JELLA MAE T.

YCALINA

A. ALLUSION

1. She smiles like a Cheshire cat. (Alice in Wonderland)

2. His job is like pulling a sword out of a stone. (King Arthur Legend)
3. Is there an Einstein in your physics class? (Albert Einstein)
4. My math teacher is he who must not be named. (Voldemort from the Harry Potter series)
5. I want to sound like Queen B. (Beyoncé)
6. Today might be the Ides of March. (Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar)
7. Now might be a good time to sit in my thinking chair. (Blue’s Clues)
8. I have a caped crusader costume. (Batman)
9. Does it count if we were on a break? (Friends)
10. I’m listening to the king. (Elvis Presley)
11. She turned the other cheek after she was cheated out of a promotion.
12. s place is like a Garden of Eden.
13. You are a Solomon when it comes to making decisions.
14. When the volcano erupted, the nearby forest was swallowed up in dust and ash like Jonah
15. It’s been raining for 40 days and 40 nights.
16. His smile is like kryptonite to me. (Superman’s weakness)
17. She felt like she had a golden ticket. (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
18. That guy is young, scrappy, and hungry. (Hamilton)
19. I wish I could just click my heels. (The Wizard of Oz)
20. If I’m not home by midnight, my car might turn into a pumpkin. (Cinderella)

B. ANTITHESIS

1. Go big or go home.
2. Spicy food is heaven on the tongue but hell in the tummy.
3. Those who can, do; those who can’t do, teach.
4. Get busy living or get busy dying.
5. Speech is silver but silence is gold.
6. No pain, no gain.
7. It’s not a show, friends; it’s show business.
8. No guts, no glory.
9. A moment on the lips; a lifetime on the hips.
10. If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.
11. Man proposes, God disposes.
12. Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing.
13. To err is human; to forgive divine.
14. That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
15. Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.
16. Many are called, but few are chosen.
17. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
18. Speech is silver, but silence is gold.
19. Rude words bring about sadness, but kind words inspire joy.
20. Temperance leads to happiness; intemperance ends, in general, to misery.

C. APOSTROPHE

1. “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?”

2. “Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy
3. “Ingratitude, thou marble-hearted fiend, more hideous when thou show’st thee in a child
than the sea-monster!”
4. “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch
thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.” 
5. Love, who needs you?
6. Come on, Phone, give me a ring!
7. Chocolate, why must you be so delicious?
8. Alarm clock, please don’t fail me.
9. Seven, you are my lucky number!
10. Thank you, my guardian angel, for this parking space!
11. Heaven, help us.
12. Then come, sweet death, and rid me of this grief.
13. O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth. 
14. Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean – roll!
15. Welcome, O life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to
forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.
16. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How
often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her
wings, and you would not have it! 
17. Ugh, cell phone, why won’t you load my messages?
18. Oh, Starbucks, how I love you! Your medium dark roast allowed me to survive that
meeting!
19. Oh what a world it seems we live in.
20. (While speaking on the phone with someone) “Hold, on, my kid’s going crazy—Jim,
come back here, stop running with scissors.”

D. HYPERBOLE

1. There’s enough food on the table to feed an entire army!

2. I’m so hungry, I could eat an elephant.
3. It took forever to climb the hill.
4. My legs felt like jelly after riding the rollercoaster.
5. These shoes are killing me!
6. He’s running faster than the wind.
7. The teacher asked us to be quiet a million times.
8. It was so cold, even the polar bears were shivering.
9. This bag weighs a ton.
10. There were a million questions in the math test today.
11. That man is as tall as a house.
12. That trend is as old as the dinosaurs.
13. This is the worst day of my life.
14. I’d never do that. Not in a million years!
15. My dad will kill me when he comes home.
16. That guy has tons of money.
17. Your skin is softer than silk.
18. She’s as skinny as a toothpick.
19. She was so happy; her smile was a mile wide.
20. The footballer is the best player of all time.

E. IRONY

1. A fire station that burns down

2. Winner of a spelling bee failing a spelling test
3. A t-shirt with a “Buy American” logo that is made in China
4. Marriage counselor divorcing the third wife
5. Sending a Christmas card to someone who is Jewish
6. Leaving a car wash at the beginning of a downpour
7. A dentist needing a root canal
8. Going on a blind date with someone who is visually impaired
9. A police station being burglarized
10. Purchasing a roll of stamps a day before the price to send a letter increases.
11. After looking at a student’s poor test score, the teacher says, “You will surely finish the
year with highest honors”.
12. A man tastes his wife’s delicious home- cooked meal and exclaims, “I shall never eat this
food ever again”.
13. After they kissed, the groom, with a smile on his face, muttered to his bride, “This is the
day I will always want to forget”.
14. Dr. Johnson smokes a pack of cigarettes a day.
15. Our boss, the owner of a big construction firm, cannot fix his house’s broken ceiling.
16. The defence lawyer failed to acquit his son in a case.
17. In “Saving Private Ryan”, the group of soldiers were hopeless they could find Private
James Ryan alive, but the audience knew from the start that Private Ryan went on to live
until his later years.
18. The wife believed that her husband died in an airplane crash and but the audience was
aware that the husband had survived.
19. Readers knew that Caitlyn’s character in the novel “A Song for Caitlin” would eventually
die but the other characters never even knew she was sick.
20. Sweden’s Icehotel, built of snow and ice, contains fire alarms.

F. LITOTES

1. He’s not the friendliest person.

2. It wasn’t a terrible trip.
3. She’s not unkind.
4. They aren’t unhappy with the presentation.
5. Not too shabby!
6. The two concepts are not unlike each other.
7. She’s no spring chicken.
8. It’s not exactly a walk in the park.
9. Her cooking isn’t terrible, exactly.
10. Ireland is no ordinary country.
11. Geoffrey, this isn’t rocket science.
12. Your commentary on their relationship was less than smart.
13. In truth, I can’t argue with any of your assertions.
14. All in all, she wasn’t a bad dancer.
15. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
16. He’s not unlike his older brother.
17. They spent seven months apart; that’s no small amount of time.
18. She’s not the sharpest knife in the box.
19. Your kitchen isn’t disorderly, per se.
20. You won’t be sorry you bought a kitchen organizer.

G. METAPHOR

1. Laughter is the best medicine.

2. She is just a late bloomer.
3. Is there a black sheep in your family?
4. His heart of stone surprised me.
5. I smell success in this building.
6. He’s buried in a sea of paperwork.
7. There is a weight on my shoulder.
8. Time is money.
9. No man is an island.
10. That actor is a tall drink of water.
11. Age is a state of mind.
12. Last night I slept the sleep of the dead.
13. The new parents had stars in their eyes.
14. The criminal has blood on his hands.
15. There is a garden in her face.
16. Our family is a patchwork quilt.
17. She has been living in a bubble.
18. Your argument is a slippery slope.
19. We found it under a blanket of sand.
20. I’m pleased to meet your better half.

H. METONYMY

1. I’m a Silicon Valley guy. I just think people from Silicon Valley can do anything.

2. Most of the successful people in Hollywood are failures as human beings.
3. The media, like anything else, can be bought. Everything, it seems, has its price. Even the
free press.
4. The coast is an edgy place. Living on the coast presents certain stark realities and a wild,
rare beauty.
5. I think authors can get into a lot of trouble viewing the subject matter as their turf.
6. Ebony and ivory
Live together in perfect harmony
Side by side on my piano keyboard
Oh lord, why don’t we?
7. Stones would play inside her head.
And where she slept, they made her bed.
And she would ache for love and get
But stones.
8. “What would I do without your smart mouth?
Drawing me in, and you kicking me out
‘Cause all of me
Loves all of you.
9. When he entered the Oval Office — by fate, not by design — Citizen Ford knew that he
was not perfect, just as he knew he was not perfect when he left. But what president ever
was?
10. You want a friend in Washington? Get a dog.
11. More has been screwed up on the battlefield and misunderstood in the Pentagon because
of a lack of understanding of the English language than anything else.
12. God has given such brave soldiers to this Crown that, if they do not frighten our
neighbors, at least they prevent us from being frightened by them.
13. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.
14. To die, to sleep — No more — and by a sleep to say we end the heartache and the
thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to — ’tis a consummation devoutly to be
wished.
15. You must know that in a settled and civilized ocean like our Atlantic, for example, some
skippers think little of pumping their whole way across it; though of a still, sleepy night,
should the officer of the deck happen to forget his duty in that respect, the probability
would be that he and his shipmates would never again remember it, on account of
all hands gently subsiding to the bottom.
16. I went and told the Widow about it, and she said the thing a body could get by praying for
it was ‘spiritual gifts’.
17. I know a man that had this trick of melancholy sold a goodly manor for a song.
18. There are many examples of metonymy in the titles of films and TV shows, including
“House of Cards,” “Golden Girls,” and “Rags to Riches,” to name a few.
19. “The pen is mightier than the sword.”
20. “If you’re going through hell, keep going.”

I. ONOMATOPOEIA

1. Those clucking chickens are driving me crazy!

2. The dim-witted pigeon repulsed us with its nerve crawling coo.
3. If you’re going to cough, please cover your mouth.
4. The prisoner was terrified to hear the crack of the whip.
5. We roasted marshmallows over the crackling fire.
6. The two-year old crashed into the cabinet.
7. The cabinet opened with a distinct creak.
8. Dissatisfied with her work, Beth crinkled up the paper and threw it in the trash.
9. The swamp frogs croaked in unison.
10. The teacher heard the distinct crunch of ruffled potato chips.
11. Jacob could not sleep with the steady drip-drop of water coming from the sink.
12. The root beer fizzed over the top of the mug.
13. The flag flapped in wind.
14. Did you forget to flush the toilet?
15. Daryl gargled the mouthwash.
16. The wounded soldier groaned.
17. As Tom got closer, the dog began growling.
18. Juan had a hard time hearing the teacher over his grumbling stomach.
19. When Mom asked Tommy how his day went, Tommy just grunted.
20. Vince gulped down the Mountain Dew.

J. OXYMORON

1. An elderly woman right talk about her adult children who live in a mobile home.
2. If you're in school to become an educator, you might have to spend a semester as
a student teacher.
3. Or if you would prefer to get your master's degree, you'll be a graduate student.
4. My high school mascot was a stallion, so our female athletes were called the Lady
Stallions. If you didn't know, a stallion refers to a male horse.
5. You might eat vegan bacon and fresh frozen fruit when you take a working vacation. Just
try not to get freezer burn.
6. Even if you're a wise fool you can show real potential.
7. Maybe you've told a joke only to get deafening silence in response.
8. Countries engage in civil war or fight holy wars to defend those with blue blood.
9. On the nightly news, you might hear about an escaped prisoner or a controversy with
a foreign national.
10. Perhaps a soldier was killed by friendly fire. Some of the stories might even be old news!
11. As a kid, you might have attended a slumber party where you played practical jokes on
your friends.
12. You probably tried to act natural so no one would know what you were up to. We just
hope you were never an uninvited guest!
13. “I always avoid prophesying beforehand because it is much better to
prophesy after the event has already taken place. ”
14. “It’s a step forward although there was no progress.”
15. “Nothing was stolen. I had an honest thief.” 
16. “We must believe in free will. We have no choice.
17. “I am a deeply superficial person.”
18. Down the close darkening lanes they sang their way
To the siding-shed,
And lined the train with faces grimly gay.
Their breasts were stuck all white with wreath and spray
As men’s are, dead.
19. As for believing things, I can believe anything, provided that it is quite incredible.
20. All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

K. PARADOX

1. Save money by spending it.

2. If I know one thing, it's that I know nothing.
3. This is the beginning of the end.
4. Deep down, you're really shallow.
5. I'm a compulsive liar.
6. "Men work together whether they work together or apart." - Robert Frost
7. "What a pity that youth must be wasted on the young." - George Bernard Shaw
8. "I can resist anything but temptation." - Oscar Wilde
9. Here are the rules: Ignore all rules.
10. The second sentence is false. The first sentence is true.
11. I only message those who do not message.
12. do the thing you think you cannot do
13. you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t
14. the enemy of my enemy is my friend
15. the beginning of the end
16. if you don’t risk anything, you risk everything
17. earn money by spending it
18. nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent
19. The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword
20. the more you give, the more you get.

L. PERSONIFICATION

1. She sat down at the tired, overworked desk. 

2. Coming home from the lake empty-handed, I figured the fish colluded to avoid me.
3. The child’s stare begged me to take him out for ice cream even though I’d already said
no.
4. The image of a cozy hammock on a tropical beach spoke enticingly to him. 
5. The perfectly sun-kissed strawberries were calling my name, so I bought them to go with
dessert.
6. More birds joined the chorus, turning the sparrow’s solo into an ensemble performance. 
7. “Meow,” the cat explained, arguing why I should give her another treat. (“Meow” is
onomatopoeia.)
8. Their paintbrush was their teacher and, like a teacher, guided them through the challenges
they faced on the canvas. (“Like a teacher” is a simile.)
9. The courthouse stood tall, looming over them as they waited outside for their trial to
begin. (In this example, “stood tall, looming over them” is both personification and
symbolism, with the courthouse’s imposing appearance symbolizing the government’s
power.)
10. Make it easier for readers to empathize with it
11. Make a human character’s relationship with the non-human clearer to readers
12. Make it easier for the reader to empathize with the human characters in the story
13. Demonstrate the non-human’s role in the story more clearly
14. “The heart wants what it wants—or else it does not care . . .” —Emily Dickinson.
(See  Literary Devices: The Ultimate Guide.)
15. The clock glared at me menacingly. (See The Ultimate Guide to Phrases.)
16. It was a joyful bouquet. Each flower had a distinct, vibrant face, and together, they were a
happy choir of enthusiastic friends, ready to break into song at any moment. (See How to
Take Descriptive Writing to the Next Level.)
17. “Blackberries . . . I had not asked for such a blood sisterhood; they must love me.
18. They accommodate themselves to my milkbottle, flattening their sides.”
—“Blackberrying” by Sylvia Plath
19. “There is something subversive about this garden of Serena’s. . . . . It breathes, in the
warmth, breathing itself in.”  —The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
20. “Do you recall what was revealed the day the music died?” —American Pie by Don
McLean 

M. SIMILE

1. As clean as a whistle
Example: The maid has done a good job, the hall is as clean as a whistle
2. As soft as velvet
Example: I just love my new blanket, it is as soft as velvet!
3. As sharp as a razor
Example: In spite of being over 75 years of age, my grandmother’s mind is as sharp as a
razor.
4. As white as snow
Example: The clothes she wore were as white as snow.
5. As white as a ghost
Example: Her face became as white as a ghost when she spotted the burglar in her house.
6. As fresh as a daisy
Example: You still look as fresh as a daisy after finishing all the work!
7. As stiff as a board
Example: I am sure that he is very nervous, he is standing as stiff as a board on the stage.
8. As proud as a peacock
Example: She is as proud as a peacock after getting selected for the lead role in the
drama.
9. As gentle as a lamb
Example: My grandmother may seem scary to others, but she is actually as gentle as a
lamb.
10. As bright as a button
Example: She seems to be as bright as a button!
11. As strong as an ox
Example: Although he has lost some weight, he is still as strong as an ox.
12. As hot as hell
Example: How can you bear to go out in this weather? It is as hot as hell!
13. As tough as leather
Example: My brother can help you in moving all this furniture, he is as tough as leather!
14. As bright as the moon
Example: Her eyes shined as bright as the moon on receiving her birthday gift.
15. As thin as a rake
Example: How can you eat so much and still be as thin as a rake?
16. As wise as an owl
Example: This problem seems tough! You can only solve this if you are as wise as an
owl!
17. As clear as crystal
Example: She loved visiting the lake high up in the mountains, whose water was as clear
as crystal.
18. As smooth as silk
Example: Her voice is as smooth as silk.
19. As stubborn as mule
Example: It’s no use trying to change his mind, that man is as stubborn as a mule.
20. As silent as the grave
Example: He knew something was wrong when he found his friends as silent as the
grave.

N. SYNECDOCHE

1. Sails are used to refer to a ship, for example, “the pirates boarded the sails and set out to
sea.“
2. Wheels are used to refer to a car, for example, “my dad has brought me a new set of
wheels.“
3. Hired hands are used to refer to the workers of any given place, for example, “the hired
hands do all the hard work.“
4. A hand is used to refer to the action of clapping for example “let’s give the singers a
hand.“
5. A hand can also refer to helping someone, for example, to lend a hand.
6. Bread can be used to refer to food that is earned, for example, “I am the breadwinner of
the household.”
7. Boots are used to refer to soldiers, for example, “the boots guarded the area in case of
invaders.”
8. Bubbly is used to refer to the drink, Champagne which contains bubbles, for example,
“let’s crack open some bubble and celebrate my new job.“
9. “The world is against me.” This example uses the word world to refer to everyone.
10. “The Huffington Post wrote a very interesting story.” Here, synecdoche is used by
referring to one journalist as the Huffington Post.
11. The word suit is used to refer to businessmen. For example “John has a pretty boring job
as one of the suits.“
12. Glasses can be used to refer to any sort of eyewear, for example, “I have to wear glasses
to be able to read.“
13. The heart is used to refer to love or romance, for example, “I love you so much that I give
you my heart.“
14. The word glass can be used to refer to a drink, for example, “Can you buy me another
glass.“
15. The sword can be used to refer to killing, even though killing can be achieved by more
than just a sword, for example, “the soldiers all faced the sword.“
16. "Nice wheels!" A synecdoche in which "wheels" stand in for the car that they are a part
of.

17. "Hurry up, gray beard!" A not very polite synecdoche, in which an old man's "gray
beard" stands in for his whole being.

18. "What's the head count?" The person asking this question is interested not just in the
number of heads, but rather in the number of people to whom the heads belong.

19. "Denver won 4-2" A whole-to-part synecdoche in which the name of the entire city of
Denver is used to mean one of its sports teams.

20. "The brains helped me with my homework." A part-to-whole synecdoche in which smart

students are referred to as "brains"—the brain being, of course, only one part of them.