| A | B |
|---|
| diction | word choice |
| figurative language | writing or speech that is not meant to be interpreted literally |
| symbolism | anything that stands for, or represents, something else. |
| imagery | word or phrase that appeals to one or more of the five senses (taste, touch, hear, smell, see) |
| idioms | an expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements |
| literal meaning | uses words in their ordinary meaning |
| A "flashy" car symbolizes | wealth |
| A "flag" symbolizes | country |
| A "clock" symbolizes | passage of time |
| To discuss a writer's diction is | to consider the vocabulary used, appropriateness of words, vividness of language |
| informal diction is | conversational |
| metaphors | a figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else |
| similes | a figure of speech in which "like" or "as" is used to make a comparison between two unlike ideas |
| personification | a figure of speech in which a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics |
| Example: raining cats and dogs | is an idiom which means "heavy rain" |
| Example: kick the bucket | idiom which means" died" |
| Example: telling someone on a diving board to dive into the water | literal language |
| Example: telling someone on a street corner to go jump in the lake | figurative language |
| Example: My stomach was a melon / split wide inside my skin | a metaphor |
| Example: The wind--tapped like a tired man | figurative language in which an object "wind" is given human characteristics |
