Figures of Speech/Devices
Consonance
Repeated consonant sounds within a phrase or verse, which are not found at the beginning of words, creates______.
Figurative Language
_________ is a word or phrase that departs from everyday literal language for the sake of comparison, emphasis, clarity, or freshness. Metaphor and simile are the two most commonly used figures of speech, but things like hyperbole, synecdoche, puns, and personification are also figures of speech
Litotes
are a form of understatement in which a statement is affirmed by negating its opposite: "He is not unfriendly"
Extended Metaphor
is "A comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph or lines in a poem."
Comparison
is "a rhetorical strategy and method of organization in which a writer examines similarities...between two people, places, ideas, or things."
Literary Conceit
is "an elaborate and, sometimes, far-fetched image, which extends a metaphor into as many layers of meaning as it will bear. Conceits thrive on relating apparently impossible objects or emotions."
Aposiopesis
is a breaking-off of speech, usually because of rising emotion or excitement. For example, "Touch me one more time, and I swear—"
Trope
is a category of figures of speech that extend the literal meanings of words by inviting a comparison to other words, things, or ideas. Metaphor, metonymy, and simile are three common _______.
Mixed Metaphor
is a combination of metaphors that produces a confused or contradictory image, such as "the company's collapse left mountains of debt in its wake."
Idiom
is a common expression that has acquired meaning that differs from its literal meaning, such as "it's raining cats and dogs" or "a bolt from the blue.""
Simile
is a comparison of two things through the use of "like" or "as."
Apostrophe
is a direct address to an absent or dead person, or to an object, quality, or idea.
Alliteration
is a figure of speech in which the same sound appears at the beginning of two or more words.
Synechdoche
is a form of metonymy in which a part of an entity is used to refer to the whole, for example, "my wheels" for "my car."
Antithesis
is a literary and rhetorical device or figure of speech. While that may sound complicated, the concept of ______ is simple: it literally means "opposite."
Allusion
is a literary device that stimulates ideas, associations, and extra information in the reader's mind with only a word or two. _________ means "reference." It relies on the reader being able to understand the _______ and being familiar with all of the meaning hidden behind the words.
Pun
is a play on words that exploits the similarity in sound between two words with distinctly different meanings
Euphony
is a pleasing arrangement of sounds. Many consider "cellar door" one of the most euphonious phrases in English
Sarcasm
is a simple form of verbal irony in which it is obvious from context and tone that the speaker means the opposite of what he or she says. _________ usually, but not always, expresses scorn
Paradox
is a statement that seems absurd or even contradictory on its face but often expresses a deeper truth
Epithet
is an adjective or phrase that describes a prominent feature of a person or thing
Periphrasis
is an elaborate and roundabout manner of speech that uses more words than necessary. Saying "I appear to be entirely without financial resources" instead of "I'm broke" is an example.
Hyperbole
is an excessive overstatement or conscious exaggeration of fact: "I've told you about it a million times already
Cliche
is an expression such as "turn over a new leaf" that has been used so frequently that it has lost its expressive power.
Meiosis
is intentional understatement
Oxymoron
is the association of two contrary terms, as in the expressions "same difference" and "wise fool."
Pathetic Fallacy
is the attribution of human feeling or motivation to a nonhuman object, especially an object found in nature
Cacophony
is the clash of discordant or harsh sounds within a sentence or phrase."
Metaphor
is the comparison of one thing to another that does not use the terms "like" or "as."
Assonance
is the repetition of similar vowel sounds in a sequence of nearby words."
Metonymy
is the substitution of one term for another that generally is associated with it. For example, "suits" instead of businessmen
Paralipsis
is the technique of drawing attention to something by claiming not to mention it.
Euphemism
is the use of decorous language to express vulgar or unpleasant ideas, events, or actions. For example, "passed away" [is written] instead of died"; "ethnic cleansing" [is written] instead of genocide
Personification
is the use of human characteristics to describe animals, things, or ideas."
Synaesthesia
is the use of one kind of sensory experience to describe another"
Zeugma
is the use of one word in a sentence to modify two other words in the sentence, typically in two different ways
Onomatopoeia
is the use of words, such as "pop," "hiss," and "boing," that sound like the thing that they refer to. Common onomatopoeia include the words bubble, chirp, crunch, flutter, hiccup, mumble, murmur, roar, rumble, screech, slap, swoosh, thump, and zip.
Chiasmus
is when two phrases [have the same] syntax . . . but the placement of words is reversed
Anthropomorphism
not a figure of speech "_____________ is a form of personification that gives human characteristics to non-humans, primarily the gods or animals."
Pantheism
not a figure of speech. Everything is god.