Rhetorical figures/Literary devices

Allegory

a prolonged metaphor, i.e., a type of imagery involving the extended use of a person or object to represent some concept outside the literal narrative of a text

Alliteration

repetition in two or more words of the same letter, usually at the beginning of the words, and usually consonants, for emphasis and for musical and occasionally onomatopoetic effect

Anadiplosis

repetition of the last word of a clause or sentence at the beginning of the next clause or sentence; a type of anaphora

Anaphora

repetition of initial words or phrases in several succeeding phrases, clauses, or sentences, for emphasis and emotional effect

Anastrophe

reversal of normal word order (e.g., preposition after the object of the preposition), often with the effect of emphasizing the word(s) placed earlier

Antithesis

a sharp contrast of juxtaposed ideas

Aposiopesis

breaking off in the middle of a sentence

Apostrophe

addressing a person or thing who is not present, for emotional effect or to evoke a witness to a statement being made

Ascending Tricolon

combination of three elements of increasing length or intensity

Assonance

repetition of internal or final vowel or syllable sounds in successive words, for musical and sometimes onomatopoetic effect

Asyndeton

omission of conjunctions where they would normally be expected, to emphasize the words in the series

Bracketing

Bracketing the placement of two grammatically related words, one at the beginning of a line, the other at the end; also called 'framing'.

Chiasmus

ABBA arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses, often to emphasize some opposition or to draw the elements of the chiasmus closer together.

Conduplicatio

Repetition for emphasis and emotional effect.

Consonance

Repetition of consonants at the beginning, middle, or end of words (thus overlapping with the term alliteration).

Ecphrasis

A digression from the narrative to describe in detail a work of art or a scene in nature.

Ellipsis

Omission of words necessary to the sense of a clause but easily understood from the context; often a form of the verb sum, esse.

Enjambment

Delay of the final word or phrase of a sentence or clause to the beginning of the following line of verse, to create suspense or emphasize an idea or image.

Epanalepsis

Repetition of the initial part of a clause or sentence at the end of that same clause or sentence; a type of anaphora.

Epithet

An adjective or descriptive term.

Hendiadys

Use of two nouns connected by a conjunction to express a noun modified by an adjective; the usual effect is to give equal prominence to an image that would ordinarily be subordinated.

Homoioteleuton

A recurrence of similar endings in successive words.

Hyperbaton

A violation of usual word order for special effect.

Hyperbole

Self-conscious exaggeration for rhetorical effect.

Hysteron Proteron

placing first what the reader might expect to come last; the more important idea is put first for emphasis, out of chronological order

mortuus est et hostem inruit

He died and he rushed against the enemy.

Interlocked Word Order (Synchysis)

arrangement of related pairs of words in an alternating ABAB pattern, often emphasizing the close connection between two thoughts or images

venenatis gravidā sagittis pharetrā

a quiver heavy with poisoned arrows emphasizes the enclosure of the arrows in the quiver

Irony

the use of language with a meaning opposite its literal meaning

Litotes

use of a negative to express a strong positive

Salve, nec minimo puella naso

Hello, girl with the not smallest nose meaning Hello, girl with a very large nose

Metaphor

expression of meaning through an image

Horatius est lux litterarum Latinarum.

Horace is the light of Latin literature.

Metonymy

substitution of a word for another word or concept that it calls to mind; this is a hallmark of high poetic or epic style and allows the poet to avoid commonplace words

Neptunus me terret.

to mean, the sea frightens me

Onomatopoeia

use of words whose sound suggests their meaning

Murmurant multi.

the m's produce the sound of murmuring

Oxymoron

the juxtaposition of incongruous or contradictory terms

arida nutrix

a dry wet-nurse

Personification

attribution of human characteristics to something not human

Ipsa saxa dolent.

The rocks themselves grieve.

Pleonasm

use of more words than necessary

Oculis me videt.

She sees with her eyes.

Polyptoton

repetition of the same word or of words from the same root but with different endings

Polysyndeton

the use of a greater number of conjunctions than usual or necessary, often to emphasize the elements in a series

Prolepsis

attribution of some characteristic to a person or thing before it is logically appropriate, especially application of a quality to a noun before the action of the verb has created that quality

Unda submersas obruit puppes.

The wave overwhelms the sunken ships.

Simile

an explicit comparison (often introduced by ut, velut, qualis, or similis) between one person or thing and another, the latter generally something more familiar to the reader (frequently a scene from nature) and thus more easily visualized

Synchysis

arrangement of related pairs of words in an alternating ABAB pattern, often emphasizing the close connection between two thoughts or images.

venenatis gravidā sagittis pharetrā

emphasizes the enclosure of the arrows in the quiver.

Synecdoche

a type of metonymy in which a part is named in place of an entire object, or a material for a thing made of that material, or an individual in place of a group.

Prora in portam navigavit.

an example of synecdoche where prora, 'prow', is used for navis, 'ship'.

Tmesis

the separation of a compound word into its constituent parts, generally for metrical convenience.

mala…dicit

an example of tmesis resulting in maledicit.

Transferred Epithet

application of an adjective to one noun when it properly applies to another, often involving personification.

Geminā teguntur lumina nocte.

meaning 'Both eyes are covered by night.' which illustrates transferred epithet.

Tricolon Crescens

combination of three elements of increasing length or intensity.

quicum ludere

first element of a tricolon crescens.

quem in sinu tenere

second element of a tricolon crescens.

cui primum digitum dare appetenti et acris solet incitare morsus

third element of a tricolon crescens.

Word-Picture

a type of imagery in which the words of a phrase are arranged in an order that suggests the visual image being described.

manusque collo ambas iniciens

an example of word-picture where the words surround the word collo just as the woman embraces the man's neck.

Zeugma

use of one word in two different senses simultaneously.

Aeneas tulit dolorem et patrem Troiā.

an example of zeugma where Aeneas carried grief and his father from Troy.