Very familiar
The repetition of initial consonant or vowel sounds within a formal grouping, such as a poetic line or stanza, or in close proximity in prose
Alliteration
A figure of speech that combines two apparently contradictory elements.
Oxymoron
A word capturing or approximating the sound of what it describes.
Onomatopoeia
The practice of omitting conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses.
Asyndeton
A novel or story whose theme is the moral or psychological growth of the main character (Often associated with coming-of-age stories).
Bildungsroman
To hint at or suggest future events in a text.
Foreshadowing
An overstatement characterized by exaggerated language
Hyperbole
Substitution of a milder or less direct expression for one that is harsh or blunt.
Euphemism
Quote set at the beginning of a literary work or at its divisions to set the tone or suggest a theme.
Epigraph
Repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the next clause.
Anadiplosis
Treating an abstraction or nonhuman object as if it were a person by giving it human qualities.
Personification
Narrative form in which characters and actions have meanings outside themselves; characters usually represent abstract qualities or figures from history.
Allegory
The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds, usually in successive or proximate words.
Assonance
A piece of writing in praise of a deceased person (often inscribed on a tombstone)
Epitaph
Grammatically correct linkage of one subject with two or more verbs or a verb with two or more direct objects.
Zeugma
A figure of speech which makes brief, even casual reference to a historical or literary figure, event, or object.
Allusion
Placing of two items side by side to create a certain effect, reveal an attitude, or accomplish some other purpose
Juxtaposition
The repetition of two or more consonants with a change in the intervening vowels
Consonance
A piece of literature contained in or carried on by letters
Epistolary
Figure of speech by which the order of the terms in the first of parallel clauses is reversed in the second.
Chiasmus
A literary style used to make fun of or ridicule an idea or human vice or weakness.
Satire
regular repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases or clauses.
Anaphora
The implication or tone of a word, NOT its dictionary definition.
Connotation
A figure of speech in which a person, thing, or abstract quality is addressed as if present
Apostrophe
Form of understatement in which the negative of the contrary is used to achieve emphasis and intensi
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