| Definition | Example | Device | % Correct |
|---|---|---|---|
| A direct comparison, where a text claims that one thing is something else. | Hope is a flower. | Metaphor | 96%
|
| An indirect comparison, where two things are compared with the words "like" or "as." | Jeppy is like a pineapple. | Simile | 73%
|
| The attribution of human qualities to a nonhuman entity. | The trees cried out in pain. | Personification / Anthropomorphism | 59%
|
| A heavily exaggerated description or statement. | The COVID pandemic was the end of the world. | Hyperbole | 51%
|
| Dialogue or a situation that is presented as the opposite of what it really is. | The bed of nails was, of course, incredibly soft and inviting. | Irony | 43%
|
| A reference to a different piece of art or literature. | He was the reincarnation of Michelangelo's David. | Allusion | 35%
|
| An argumentative comparison that draws attention to similarities between otherwise distinct things. | This quiz is to the Nile River as text is to water. | Analogy | 33%
|
| The use of an object to represent a concept. | A dove flew over the scarred and broken earth. | Symbolism | 33%
|
| A sound device where the same sounds are repeated at the beginning of successive words. | The quickly cut cake came out well. | Alliteration | 31%
|
| A reference toward later events in a work. | Foreshadowing | 31%
| |
| A story that is intended entirely to represent an abstract concept or idea. | eg Animal Farm or Plato's Allegory of the Cave | Allegory | 29%
|
| A different form of irony, where the audience understands the true state of affairs but the characters remain unaware. | Dramatic Irony | 29%
| |
| An interruption in a narrative that goes backward in time. | Flashback | 29%
| |
| The use of figurative language to describe something. | The JetPunk menu bar is blue, studded with white text and a caricature of a fish. | Imagery | 29%
|
| The placement of two contrasting ideas beside each other. | The scruffy, dirty, and altogether typical peasant approached the throne of her wise and magnificent king. | Juxtaposition | 27%
|
| The use of a word that sounds like the noise it describes. | The gate closed with a clang. | Onomatopoeia | 24%
|
| An apparently contradictory juxtaposition. | They won, but in doing so they lost. | Paradox | 22%
|
| The implications attached to a word. | Connotation | 20%
| |
| The literal meaning of a word. | Denotation | 20%
| |
| The repetition of ideas or images throughout a work. | Motif | 20%
| |
| The use of a part to represent a whole, or a whole to represent a part. | All hands on deck! | Synecdoche | 16%
|
| The repetition of the same words at the beginning of consecutive clauses or lines. | I came, I saw, I conquered. | Anaphora | 14%
|
| Direct speech to an object or person that is not present in a literary work. | Caesar, Caesar, why did you die two thousand years ago? | Apostrophe | 14%
|
| The use of a word or phrase multiple times. | Echo, echo, echo, echo, echo. | Repetition | 14%
|
| A long speech with no audience. | Soliloquy | 14%
| |
| A sound device where the same vowel sounds are repeated in the middle successive words. | The seal creaked and yielded. | Assonance | 12%
|
| The use of line breaks that interrupt a sentence. | The birds sang softly In the green-boughed tree. | Enjambment | 12%
|
| The replacement of one noun with a different noun that is directly related to it. | The pen is mightier than the sword. | Metonymy | 12%
|
| Imagery that relates to the sense of sight. | The sunset glazed the sky with a shimmering kaleidoscope of azure and orange. | Visual Imagery | 12%
|
| A sound device where the same consonant sounds are repeated in the middle successive words. | Grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt. | Consonance | 10%
|
| A fancy word for word choice. | Diction | 10%
| |
| A character who is portrayed as the opposite of another character. | Foil | 10%
| |
| The use of similar plot events that are completely unrelated. | Parallelism | 10%
| |
| Imagery that relates to the sense of touch. | The sandpaper was coarse and dry. | Tactile Imagery | 8%
|
| A metaphor that runs through an entire poem as the poem's central device. | Conceit | 6%
| |
| Imagery that relates to the sense of smell. | The egg smelled sulfurous and rotten. | Olfactory Imagery | 6%
|
| Imagery that relates to the sense of sound. | The twig snapped sharply underfoot. | Auditory Imagery | 4%
|
| The use of words or sentences that do not flow well, typically created with hard consonant sounds. | Quickly, his luck ran out, and he was knocked against the granite wall. | Cacophony | 4%
|
| The use of words or sentences that flow well and sound pleasant. | The water ran across the velvet leaf. | Euphony | 4%
|
| A story that is told starting in the middle. | In Media Res | 4%
| |
| The use of multiple words with the same root. | Drifting along with the driftwood's drift. | Polyptoton | 4%
|
| The repetition of conjunctions in quick succession. | Here and there and everywhere. | Polysyndeton | 4%
|
| A three-part logical argument that involves deductive reasoning to arrive at a conclusion. | All crows are black. That bird is a crow. Therefore, that bird is black. | Syllogism | 4%
|
| The use of one verb to mean two different actions for two different objects. | Weigh your anchor and your vows. | Zeugma | 4%
|
| Repetition of a word or phrase in successive clauses. | The mountains look on Marathon—And Marathon looks on the sea... | Anadiplosis | 2%
|
| Repetition of a phrase or sentence in the reverse order, but not necessarily exactly the same length. | It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the man the oath. | Chiasmus | 2%
|
| A story that is directly based on another piece of art. | Two roads diverged in the busy city, and I—I took the one with slightly fewer cars. | Ekphrasis | 2%
|
| The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning and end of a clause or sentence. | Trust only in the capacity of man to trust. | Epanalepsis | 2%
|
| Imagery that relates to the sense of taste. | The grapefruit was sour, and almost bittersweet. | Gustatory Imagery | 2%
|
| Imagery that relates to motion. | The tempest rushed through the trees, sending leaves flying. | Kinesthetic Imagery | 2%
|
| Imagery that relates to internal emotion. | Faced with this seemingly unending quiz, you struggle with melancholy and fatigue. | Organic Imagery | 2%
|
| A general term for a literary device that emphasizes sound in writing. | Sound Device | 2%
| |
| Repetition of a word in a sentence in which each usage has a different meaning. | To England I will steal, and there I will steal. | Antanaclasis | 0%
|
| Repetition of a phrase or sentence in the reverse grammatical order. | Go, will I? I will go. | Antimetabole | 0%
|
| The repetition of the same words at the end of consecutive clauses or lines. | Once there was nothing here. We saw opportunity here. Now we are here. | Antistrophe | 0%
|
| The use of line breaks that do not interrupt a sentence. | Suddenly the birds were silent. The tree was still and worn. | End-Stopping | 0%
|
| Repetition for the purpose of emphasizing a point. | O woe! O woeful, woeful, woeful day. | Epimone | 0%
|
| The repetition of words in quick succession. | Running, running, running away. | Epizeuxis | 0%
|
| The repetition of the same words at the beginning and end of consecutive sentences or lines. | Surely they will break forth in song. Surely the sailors will be drawn in by that siren song. Surely nothing will remain but song. | Symploce | 0%
|
| A short, descriptive passage of prose with little to no plot advancement. | Vignette | 0%
|