Literary Term Examples

Apostrophe: Ancestors, bring me the courage from your experiences.
This is an apostrophe because it makes reference to people who are not alive.

Irony: She said, "I don't care if I die tomorrow," but the next day the girl died.
This is irony because it contradicts the speaker’s idea.

Metonymy: She drank a cup of tea. She drank a mug of tea.
This ia a metonymy because cup is replaced with a similar noun, AKA "mug".

Paradox: The canopener was created 47 years after the can.
This is a paradox because it's true even though it seems unrealistic.

Personification: The wind whispered in my ear, "Turn back now!"
This is a personification becuase the wind is given the human quality of whispering.

Synecdoche: Room 122 was so silent that you could hear a pin drop.
This is a synecdoche because Room 122 is representing the whole school.

Tautology: The big, loud, horn, made a screeching honk that blasted everyone's eardrums.
This is tautology because there are unnecessary repetition of the same idea, just in different words, within the same sentence.

Understatement: "It's just a few cuts and scars," he said nonchalantly.
This is an understatement because it's making the accident seem smaller than it really is, the purpose being to make a bigger point.