hi everyone i'm jennifer from
english with jennifer i have the
ambitious goal of presenting 12
literary devices i can't do this in the
blink of an eye
but i promise i won't be as slow as
molasses
hopefully by the time we're through
you'll love these
wonderful witty yet wacky literary
devices
and you'll understand which ones i just
used
let's get started
have you ever faced rejection if you ask
someone out on a date
and they give a polite excuse each time
oh i'm going out of town i have family
visiting
i think you're failing to read between
the lines
the person isn't interested in having
dinner with you
they're not saying this directly you
just have to understand what isn't being
said
to read between the lines is an idiom
it's a figurative expression
a colorful way of speaking
idioms are used in spoken and written
english they're common in movies
and novels in the news and in
conversation
it's important to understand them but
that doesn't mean you have to learn
every idiom under the sun
you also shouldn't try to use idioms in
every single sentence
that won't make your english sound more
natural
remember that some idioms are used only
in a particular variety of english
americans don't understand every british
idiom and vice versa
also there could be idioms that sound
outdated to a younger generation
what do you say you want to hit the hay
as they say on the farm
what do you say darling you want to hit
the hay as they say on the farm
what do you say dog you want to hit the
hay as they say on the farm
similes and metaphors are creative ways
to make comparisons
they're common in poetry but that
doesn't mean that poets have a monopoly
on them
you can use them too similes are
comparisons that use
like or as metaphors
are direct comparisons i'll give you
some examples
and then you can tell me whether there
are similes or metaphors
certain things are like riding a bike
time is money
the child ate all the cookies and then
sat there as
innocent as a lamb
my neighbor has become a thorn in my
side with her constant complaints
wow you look like a million dollars
similes and metaphors allow us to be
creative and colorful
but also concise they should be easy to
understand
we shouldn't have to explain them the
similes and metaphors i just shared
are common if you use them you'll be
understood
i'm clear and clear as a bell an analogy
is similar to a simile or a metaphor
because we're making a comparison
but an analogy has a purpose we use
analogies to explain things
you are stem katya you are fit
together you make love
how should a man and a woman skate in
figure skating
like petals on a stem together they form
a flower that blooms in beauty
a colorful way of putting it right
you are stem you are fit
together you make love
hyperbole appears in spoken and written
english
some people like to make a mountain out
of a molehill
it's just their style to exaggerate they
use
hyperbole telling you that there are a
million reasons why you should study
with me
is an exaggeration i can probably come
up with a couple dozen
but not a million if you'd like more
examples
watch my lesson on hyperbola you'll see
how similes and idioms kind of mix
in with hyperbole don't tell marilla
that i said anything
she'll say i'm interfering wild horses
couldn't drag it from me irony is
something you have to be mature enough
to detect
it can be hard for a young child to
understand the subtle form of humor
irony often has to do with a surprising
situation
an unexpected outcome sometimes we
comment on the irony of a situation
like when steve jobs got fired from
apple and then went back to help the
company and make it great we can say
do you see the irony isn't that ironic
how ironic right
other times irony isn't a surprising
situation
but rather a contrast between our words
and our true thoughts
hearing your neighbors scream at each
other as they argue
may lead you to say well i guess they
feel the need to
open up and share their feelings
that kind of understatement is a form of
irony
sarcasm in my understanding is an
extension of irony
sarcasm is negative it's meant to be
insulting
or confrontational
let's say you know a guy who was stood
up at his wedding
meaning the bride decided not to go
through with it
she didn't come you heartlessly comment
i bet that felt bad the guy
responds with sarcasm
no felt really good thanks for bringing
it up man
you know my parents died when i was 10
would you like to talk about that
puns are humorous word play advertisers
especially like to play with what words
mean
and how words sound i was searching
online and i came across
a vietnamese restaurant out in
california
called good for you it made me smile and
chuckle
good foe you that's a play on words foe
is the name of the soup and it sounds a
lot like
four good for you good foe you
that's a clever and memorable pun that's
good marketing
if i were in the area i'd try their faux
soup
puns can make use of homophones and i
have a lesson on that by the way
i'll put the link in the video
description journalists and reporters
sometimes use puns like bill murray's
character
in groundhog day he gives a report on
february 2nd and he's waiting for the
groundhog named phil
to make its prediction so i guess the
question we have to ask ourselves today
is
does phil feel lucky
so i guess the question we have to ask
ourselves today is does phil
feel lucky parallelism is something i
usually talk about in the context of
grammar
and writing parallel structure is about
having grammatically equal terms
in pairs or a series of items for
example neither too
hard nor too difficult
as a literary device parallelism is
about using repetition
repetition of structures for emphasis
we have parallelism in many of our
sayings and proverbs
no pain no gain nothing
ventured nothing gained you'll also hear
it in movies
we came we saw we kicked it you don't
want to have too much repetition
especially in your writing
but a small amount can be effective
parallelism
can convey an idea clearly
the delivery can be strong and memorable
we will not go quietly into the night
we will not vanish without a fight
we're going to live on we're going to
survive
personification is giving human
qualities to inanimate objects
non-human things i read an example at my
new year's eve live stream
in tennyson's poem ring out while bells
he writes
the year is dying in the night ring out
wild bells
and let him die the poet thinks of the
passing year
as a person dying
there are some conversational
expressions that use personification
like opportunity knocks when opportunity
knocks
open the door fortune smiles on someone
fortune was smiling on me the day i met
you
opportunity is knocking at the door if
you don't want to answer it fine
an oxymoron is formed when we put two
words together
and it seems like they contradict each
other but instead the meaning is clear
and strong
in my grammar lesson on intensifiers and
downtoners
i taught the phrase awfully good it
means
really good that's an oxymoron
she's an awfully good reporter right in
one of my bonus videos for patreon
members
i taught ways to organize information
for example names can appear
in alphabetical order from a to z
other times names might be listed in
random order
there's no logic to it so random order
is an oxymoron
listen for more oxymorons
it was the only choice possible choice
implies
two or more options right so how can we
talk about our only choice
but we do it means the only thing we can
do
act naturally if you're acting how is it
natural or normal but act naturally is a
common phrase
onomatopoeia is a lot of fun although
it's a difficult word to spell
i bet you know some examples already
here are just a few
boom hiss zip
meow these words imitate the sounds they
describe
the pitter patter of raindrops is
another good example
the pitter patter of raindrops is the
sound of rain as it hits a surface
check out my lesson on onomatopoeia to
learn more
especially animal sounds do you know
what a dog
a frog and a cow say in english
i'll put all links in the video
description
alliteration is our last literary device
americans love to use it especially in
names
janet jackson ronald reagan
marilyn monroe alliteration is the use
of repetitive sounds
we usually repeat the first consonant
sound but repetition can also be in the
middle of a word
we also like to repeat vowel sounds
alliteration
makes a name sound more musical
when i created some of my levels on
patreon i used alliteration
after member comes truly marvelous
member
and then absolutely amazing member
can you think of any businesses or
celebrities with alliteration in their
names
ned ryerson
needle knows ned ned come on buddy
we did it 12 literary devices worth
knowing
look out for them try using them a bit
and i'll just be
jumping for joy if you decide to like
and share this video
remember i have tons of other topics so
be sure to check out my other playlists
as always thanks for watching and happy
studies
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