Literary Device Vocabulary: Examples from ROMEO AND JULIET

alliteration “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes”
allusion “not be hit With Cupid’s arrow. She hath Dian’s wit”
analogy “What’s in a name? That which we call a roseBy any other word would smell as sweet”
assonance “Cry but ‘Ay me!’ pronounce but ‘love’ and ‘dove'”
cliche “She was as busy as a bee”
consonance “I will cook the duck in the crock”
euphemism “star-crossed lovers”
hyperbole “Alack, there lies more peril in thine eyes/ than twenty of their swords…”
idiom “Nay, if our wits run the wild-goose chase, I am done, for thou hast more of the wild-goose in one of thy wits than, I am sure, I have in my whole five”
imagery “With purple fountains issuing from your veins”
irony Romeo causes Mercutio’s death when he tries to stop the fight between Mercutio and Tybalt.
metaphor “My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand”
onomatopoeia “He swung about his head and cut the winds, Who, nothing hurt withal, hissed him in scorn”
oxymoron “heavy lightness””serious vanity” “loving hate”
paradox It takes Romeo and Juliet’s violent deaths to bring peace to the Montague and Capulet families.
personification “The gray-eyed morn smiles on the frowning night”
pun Mercutio says, “Ask for me in the morning and you shall find me a grave man.”
simile “Love goes towards love as schoolboys from their books”
August 22, 2019