List #5

alliteration

the repetition of sounds in a sequence of words, generally referring to repeated consonant sounds

allusion

an indirect reference to a person, event, statement, theme found in literature, arts, history, myths, religion, or popular culture

anaphora

a rhetorical figure involving the exact repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of successive lines or sentences; a type of parallelism

antithesis

a rhetorical figure in which two ideas are directly opposed but are presented in a grammatically parallel way

asyndeton

a rhetorical figure involving deliberate omission of conjunctions to create a concise, terse, and often memorable statement

cacophony

a mixture of harsh, unpleasant, or discordant sounds; the opposite of euphony; also known as dissonance

chiasmus

a rhetorical figure in which certain words, sounds, concepts, or syntactic structures are reversed or repeated in reverse order

diction

A speaker’s (or author’s) word choice. Made of two components: vocabulary and syntax (arrangement of words)

enjambment

French for “striding over,” a poetic expression that spans more than one line, a line of poetry is not complete without the following line(s)

euphony

pleasing, harmonious sounds; opposite of cacophony, the harmony may be due to musicality of sounds or the images evoked

hyperbole

a figure of speech that uses deliberate exaggeration to achieve an effect, whether serious, comic, or ironic

litotes

an understatement that involves making an affirmative point by denying its opposite

malapropism

the erroneous substitution for the correct word of a word similar in sound but very different in meaning, often creating comedic effect

metaphor

a figure of speech that associates two distinct things; the representation of one thing by another

metonymy

a figure of speech in which one thing is represented by another that is commonly and often physically associated with it

onomatopoeia

the creation of use of words that sound like what they mean or signify meaning through sound effects

oxymoron

a figure of speech that juxtaposes two opposite or apparently contradictory words to present an emphatic and dramatic paradox

paradox

a statement that seems self-contradictory or nonsensical on the surface but that, upon closer examination, may be seen to contain an underlying truth

personification

bestows human characteristics upon anything nonhuman, and idea, physical force, inanimate object or living organism

polysyndeton

the use of several conjunctions in close succession, especially where some might be omitted

rhyme

the repetition of identical vowel sounds in the stressed syllables of two or more words, as well as of all subsequent sounds after this vowel sound

simile

compares two distinct things using “like,” “as,” or “than”

symbol

something that stands for or suggests something larger and more complex—often an idea or a range of interrelated ideas, attitudes, or practices; symbols often create a web of association with one image

synecdoche

a figure in speech in which a part of something is used to represent the whole or, occasionally, the whole is used to represent a part

synesthesia

the practice of associating two or more different senses in the same image