What is an allusion?

In today's video, we'll learn about understanding literary illusions. A literary illusion is an indirect reference to a person place or event found in another piece of literature. For example, you might come across a phrase like this one. This is a herculean task. In this case, the reference being made is to Hercules a hero in ancient Greek mythology. A herculean task refers to something that is enormously or incredibly difficult. So having this reference to the story of Hercules and understanding the connection can help us understand this reference in a deeper way. Let's take a closer look at literary illusions and how they work in literature. Literary allusions offer a new way of seeing and understanding the material that we read. For example, literary allusions often engage the reader with an inside joke. That is, if you're able to catch the reference being made, then you'll understand the material in a deeper way. Literary allusions also help us to make meaningful connections. With other pieces of literature, for example, if you understand the story or the character that's being referenced, then you're able to connect the two texts in a meaningful way. Finally, literary illusions provide new and insightful understanding of the material that we read. Here we have an excerpt from the love song of J Alfred prufrock by T.S. Eliot. Take a minute to pause this video and read this excerpt for yourself. See if you can find any literary illusions as you read. Now that you've read this excerpt, you probably identified this reference. To somebody named Lazarus, who seems to be from the dead. After doing a little bit of research, we can find out that Lazarus is from a story in the Bible, specifically in the book of John, in which Jesus brings his friend Lazarus back to life after he has been dead for four days. Knowing this literary illusion and making connections between the poem and the biblical reference that it uses can help us understand the poem and how it explores themes of life and death. Whenever you come across a literary illusion, which may look like a reference that you don't know or understand at first. Take the time to research the reference. Understand the literary illusions will help you to make connections and understand what you read in a whole new way.