Diction
word choice
Metaphors
comparison between two unlike things WITHOUT using like or as
Similes
comparison of things that have something in common using "like" or "as
figurative language
Language that cannot be taken literally since it was written to create a special effect or feeling.
Symbol
A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract.
Image
Description that appeals to the senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste)
Personification
the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form.
Mentonymy
A substitution of one word for another which it suggests
ex: The pen is mightier than the sword.
Synecdoche
A figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole (as hand for sailor), the whole for a part (as the law for police officer), the specific for the general (as cutthroat for assassin), the general for the specific (as thief for pickpocket), or the m
Allusion
A reference to another work of literature, person, or event
Allegory
a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.
Oxymoron
A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase.
Paradox
A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.
Understatement
the presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is.
Litotes
A form of understatement that involves making an affirmative point by denying its opposite
Hyberbole
exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.
tone
A writer's attitude toward his or her subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization on the sentence and global levels.
Irony
the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.