Things we should know

Metaphor

Transferring to one word the sense of another. One thing is likened to another as if it were the other.

Examples: Screaming headlines, He made an ass of himself, it stirred our emotions, Life is a lark.

Allegory

A story where people, things or happenings have another meaning, used in teaching or explaining.

Examples: The ship of state has sailed through rougher storms than the tempest of these lobbyists.

Example of Allegory
The Faerie Queene
by
Edmund Spenser
Lo I the man, whose Muse whilome did maske,
As time her taught, in lowly Shepheards weeds,
Am now enforst a far vnfitter taske,
For trumpets sterne to chaunge mine Oaten reeds,
And sing of Knights and Ladies gentle deeds;
Whose prayses hauing slept in silence long,
Me, all too meane, the sacred Muse areeds
To blazon broad emongst her learned throng:
Fierce warres and faithfull loues shall moralize my song.

Parable

To throw beside, to compare. A story with a moral or enigmatic saying.

Examples:
Firefly's Light: A Parable on letting your light shine
Firefly is proud of the light on his tail. He is so proud he shows off and brags. He soon discovers that it is better to just let his light shine than to try to shine his light.
Esmeralda's Crown: A parable on living for JesusEsmerelda is a child of God. She lives her life for Him. When she gets to heaven she receives her crown of life. But what she does with her crown may be a surprise.

Fable

A fiction tale in which animals or other creatures are used to convey a meaning.

Examples:

"A famished fox saw some clusters of ripe black grapes hanging from a trellised vine. She resorted to all her tricks to get at them, but wearied herself in vain, for she could not reach them. At last she turned away, hiding her disappointment and saying: 'The Grapes are sour, and not ripe as I thought.'"

"A fox, seeing some sour grapes hanging within an inch of his nose, and being unwilling to admit that there was anything he would not eat, solemnly declared that they were out of his reach."

Euphemism

To use an auspicious word for an inauspicious word, a less distasteful word for another that is crude.
Examples: He passed away.
They are going to the powder room.

Onomatopoeia

To make a word by imitating the sound or noise of the object.

Examples:
The buzzing of innumerable bees
The "zz" and "mm" sounds in these words imitate the actual sounds of bees.
hiss, splash, bong, clack, splat, swish,

Personification

Where a person represents some quality, thing or idea,

Examples: Cupid, the Wise Old Man, The Greek Gods.

Necklace is a friend
"Necklace is a friend" is an example of personification because Necklace is a thing, and necklaces cannot be friends. Only living things can have friends.

"Wind yells while blowing"
"Wind yells while blowing" is an example of personification because wind cannot yell. Only a living thing can yell.

Examples:

Irony

Humorous or sarcastic expression where the meaning of the words is the exact opposite.
Examples: It was ironic that the fireboat burned and sank
Maybe this will help you a person that’s blind finds another who is also blind but successful and heirs the irony the blind hobo was the cause of the rich guys blindness.
Simile
Examples: The icecicles shimmered like precious diamonds .

The falling snow was as beautiful as butterflies fluttering around a flower garden .
Hyperbole
Greek- Throwing beyond excess, exaggeration for effect.

Examples: That story is as old as time.

My sister uses much make-up so she broke a chisel trying to get it off last night!"
Synecdoche

When the whole is substituted for the part or part for the whole.

Examples: Man does not live by bread alone.
Tiger Christ unsheathed his sword,
Threw it down, became a lamb.
Swift spat upon the species, but
Took two women to his heart.
Samson who was strong as death
Paid his strength to kiss a slut.
Othello that stiff warrior
Was broken by a woman's...