1 "I once heard a story…" "A funny thing happened on my way here…"

Literary Terms

EXAMPLES

1"I once heard a story…" "A funny thing happened on my way here…"

2"You can catch more flies with honey than

vinegar"

3Each year the child's roots grew deeper, her

trunk grew stronger and her branches grew wider.

4Friends make the worst enemies.

5I have a dream…I have a dream…I have a

dream

6It was the best of times; it was the worst of

times.

7Last year's profits were low, and since we

have done nothing new to change the situation, this year's profits will be low.

8Last year's profits were low, Obama is still in

office, so this year's profits will be low.

9liberty, freedom, pride, honor

10Like the red sea parting for Moses, the crowd

moved aside for the police officer.

11Like sands through the hourglass, so are the

days of our lives.

12Now sleeps the crimson petal, now the white.

Now winks the gold fin in the porphyry font.

13Unless we change our strategy, low profits

will require us to lay off dozens of reliable husbands and wives, fathers and mothers.

14With my years of experience in marketing, I

can guide your strategy to success. My previous employer, the CEO of Microsoft, can attest to this.

15What do you expect me to do with this mess?

DEFINITIONS

16Appeal to logic, using facts, figures and

history

17Appeal to emotions

18Appeal to ethics, using the speaker’s own

credibility or citing a higher authority

19a stark contrast between a literal meaning

and a deeper, real layer of significance that is revealed not by the words themselves but the situation and the context in which they are placed.

20Words that are intended to conjure emotions,

whether positive or negative, based on our deep connotations

21drawing parallels or comparisons between

two unrelated and dissimilar things, using “like” or “as”

22one subject is implied to be another so as to

draw a comparison between their similarities and shared traits.

23words and phrases to create “mental images”

for the reader

24a concise statement that is made in a matter

of fact tone to state a principle or an opinion that is generally understood to be a universal truth.

25a short verbal accounting of a funny,

amusing, interesting event or incident.

26a figure of speech whereby the author refers

to a subject matter such as a place, event, or literary work by way of a passing reference. It is up to the reader to make a connection to the subject being mentioned.