Metaphor & Figuration
Allusion
Referring to another text, event, or figure without fully explaining it. Recognizing the reference adds associations that the passage leaves unstated.
"all men are created equal" inside the Gettysburg Address — importing the Declaration.
Don't confuse it with Metalepsis. Quotation announces its borrowing; allusion smuggles it. Metalepsis is allusion at a further remove, referencing through a chain.
Examples
After opening the forbidden file, she wished she had left Pandora’s box shut.
Pandora’s box invokes a prior myth about releasing troubles.
Often used alongside this device
Explore devices that often appear in the same passages as allusion.
Anaphora 8 Parenthesis 7 Passive Voice 6 Parallelism 5 Metaphor 5 Paradox 5 Asyndeton 4 Litotes 4
The rest of the family
Metaphor Simile Catachresis Metonymy Synecdoche Personification Prosopopoeia Pathetic Fallacy Transferred Epithet / Hypallage Metalepsis Symbol Mythopoesis