figurative language

Metaphor

A comparison without "like" or "as"

Simile

A comparison with "like" or "as"

Personification

Giving human attributes to inanimate objects

Hyperbole

Over-exaggeration

Mixed Metaphor

Combining illogical metaphors

Metonymy

Substituting a closely related phrase

Synecdoche

Substituting a part for the whole or vice versa

Symbolism

Using an object to represent an abstract idea

Imagery

Vivid description appealing to the senses

Analogy

Explaining by comparing to a familiar situation

Connotation

Implied meaning of a word or phrase

Verbal Irony

Saying the opposite of what is meant

Dramatic Irony

Audience knows more than characters

Situational Irony

Outcome is opposite of expected

Juxtaposition

Contrasting two items side by side

Paradox

Self-contradictory statement revealing truth

Understatement

Downplaying the importance of a situation

Foreshadowing

Hinting at future events

Allusion

Historical, literary, or cultural reference

Repetition

Repeating words or phrases closely

Idiom

Expression with nonliteral meaning

Antithesis

Contrasting opposing ideas in parallel

Tone

Attitude of the narrator, speaker, or author

Mood

Emotion evoked in the audience

Diction

Author's purposeful word choice

Alliteration

Repeating initial sounds in a sequence

Assonance

Repeating vowel sounds

Consonance

Repeating consonant sounds

Onomatopoeia

Word imitating the sound it refers to