Allusion
a reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or some other branch of culture
Apostrophe
a figure of speech in which someone, some abstract quality, or nonexistent personage is directly addressed as though present
Conceit
a fanciful, particularly clever extended metaphor
Extended metaphor
a metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work
Figurative language
writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid
Hyperbole
a deliberately exaggerated statement
Image
a word or phrase that appeals to one or more of the five senses
Imagery
the sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions (to create vivid images)
Litotes
a form of understatement in which a thing is affirmed by stating the negative of its opposite. To express "good" by saying "not bad".
Metaphor
a figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else; states a comparison directly
Metonymy
substituting the name of one object for another object closely associated with it ("The pen is mightier than the sword.")
Onomatopoeia
the use of words that imitate sounds
Oxymoron
from the Greek for "pointedly foolish," a figure of speech wherein the author groups apparently contradictory terms to suggest a paradox ("jumbo shrimp" and "cruel kindness")
Paralepsis
A pretended or apparent omission; a figure of speech by which a speaker artfully pretends to pass by what he really mentions; as, for example, if an orator should say, ``I do not speak of my adversary's scandalous venality and rapacity, his brutal conduct
Pathetic fallacy
the attribution of human emotions or characteristics to inanimate objects or to nature; for example, angry clouds; a cruel wind.
Personification
a type of figurative language in which a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics (also anthropomorphism)
Simile
a figure of speech in which "like" or "as" is used to make a comparison between two basically unlike subjects
Symbol
the use of one object, which is something in itself, to represent or stand for something else
Natural symbols
use objects an occurrences from nature to represent ideas commonly associated with them (dawn as new beginning, tree as knowledge, rose as love)
Conventional symbols
have been invested with meaning by a group (religious symbols, national symbols, or group symbols)
Literary symbols
the whale in Moby-Dick and the jungle in Heart of Darkness)
Synecdoche
a device in which a part signifies the whole or the whole signifies the part. To say "threads" for "clothes" or "wheels" for "car
Trope
A figure of speech using words in nonliteral ways, such as a metaphor
Understatement
a common figure of speech in which the literal sense of what is said falls detectably short of the magnitude of what is being talked about.