| Allusion: Figure of explication using a brief or casual reference to a famous person, historical event, place, or work of art. It is important to stress that the referent of an allusion be generally well-known. Sources include history, myth, and the Bible. Contemporary instances of allusion extend to media created content, events, and persons -- even to the extent that a character in one movie may use an allusion in referring to a fictional, but nonetheless well-known, event or person from another movie. Popular music lyrics are a further source of allusion. | |
| Examples | |
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"And finally you’re all familiar with Dr.
Wilmut's cloned sheep. We actually missed the real story behind this. We’re so
interested in talking about when this will happen with humans. (And, by the way,
if we haven’t already done it somewhere, the cloning of a human being is likely
anytime. It’s no longer a theoretical issue; it’s just a question of who’s going
to do it.) The real story behind the sheep is that Dr. Wilmut created the
prototype for bioindustrial design. He’s the Henry Ford of the Biotech Century.
It is now possible to replicate in countless numbers exact copies of an original
living creature with the same kind of quality controls and engineering standards
we did using mass production and assembly line factory work with inert
materials. That’s what’s so important about this animal. We moved from the
industrial age to the bioindustrial age." -- Jeremy Rifkin, The BioTech Century |
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"And I can pledge our nation
to a goal: When we see that wounded traveler on the road to Jericho,
we will not pass to the other side." -- George W. Bush, 2000 Inaugural Address Note: The reference here is to the biblical character in the parable about the good Samaritan. |
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