antithesis
Juxtaposition of contrasting words or ideas (often, although not always, in parallel structure).
Example "It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues." �Abraham Lincoln
anaphora
Repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses, sentences, or lines. Examples This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,...
anastrophe
Departure from normal word order for the sake of emphasis.
Example Anastrophe occurs whenever normal syntactical arrangement is violated for emphasis
antimetabole
Repetition of words, in successive clauses, in reverse grammatical order. This figure is sometimes known as chiasmus.
Example When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
asyndeton
The omission of conjunctions between clauses, often resulting in a hurried rhythm or vehement effect. Examples On his return he received medals, honors, treasures, titles, fame.
alliteration
Repetition of the same letter or sound within nearby words. Most often, repeated initial consonants.
antimetabole
Repetition of words, in successive clauses, in reverse grammatical order. This figure is sometimes known as chiasmus.
Example When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
anadiplosis
The repetition of the last word (or phrase) from the previous line, clause, or sentence at the beginning of the next. Often combined with climax. Example The love of wicked men converts to fear,That fear to hate, and hate turns one or both
parallelism
Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses.
ellipsis
Omission of a word or short phrase easily understood in context. Example "The average person thinks he isn't." -Father Larry Lorenzoni The term "average" is omitted but understood after "isn't."
isocolon
A series of similarly structured elements having the same length. A kind of parallelism. Examples Veni, vidi, vici (I came, I saw, I conquered)
polysyndeton
Employing many conjunctions between clauses, often slowing the tempo or rhythm. Examples They read and studied and wrote and drilled. I laughed and played and talked and flunked.
zeugma
Includes several similar rhetorical devices, all involving a grammatically correct linkage (or yoking together) of two or more parts of speech by another part of speech. Example
Fred excelled at sports; Harvey at eating; Tom with girls.
chiasmus
Repetition of ideas in inverted order; Repetition of grammatical structures in inverted order (not to be mistaken with antimetabole, in which identical words are repeated and inverted).
Example: It is boring to eat; to sleep is fulfilling
hypophora
Consists of raising one or more questions and then proceeding to answer them, usually at some length. A common usage is to ask the question at the beginning of a paragraph and then use that paragraph to answer it.
parenthesis
Insertion of a verbal unit that interrupts normal syntactical flow.
Example: But the new calculations--and here we see the value of relying upon up-to-date information--showed that man-powered flight was possible with this design.
epistrophe
Ending a series of lines, phrases, clauses, or sentences with the same word or words. Example What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny compared to what lies within us." �Emerson
erotema
The rhetorical question. To affirm or deny a point strongly by asking it as a question. Generally, as Melanchthon has noted, the rhetorical question includes an emotional dimension, expressing wonder, indignation, sarcasm, etc. Example Just why are you so
epiplexis
Asking questions in order to chide, to express grief, or to inveigh. A kind of rhetorical question.
metaphor
A comparison made by referring to one thing as another. Examples
No man is an island �John Donne
Life is a beach.
synecdoche
A whole is represented by naming one of its parts (genus named for species), or vice versa (species named for genus). Example: Listen, you've got to come take a look at my new set of wheels. One refers to a vehicle in terms of some of its parts, "wheels
antonomasia (periphrasis)
Substituting a descriptive phrase for a proper name, or substituting a proper name for a quality associated with it. (=periphrasis)
Examples: You must pray to heaven's guardian for relief.
He proved a Judas to the cause.
simile
An explicit comparison, often (but not necessarily) employing "like" or "as.
anthimeria
Substitution of one part of speech for another (such as a noun used as a verb). Example I've been Republicaned all I care to be this election year.Noun used as verb.
irony
Speaking in such a way as to imply the contrary of what one says, often for the purpose of derision, mockery, or jest.
paradox.
A statement that is self-contradictory on the surface, yet seems to evoke a truth nonetheless. Example Whosoever loses his life, shall find it.
metonymy
Reference to something or someone by naming one of its attributes. Example The pen is mightier than the sword
The pen is an attribute of thoughts that are written with a pen; the sword is an attribute of military action
personification
Reference to abstractions or inanimate objects as though they had human qualities or abilities.
litotes
Deliberate understatement, especially when expressing a thought by denying its opposite. Example It isn't very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain. �J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
oxymoron
Placing two ordinarily opposing terms adjacent to one another. A compressed paradox.
Tropes
The use of a word, phrase, or image in a way not intended by its normal signification.
Schemes
A change in standard word order or pattern.