lang terms (tropes)

Alliteration

Repetition of initial consonant sounds

Anaphora

repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines

Allusion

A reference to another work of literature, person, or event

Anastrophe

Inversion of the usual, normal, or logical order of the parts of a sentence. Purpose is rhythm or emphasis or euphony.

Antimetabole

repetition of words, in successive clauses, in reverse grammatical order

Antithesis

the direct opposite, a sharp contrast

archaic diction

The use of words common to an earlier time period; antiquated language.

Assononce

the repetition of the same vowel sounds in the middle of words

Asyndeton

omission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words

Consonance

Repetition of a consonant sound within two or more words in close proximity.

cumulative sentence

sentence that completes the main idea at the beginning of the sentence and then builds and adds on

hortative sentence

sentence that exhorts, urges, entreats, implores, or calls to action

imperative sentence

sentence used to command or enjoin

Inversion

inverted order of words in a sentence (variation of the subject-verb-object order)

Juxtaposition

Placement of two things closely together to emphasize comparisons or contrasts

Metaphor

a comparison in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.

Metonymy

the substitution of the name of an attribute or part for that of the thing meant

Parallelism

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

Paradox

A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.

periodic sentence

a complex sentence in which the main clause comes last and is preceded by the dependent/subordinate clause

Personification

the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form.

Repetition

The duplication, either exact or approximate, of any element of language, such as a sound, word, phrase, clause, sentence, or grammatical pattern.

rhetorical question

A question asked merely for effect with no answer expected.

Syllogism

A form of deductive reasoning consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion.

qualifier

uses words like usually, probably, maybe, in most cases, and most likely to temper the claim, making it less absolute

Zeugma

use of two different words in a grammatically similar way that produces different, often incongruous, meanings