metaphor
an implied comparison between two unlike things
Ex: Her dog is a giant.
simile
an explicit comparison between two unlike things signaled by the use of LIKE or AS
Ex: Like a fool he threw away his ticket
personification
attributing human qualities to an inatimate object
Ex: The buildings cast a watchful eye over the clean, quiet campus
pathetic fallacy
attributing human qualities to a force of nature
Ex: The tornado tiptoed across the plains
animism
attributing animal qualities that are not uniquely human to an inanimate object
Ex: The forest snorted in relief
irony
the greek word from which irony is derived meant "liar or "dissembler." the writer takes on another voice or role that states the opposite of what is expressed
Ex: The name of Britain's biggest dog was "Tiny
hyperbole
exaggeration; deliberate exaggeration for emphasis
Ex: "I won't last a day without you.
litotes
opposite of hyperbole; intensifies an idea by an understatement
Ex: We regard Hitler as a man of not high character
synedoche
a figure of speech in which a term that denotes one thing is used to refer to a related thing.
For example, calling a car "wheels" because a part of a car "wheels" stands for the whole car
metonymy
designation of one thing with something closely associated with it
Ex: Lend me your ears. (ears are associated with attention)
oxymoron
contradiction; two contradictory terms or ideas are used together
Ex: cowardly hero
paradox
statement that appears to be contradictory but, in fact, has some truth
Ex: He worked hard at being lazy
onomatopoeia
refers to the use of words whose sound reinforces their meaning
Ex: "drip, cackle, bang, snarl, pop
rhetorical question
commonly defined as those questions that do not require an answer
Ex: Was this what I really wanted?
apostrophe
addressing the absent as present or the inanimate or inhuman as if it could hear and understand
Ex: Rain, rain, go away!
symbol
a literal and sensuous quality or item representing an abstract or suggestive aspect
Ex: The *walls of life must be broken (restrictions)
schemes
figures of speech that deal with word order, syntax, letters, and sounds, rather than the meaning of words, which involves tropes. "gestures of language
parallelism
expresses similar or related ideas in similar grammatical structures
Ex: He tried to make the law clear, precise, and equitable
chiasmus
derived from the greek letter CHI (x); grammatical structure of the first clause or phrase is reversed in the second
Ex: Never let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You
climax
writer arranges ideas in order of importance from the least to the most important
Ex: I spend the day cleaning the house, reading poetry, and putting my life in order
antithesis
the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas
Ex: Art is long; life is short
juxtaposition
a poetic and rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to another
Ex: "light and "darkness" from Romeo and Juliet Act I, Scene V:
"O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the ch
anapostrophe
word order is reversed or rearranged
Ex: Gracious she was. By gracious I mean full of graces. . . . Intelligent she was not. In fact, she veered in the opposite direction.
antimetabole
the arrangement of ideas in the second clause is a reversal of the first; adds power through its inverse repetition
Ex: I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you.
apposition
the placing next to a noun another noun or phrase that explains it
Ex: Pollution, the city's primary problem, is an issue
parenthesis
the insertion of words, phrases, or a sentence that is not syntactically related to the rest of the sentence. can use dashes or parentheses
Ex: He said that it was going to rain -I could hardly disagree- before the game was over
zeugma
writer uses one word to govern or modify two or more words although its use is grammatically or logically correct with only one
Ex: Her hair is red; her eyes blue
syllepsis
a construction in which one word seems to be in the same relation to two or more other words but in fact is not
Ex: She discovered New York and her world.
asyndeton
conjuctions are omitted, producing a fast-paced and rapid prose
Ex: I came, I saw, I conquered
ellipsis
the deliberate omission of a word or words that are readily implied by the context
Ex: My couch had no thorns in it that night; my solitary room [had] no fears.
anadiplosis
the rhetorical repetition of the word or phrase that ends one phrase at the beginning of the next phrase
Ex: Spare me your words; words are not what I need
polyptoton
the form of speech in which a word is repeated in different cases, numbers, genders
Ex: My own heart's heart, and ownest own, farewell.
polysyndeton
the use of many conjuctions slows the pace of the writing
Ex: "And Joshua, and all of Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and h
anaphora
the regular repetition of the same word or phrase at the BEGINNING of successive phrases or clauses
Ex: The Lord shall give strength unto his people. The Lord shall give his people the blessing of peace
epistrophe
the repetition of the same word or group of words at the ENDS of successive clauses (opposite of anaphora)
Ex: "Where now? Who now? When now?"
(The Unnamable by Samuel Beckett)
In this extract, the word, "now" is repeated three times to put an emphasis an
alliteration
the rep of the same consonant sound at the beginning of successive words
Ex: But a better butter makes a batter better
assonance
involves the repetition of vowel sound within words
Ex: From noses to toes, the body began to sag
consonance
words at the ends of verses in which the final consonants in the stressed syllables agree but the words that precede them differ, sometimes called "half rime"
Ex: The ship has sailed to the far off shores.
euphony
creating a pleasing effect by combining words or phonetic elements in spoken words to produce harmonious sounds
Ex: Degged with dew, dappled with dew
cacophony
creating harsh effect by combining words that emphasize guttaral, coarse sounds
Ex: the grain ungarged with Time's own paper
parasynthesia
the concurrent appeal to or response of two or more senses
Ex: The cool green water
epigram
a brief, printed saying that has the nature of a proverb
Ex: Man cannot live by bread alone
allusion
reference to some familiar event in history or to some familiar expression or character in literature, the Bible, or mythology
Ex: A Jezebel
euphemism
the substitution of a mild or less neg word or phrase for a harsh or blunt one, as in the use of "pass away" instead of "die"
Ex: Our teacher is in the family way (pregnant).
parody
a satiric imitation of a work or of an author with the idea of ridiculing the author, his ideas, or work
Ex: "How 'bout that" remixes
satire
manner of writing that mixes a crtitical attitude with wit and humor in an effort to improve mankind and human institutions
Ex: Excerpt from Huckleberry Finn
"What's the use you learning to do right, when it's troublesome to do right and isn't no trouble
sarcasm
personal, jeering ridicule that is intended to hurt individuals
Ex: You are really smart, making a statement like that!
allegory
the device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning
Ex: "Animal Farm", written by George Orwell, uses animals on a farm to describe the overthrow of the last of the Russian Tsar N
colloquial
the use of slang or informalities in speech or writing; gives a work a conversational, familiar tone
Ex: a bunch of numpties - a group of idiots;
to bamboozle - to deceive;
go bananas - go insane or be very angry
diction
related to style; refers to the writer's word choices with regard to their correctness, clearness, or effectiveness
Ex: A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens:
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the ag
didactic
from the Greek meaning "teaching"; these works have the aim of teaching or instructing
Ex: If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings�nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count wi
syntax
the way an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses, and sentences
Ex: In casual conversations, we can simply say, "I cannot go out" to convey our inability to go out. P J Kavanagh's in his poem Beyond Decoration does not rely on merely stating
pun
a play on the meaning of words
Ex: The ink, like our pig, keeps running out the pen
tropes
involve alterations in the usual meanings of words or phrases