allegory
A form of extended metaphor in which objects, persons, and action in a narrative are equated with meanings that lie outside the narrative text itself.
alliteration
the repetition of initial consonant sounds
allusion
An indirect reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art (usually conveying a meaning beyond the literal).
ambivalence
The existence of mutually conflicting feelings or attitudes.
anachronism
when an author puts an object in a time period in which it does not belong
analogy
Compares two things, which are alike in several respects, for the purpose of explaining or clarifying some unfamiliar or difficult idea or object by showing how the idea or object is similar to some familiar one.
antithesis
Juxtaposition of contrasting words or ideas (often, although not always, in parallel structure)
aphorism
a wise saying that bears repetition
apostrophe
A figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses an inanimate object or an absent or a personified quality.
chiasmus
grammatical structure of the first clause or phrase is reversed in the second, sometimes repeating the same words
connotation
The set of associations that occur to people when they hear or read a word.
dramatic irony
A contradiction between what a character thinks and what the reader, audience, or another character in the story knows to be true.
epiphany
A sudden understanding or realization which prior to this time was not thought of or understood.
euphemism
A device where being indirect replaces directness to avoid unpleasantness
foreshadowing
The use in a literary work of clues that suggest events that have yet to occur.
hyperbole
A deliberate exaggeration or overstatement.
idiom
A use of words, a construction peculiar to a given language or an expression that cannot be translated literally into a second language.
juxtaposition
A poetic and rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to one another for the purpose of comparison, often creating an effect of surprise and wit.
litotes
A special form of understatement in which we affirm something by negating its contrary.
malapropism
The intentional misuse of a word by using one that sounds similar.
metonymy
A figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it.
motif
Recurrent images, words, phrases, objects, traits, actions, or ideas that tend to unify the work.
oxymoron
A two-word figure of speech that combines two opposing or contradictory ideas.
paradox
A statement that seems contradictory or absurd but that expresses the truth.
personification
A type of figurative language in which a nonhuman subject is given lifelike characteristics.
simile
A figure of speech in which like or as is used to make a comparison between two basically unlike objects.
situational irony
A mode of expression through events conveying a reality different from and usually opposite to appearance or expectation.
symbolism
A concrete object that has its own meaning, but also represents an abstract idea.
synaesthesia
A condition in which one type of sensory stimulation creates perception in another sense.
synecdoche
A form of metaphor in which a part of something is used to stand for the whole thing.
understatement
Saying less than is actually meant, generally in an ironic way
verbal irony
The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning; a statement or situation where the meaning is contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the idea.