Define It!
This rhetorical device is a comparison in which something is said to figuratively be like something else using "like" or "as."
Simile
A "metaphor" may be defined as this
A comparison in which something is said to figuratively be something else.
This famous quote exemplifies this rhetorical device
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
--Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
Repetition
“Sally sells seashells by the seashore.”
Alliteration
The lyrics
"If I was a man, I'd be the man"
contain an example of this rhetorical device
Parallelism
This rhetorical device imitates the sound it refers to.
Onomatopoeia
"Imagery" may be defined as this
Visually descriptive figurative language, especially in literature, that evokes a mental image.
This famous quote exemplifies this rhetorical device
"I must be cruel, only to be kind."
--Shakespeare, Hamlet
Paradox
"I had to walk to the ends of the Earth to find it."
Hyperbole
The lyrics
"You should've said, "No"
You should've gone home
You should've thought twice 'fore you let it all go
You should've known that word 'bout what you did with her"
contain an example of this rhetorical device
Repetition
This rhetorical device is an indication or hint of what is to come later in a story.
Foreshadowing
A "pun" may be defined as this
The humorous use of words with multiple meanings or words with similar sounds to create wordplay.
This famous quote exemplifies this rhetorical device
"There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, when will you be satisfied?"
--Martin Luther King Jr., "I Have a Dream"
Rhetorical Question
The trees tapped on the window.
Personification
The lyrics
"Photo album on the counter
Your cheeks were turning red
You used to be a little kid with glasses in a twin-sized bed"
contain an example of this rhetorical device
Imagery
This rhetorical device refers to the act of purposefully using harsh sounds.
Cacophony
A "paradox" may be defined as this
A statement that seems self-contradictory or impossible but actually makes sense.
This famous quote exemplifies this rhetorical device
"Stay gold, Poneyboy. Stay gold."
--S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders
Allusion
Silent scream
Oxymoron
The lyrics
"I'm getting tired even for a phoenix
Always risin' from the ashes
Mendin' all her gashes
You might just have dealt the final blow"
contain an example of this rhetorical device
Metaphor
This rhetorical device refers to a part of something being used to refer to a whole.
Synecdoche
An "anaphora" may be defined as this
The repetition of a word or words at the start of phrases, clauses, or sentences.
This famous quote exemplifies this rhetorical device
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
--Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
Irony
Idiom
The lyrics
"Bill was the heir to the Standard Oil name and money
And the town said, "How did a middle-class divorcée do it?"
contain an example of this rhetorical device
Allusion