Schemes and Tropes

Anaphora

A type of PARALLELISM. Repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses

Chiasmus

From the Greek word for “criss-cross” a figure of speech in which two successive phrases or clauses are parallel in syntax, but inverted in the second clause (in reverse grammatical order). 

Antithesis

Opposition, or contrast, of ideas of words in a balanced or parallel construction

Asyndeton

deliberate omission of conjunctions (For, And, Nor, Or, Yet, But, So) between a series

Ellipsis

the deliberate omission of a word or of words readily implied by the context

Imperative Sentences

Sentences used to command, enjoin, implore, or entreat

Juxtaposition

Placement of two opposing things closely together to emphasize comparisons or contrasts

Parallelism

similarity of structure in a pair of series of related words, phrases, or clauses

Alliteration

repetition of the same sound beginning several words in sequence.

Allusion

brief reference to a person, events, or place, real or fictitious, or to a work of art

Hyperbole

the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect

Irony

occurs in literature AND in life whenever a person says something or does something that departs from what they (or we) expect them to say or do. Usually adds humor or suspense. 

Can have situational, dramatic, or verbal

Imagery

use of sensory details in a purposeful way to create a sensory experience in writing. 

Litotes

ironic and deliberate use of understatement. Can be a double negative=positive. 

Metaphor

figure of speech that says one thing is another in order to explain by comparison

Metonymy/Synecdoche

symbolic substitution of some attributive or suggestive word for what is actually meant

Oxymoron

Paradoxical juxtaposition, or placement of words side by side, that seem to contradict each other

Paradox

an apparently contradictory statement that nevertheless contains a measure of truth

Personification

attributing a lifelike quality to an inanimate object

Rhetorical Question

asking a question, not for the purpose of eliciting an answer but for the purpose of asserting or denying something obliquely