Tropes + Schemes

Tropes

Figures of speech with an unexpected twist in the meaning of words. It is an artful deviation from the ordinary or principal significance of a word. 

Metaphor

A comparison between two unlike things; stating something is something else when it can’t possibly be. The comparison draws out a unique commonality between the two. 

Simile

An explicit comparison between two unlike things using the words “like” or “as.” The comparison in these are less powerful than that of a metaphor. 

Synecdoche

Figure of speech in which a part stands for the whole. 

Metonymy

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

Zeugma

Use of two different words in a grammatically similar way but producing different, often incongruous (unsuitable) meanings. The effect can be humorous, but not always.

Personification

Investing abstractions or inanimate objects with human qualities or abilities. The way in which this trope gives its subject human qualities allows it to lend itself to emotional appeals. 

Apostrophe

Addressing an absent person or a personified abstraction. It imbues its subject with an emotional charge as personification does.  

Hyperbole

The use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened  effect. It can be a serviceable figure of speech if used with restraint and for a calculated effect. Under the stress of emotion, it will slip out naturally and seem appropriate. If original and unique, they will produce the right note of emphasis. 

Litotes

Deliberate use of understatement, not to deceive someone but to enhance the impressiveness of what is stated.

Rhetorical Question (Erotema)

Asking a question, not for the purpose of eliciting an answer, but for the purpose of asserting or denying something indirectly. They can be an effective persuasive device, subtly influencing the kind of response one wants to get from an audience, and are often more effective as a persuasive device than is a direct assertion. 

Irony

Use of a word in such a way as to convey a meaning opposite to the literal meaning of the word. It must be used with great caution: if the speaker misjudges the intelligence of their audience, they may find that their audience takes their words in their ostensible sense rather than in the intended opposite sense.  

Oxymoron

The combination of two terms that are ordinarily contradictory to produce a startling effect. If fresh and apt, they display the subtle and shrewd ability to see similarities.

Paradox

A statement that appears to be contradictory, but which includes a latent truth. It is like an oxymoron in that both are built on contradictions, but paradox may not be a trope at all, because it involves not so much a “turn” of meaning in juxtaposed words as a “turn” of meaning in the whole statement.

Schemes

Figures of speech that deal with word order, letters, and sounds. Figures of speech in classical rhetoric are defined as “a form of speech artfully varied from common usage” (our ol’ pal Quintilian). Deviating from the ordinary arrangement of words adds emphasis to the writer’s ideas.

Parallelism

Similar grammatical structures in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses. Provide emphasis to a central theme or idea.

Antithesis

Two opposite ideas put together to achieve a contrasting effect.

Asyndeton

Deliberate omission of conjunctions between coordinate words, phrases, or clauses. Produces a hurried rhythm in the sentence. 

Polysyndeton

The opposite of asyndeton, it is the deliberate use of many conjunctions. Suggests flow or continuity in some instances, special emphasis in others.

Anapora

Repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginnings of successive clauses. Always used deliberately, this scheme helps to establish a marked rhythm and often produces a strong emotional effect.

Epistrophe

Repetition of the same word or group of words at the ends of successive  clauses. Sets up a pronounced rhythm and secures a special emphasis.  

Symploce

Simultaneous use of anaphora and epistrophe. 

Climax

Words or phrases arranged by degrees of increasing significance.

Antimetabole

Repetition of words, in successive clauses, in reverse grammatical order. Produces the impressive turn of phrase typical of an aphorism.