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.