Literary Terms by Brendan O.
A Dark And Stormy Night
Simile: Using the words “like” or “as” to compare two different things.
“It was a low, dull, quick sound-much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton.” It is comparing a sound to the sound a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. cockpitcompany.com
Metaphor: When authors say one thing is something else without using the words “like” or “as”.
“Even as he touched it, the general sensed his danger and leaped back with the agility of an ape”. It is comparing his quickness to the agility of an ape. www.flickr.com
Personification: Making something not alive seem like it is actually alive.
“The muttering and growling of the sea breaking on a rocky shore”. It is making it seem like the ocean is actually alive by saying that it is actually muttering and growling. www.shutterstock.com
Simile
“But his thick eyebrows and pointed military mustache were as black as the night from which Rainsford had come”. It is comparing his eyebrows and mustache to the night that Rainsford had just come from. www.kwaree.com
Metaphor
“He had the eye of a vulture”. It is comparing his eye to a vulture’s eye. elanathinks.blogspot.com
Personification
“It was set on a high bluff, and on three sides of it cliffs dived down to where the sea licked greedy lips in the shadows”. It is making it seem like the sea is alive by saying that it is licking its lips. www.sodahead.com
Simile
“Giant rocks with razor edges crouch like a sea monster with wide-open jaws.” It is comparing the rocks with razor edges to a sea monster with its jaws wide-open. tastingthewaves.wordpress.com
Metaphor
“Yes, he was stone, stone dead.” It is comparing his dead body to a stone. www.leespage.ca
Personification
“Twenty feet below him the sea rumbled and hissed.” It is making it seem like the sea is actually alive by saying that it is hissing. continuouswave.com