Style: Schemes and Tropes

parallelism

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

isocolon

use of parallel elements similar not only in structure, as in parallelism, but in length

antithesis

the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas, often in parallel structure

anastrophe

inversion of the natural or usual word order

parenthesis

insertion of some verbal init in a position that interrupts the normal syntactical flow of the sentence

apposition

placing side by side two coordinate elements, the second of which serves as an explanation or modification of the first

ellipsis

deliberate omission of a word or of words which are readily implied by the context

asyndeton

deliberate omission of conjunctions between a series of related clauses

polysyndeton

the opposite of asyndeton; the deliberate use of many conjunctions

alliteration

repetition of initial or medial consonants in two or more adjacent words

assonance

the repetition of similar vowel sounds, preceded and followed by different consonants, in the stressed syllables of adjacent words

anaphora

repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginnings of successive clauses

epistrophe

repetition of the same word or group of words at the ends of successive clauses

epanalepsis

repetition at the end of a clause of the word that occurred at the beginning of the clause

anadiplosis

repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause

climax

arrangement of words, phrases or clauses in order of increasing importance

antimetabole

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

chiasmus

reversal of grammatical structure in successive phrases or clauses

polyptoton

repetition of words derived from the same root