Allusion: a reference to a historical event or person. Allusions are also made to events and persons from literature and other media (film, television, etc.).
—Writing and Rhetoric
When I posted "This is the Moment" from "Jekyll and Hyde," I was intending for the triumphant lyrics and stirring music to support my enthusiastic take on life. It was only after I posted it that I learned that in the play (which I have never seen), the song comes right before Jekyll takes a potion that turns him into Hyde and ruins his life. After reading my post, some people who were familiar with the play might have thought I was going to go mad or something.
That wasn't what I was thinking of at all when I posted it.
Although I don't plan to remove the post, because the song is amazingly awesome and I love it, and also because the song itself expresses what I was intending, I have since been thinking more about allusion. Without realizing it, I was alluding to something I was unaware of, and I possibly tampered with the intended effect of my post as a result.
Now I'm going to give a little example of allusion, where I actually know what I'm alluding to. First, here's a scripture:
"For they were set to be a light unto the world, and to be the saviors of men."
—D&C 103:9
Here's a video clip to go with it. My claim is that those in the scripture are like those in the clip. If you know a little backstory about each one, you'll realize what I'm trying to say through allusion. (On a side note, if you listen carefully, you'll notice the song itself has an allusion to the scriptures.)
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