Rhetorical Devices

Allegory

Allegory

narrative in which characters and their actions are symbolic or personifications of qualities

Zeugma

linking of a subject with two or more verbs, or linking a verb with two or more subjects

Allusion

a reference to a historical / literary / religious event

Ambiguity

writing which can be interpreted in multiple ways and/or with different connotations

Anadiplosis

repeating the last word in a clause in the beginning of the next one

Analogy

a comparison

Anaphora

parallel repetition in the beginning of two or more clauses

Anastrophe

when normal syntax is violated for emphasis

"Of pain you could wish only one thing

that it should stop

Anecdote

a short story

Antimetabole

repetition of words but reversed

Antithesis

juxtaposition of contrasting terms in the same sentence

Apostrophe

a speech said to a personified object or a person who is not present

Apposition

two noun phrases referring to the same subject

Asyndeton

sentence with no conjunctions to make it fast-paced

Cliche

a commonplace or overused theme/plot/character/trope

Colloquialism

informal but common words/phrases

Connotation

a words emotion/feeling it invokes

"unique"

special (+), peculiar (-), or different (neutral)

Dialect

attempts to mimic speech via spelling and grammar

Diction

word choice

Epanalepsis

emphasis on a word which is the first and last in the clause/sentence