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Pun

A play on words that exploits multiple meanings of a word or similar-sounding words for humorous or rhetorical effect.

Bathos

A sudden shift from a serious or noble tone to something trivial, ridiculous, or silly, often unintentionally.

Purpose of Bathos

Often used in satire to create comic relief; can be used intentionally for humor or unintentionally as bad writing.

Malapropism

The mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding word, often with unintentionally humorous results.

Juxtaposition

The placement of two contrasting ideas, characters, or themes side by side to highlight their differences.

Purpose of Juxtaposition

Creates contrast to emphasize key themes; highlights irony in situations or characters.

Anachronism

Something placed in the wrong historical or chronological period, either intentionally or accidentally.

Irony

A literary device where the intended meaning is opposite to the literal meaning.

Situational Irony

The opposite of what’s expected happens.

Dramatic Irony

The audience knows something characters don’t.

Verbal Irony

Saying the opposite of what’s meant.

Satire

Criticizing society with humor.

Paradox

A statement that contradicts itself but holds truth.

Hyperbole

Extreme exaggeration.

Metaphor

A figure of speech that makes a direct comparison between two unrelated things by stating that one is the other.

Juvenalian Satire

A type of satire characterized by a more contemptuous, harsh, and sarcastic tone.

Horatian Satire

A type of satire that takes a more lighthearted and humorous approach.

Sarcasm

The use of irony to mock or convey contempt.

Parody

A humorous imitation of a particular writer, genre, or work, exaggerating its characteristics for comic effect.

Understatement

A figure of speech in which the significance or intensity of a situation is intentionally reduced.

Epigram

A brief, witty, and often paradoxical statement or poem that conveys a clever observation.