A
the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, using like or as, to make a description more emphatic or vivid
Simile
the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, to make a description more emphatic or vivid
metaphor
language used by poets, novelists and other writers to create picture in the mind of the reader
imagery
refers to words whose pronunciations imitate the sounds they describe.
Onomatopoeia
Is a kind of metaphor in which you describe an inanimate object, abstract thing, or non-human animal in human terms.
Personification
Words that begin with the same sound are placed close together. It often involves repetition of letters, most importantly, it is a repetition of sounds.
Alliteration
An author or speaker purposely and obviously exaggerates to an extreme. It is used for emphasis or as a way of making a description more creative and humorous.
Hyperbole
A joke based on the interplay of homophones — words with the same pronunciation but different meanings. It can also play with words that sound similar, but not exactly the same. The joke’s humor (if any) comes from the confusion of the two meanings.
Pun
When a writer presents a situation or thing as if it is less important or serious than it is in reality. It describes something with less strength than would be expected.
Understatement
Is when there are two contradicting meanings of the same situation, event, image, sentence, phrase, or story. In many cases, this refers to the difference between expectations and reality.
Irony
Is basically a reference to something else. It’s when a writer mentions some other work, or refers to an earlier part of the current work. In literature, it’s frequently used to reference cultural works.
Allusion
Is a figure of speech that puts together opposite elements.
Oxymoron
Is the placement of two or more things side by side, often in order to bring out their differences. This literary term calls attention to two distinctly different things by placing them right beside one another.
Juxtaposition
Is a phrase that, when taken as a whole, has a meaning you wouldn’t be able to deduce from the meanings of the individual words.
The phrase “kill two birds with one stone” is an example
Idiom
is the repetition of the same or similar vowel sounds within words, phrases, or sentences.
Assonance
An understatement in which a positive statement is expressed by negating its opposite.
Litotes
to speak or address to a person who is not present or to a personified object
Apostrophe
A statement that contradicts itself, or that must be both true and untrue at the same time.
Paradox
A polite, mild phrases which substitute unpleasant ways of saying something sad or uncomfortable.
Euphemism
literally means “opposite” – it is usually the opposite of a statement, concept, or idea. In literary analysis, it is a pair of statements or images in which the one reverses the other. The pair is written with similar grammatical structures to show more contrast.
Antithesis
a figure of speech that replaces words with related or associated words.
Metonymy
A typical example or pattern of something.
A set of linguistic items that form mutually exclusive choices in particular syntactic roles.
Paradigm
a grammatical structure that inverts a previous phrase. That is, you say one thing, and then you say something very similar, but flipped around.
Chiasmus
a figure of speech which allows a part to stand for a whole or for a whole to stand for a part.
Synecdoche
When a certain word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of clauses or sentences that follow each other. This repetition emphasizes the phrase while adding rhythm to the passage.
Anaphora