Elements of Language

Metaphor

a direct comparison of two unlike things

simile

a comparison of two unlike things using the words like or as

Personification

giving human characteristics to inanimate objects or ideas

hyperbole

extreme exaggeration

euphemism

a mild word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt

understatement

saying less than what something actually is

litotes

ironic understatement in which one expresses an affirmation with the negative of its contrary “You won’t be sorry”

Metonymy

replaces the name of a thing with the name of something to which it is closely related

Synecdoche

part is meant to represent the whole

Consonance

repetition of consonant sounds in the middle and ends of words

Onomatopoeia

words that make sound

rhyme

words that sound or end with the same sound

internal rhyme

rhyme within the same line of poetry

euphony

pleasing sound

cacophony

harsh sound

oxymoron

contradictory words juxtaposed

Pun

word play

double entendre

ambiguity of meaning arising from language that lends itself to more than one interpretation

alliteration

repetition of initial sounds of closely connected words

assonance

repetition of vowel sounds of closely connected words

Syntax

the arrangement of words and phrases

loose sentence

main clause comes first followed by successive modifying clauses

periodic sentence

the main clause comes at the end after a dependent clause (adds punch)

parallelism

the grammatical balancing of words and phrases

antithesis

contrasting ideas in parallel form

juxtaposition

contrasting concepts

anaphora

repetition of words and phrases at the beginning of sentences or lines of poetry

chiasmus

an xy- yx construction

epistrophe

repetition at the ends of sentences or lines of poetry

anastrophe

inversion of words for emphasis

asyndeton

the absence of the conjunctions “and” and “or”

polysyndeton

the addition of conjunctions

repetition

repeating of words and phrases