1.
Imagery is used in literature to refer to
descriptive language that evokes sensory experience
·
Jimi Hendrix’s “Castles Made Of Sand”; “As she
slams the door in his drunken face”
·
Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well”
2.
Hyperbole is a figure in speech in which
statements are exaggerated to evoke strong feelings
·
Ray Charles’ “Drown In My Own Tears”; “I’m
drowning in my own tears”
·
Beyoncé’s “End of Time”
3.
Allegory is a figurative mode of representation
conveying a meaning other than the literal
·
Rush’s “The Trees”; “And they wonder why the
maples/Can’t be happy in their shade”
·
Ed Sheeran’s “Lego House”
4.
Alliteration is the repeating of the same
consonant sound at the beginning of several words
·
CSNY’s “Helplessly Hoping”; “Heartlessly helping
himself to her bad dreams”
·
Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me”
5.
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds
·
Wu-Tang Clan’s “Iron Flag”; “One boot off he
Rudolph”
·
Eminem’s “Lose Yourself”
6.
Consonance is the repetition of the same
consonant two or more times in short succession
·
Jack Johnson’s “Sleep Through The Static”;
“Because it’s a battle when you dabble in war”
·
Ed Sheeran’s “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You”
7.
Local Color is imagery that focuses on specific
features
·
The Byrds’ “Lover of the Bayou”; “I drank the
blood from a rusty can”
·
Chris Brown’s “Forever”
8.
Double Entendre is a phrase that could be
interpreted two ways
·
Tom Petty’s “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”; “Last
dance with Mary Jane/One more time to kill the pain”
·
Kelly Clarkson’s “Because Of You”
9.
Oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines two
normally contradicted terms
·
Govt. Mule’s “Beautifully Broken”; “She’s so
beautifully broken”
·
Taylor Swift’s “Sad Beautiful Tragic”
10.
Irony is a situation in which there is an
incongruity that goes beyond the most evident meaning
·
Soundgarden’s “Burden in My Hand”; “kill
everything you love”
·
Ed Sheeran’s “Kiss Me”
11.
Paradox is a statement that leads to a
contradiction
·
Ozzy Osbourne’s “I Just Want You”; “There are no
identical twins”
·
Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold”
12.
Tone is the underlying attitude of the
songwriter
·
Pink Floyd’s “Have a Cigar”; arrogant
·
MKTO’s “Classic” nostalgic
13.
Point of View is determined by who the speaker
is talking to
·
Billy Joel’s “Allentown”; First person narrative
·
Chris Brown’s “Should’ve Kissed You” First
Person Narrative