of them. Often

forms of the "to be" verb are used, such as "is" or "was", to make the comparison. Meter - The recurrence of a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. Onomatopoeia - The use of words which imitate sound. Personification - A figure of speech which endows inanimate objects with human traits or abilities. Point-of-view - The author's point-of-view concentrates on the vantage point of the speaker, or "teller", of the story

or poem. 1st person: the speaker is a character in the story or poem and tells it from his/her perspective (uses "I") 3rd person limited: the speaker is not part of the story, but tells about the other characters but limits information

about what one character sees and feels. 3rd person omniscient: the speaker is not part of the story, but is able to "know" and describe what all characters

are thinking. Repetition - the repeating of words, phrases, lines, or stanzas. Rhyme - The similarity of ending sounds existing between two words. Rhyme scheme - The sequence in which the rhyme occurs. The first end sound is represented as the letter "a", the

second is "b", etc. Simile - A comparison between two objects using a specific word or comparison such as "like", "as", or "than". Stanza - a grouping of two or more lines of a poem in terms of length, metrical form, or rhyme scheme

POETIC DEVICES

A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words and is most often used in poetry and songs. The word "rhyme" may also refer to a short poem, such as a rhyming couplet or other brief rhyming poem such as nursery rhymes.

RHYME

Metaphors are comparisons that show how two things that are not alike in most ways are similar in one important way. Metaphors are a way to describe something. Authors use them to make their writing more interesting or entertaining.

Unlike similes that use the words “as” or “like” to make a comparison, metaphors state that something is something else. Read the statements that contain metaphors in italics. Then complete the statements that explain the metaphors.   1. Brian was a wall, bouncing every tennis ball back over the net. This metaphor compares Brian to a wall because __________. a. He was very strong.

b. He was very tall.c. He kept returning the balls.d. His body was made of cells.

  2. We would have had more pizza to eat if Tammy hadn’t been such a hog. Tammy was being compared to a hog because she __________. a. looked like a hog

b. ate like a hogc. smelled like a hogd. was as smart as a hog

  3. Cindy was such a mule. We couldn’t get her to change her mind. The metaphor compares Cindy to a mule because she was __________. a. always eating oats

b. able to do hard workc. raised on a farmd. very stubborn

  4. The poor rat didn’t have a chance. Our old cat, a bolt of lightning, caught his prey. The cat was compared to a bolt of lightning because he was __________. a. very fast

b. very brightc. not fond of fleasd. very old

  5. Even a child could carry my dog, Dogface, around for hours. He’s such a feather. This metaphor implies that Dogface __________. a. is not cute

b. looks like a birdc. is not heavyd. can fly

METAPHORS

A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect, as in I could sleep for a year or This book weighs a ton.

HYPERBOLE

is giving human traits (qualities, feelings, action, or characteristics) to non-living objects (things, colors, qualities, or ideas).

For example: The window winked at me. The verb, wink, is a human action. A window is a non-living object.  

PERSONIFICATION

Simile is a figure of speech, in which two things are directly compared. One simple trick to identify a simile is to find if the words 'as' or 'like' are used.

Laughs like a hyena As agile as a monkey As alike as two peas in a pod As bald as a coot As beautiful as nature As big as a bus As big as an elephant As black as a sweep As black as coal Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep As black as pitch As blind as a bat As blind as a mole As bold as brass As brave as a lion

SIMILE

An oxymoron is a combination of contradictory or incongruous words:

Jumbo shrimp Military intelligence Taped live Exact estimate Peace force Living dead

OXYMORON