Tropes and Schemes

Tropes

figures of speech with an unexpected twist in the meaning of words

Anthimeria (T)

Using a different part of speech to act as another (verb—> noun) “Gift him with Sports Illustrated magazine for Christmas” (instead of give him")

Aporia (T)

Talking about not being able to talk about something “I can’t tell you how often writers use aporia.”

Apostrophe (T)

figure of speech in which a person not present or a personified abstraction is addressed “Death, where is thy sting?'“

Catachresis (T)

A completely impossible figure of speech “Joe will have kittens when he hears this!”

Erotema (T)

Asking a rhetorical question to the reader as a transition or as a thought-provoking tool before proceeding. “What should honest citizens do?”

Euphemism (T)

the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant “darn” instead of “damn”

Irony (T)

Greek word it was derived from meant “liar” or “dissembler”. writer takes on another voice or role that states the opposite of what is expressed. 4 categories: verbal, situational, dramatic, and Socratic

Meiosis (T)

Understatement “I was somewhat worried when the psychopath ran toward me with a chainsaw.”

Metaphor (T)

An implied comparison between two unlike things by identification or by the substitution of one for the other “The office is a bee-hive of activity on Mondays.”

Metonymy (T)

Using a vaguely suggestive, physical object to embody a more general idea: crown for royalty, “If we cannot strike offenders in the heart, let us strike them in the wallet.”

Onomatapoeia (T)

Words that sound like what they mean. “Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark in yard.”

Oxymoron (T)

Greek for “pointedly foolish”, figure of speech consisting of two apparently contradictory terms that express a startling paradox. “Parting is such a sweet sorrow.” “Cowards die many times before their death.”

Paradox (T)

A statement, though it appears self-contradictory, contains a basis of truth that reconciles the seeming opposites. “Absolute seriousness is never without a dash of humor.” “He worked hard at being lazy.”

Personification (T)

Giving human qualities to inanimate objects “The ground thirsts for rain; the wind whispered secrets to us.” Prosopopeia-form of personification which an inanimate object can speak

Puns (Paronomasia) (T)

Twists the meaning of words, often to create a humorous effect. Homonymic puns - “Johnny B. Good” for “Johnny Be Good”

Simile (T)

An explicit comparison between two unlike things signaled by the use of “like” or “as”. “Her skin was like alabaster.”

Synæsthesia (T)

Mixing one type of sensory input with another in an impossible way, such as speaking of how a color sounds, or how a smell looks: “The scent of the rose rang like a bell through the garden.”

Synecdoche (T)

Using a part of a physical object to represent the whole object: “Twenty eyes watched our every move” (ten people watched our every move)

Zeugma (T)

Artfully using one verb with two or more different objects. If this changes the verb’s initial meaning, the zeugma is sometimes called syllepsis: “If we don’t hang together, we shall hang separately” “The queen of England sometimes takes advice in that chamber, and sometimes tea.”

Schemes (Syntax)

involves the arrangement of ideas, words, or phrases that are stylistically effective. Often, as in parallelism, the pattern of the words effectively reinforces the meaning. Figures of speech that deal with word order, syntax, letters, and sounds, rather than the meaning of words.

Alliosis (S)

Presenting alt. in a balanced manner: “You can eat well or sleep well.”

Alliteration (S)

Repetition of a sound in multiple words: buckets of big blue berries.

Consonance: repetition of consonant sounds

Assonance: repetition of vowel sounds

Anadiplosis (S)

Repeating the last word of a clause at the beginning of the next clause. “Talent is an adornment; an adornment is also a concealment.”

Anaphora (S)

Repetition of beginning of clauses.

“We shall not flag or fail. We shall not flag or fail. We shall on the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans. We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island, whatever the cost shall be.”

Anapodoton (S)

Deliberately creating a sentence fragment by the omission of a clause: “If only you came with me!” And they do.

Anastrophe (S)

Greek for “turning back”, deliberate invasion of word order from what one expects: “One ad does not a survey make”

Antimetabole (S)

(also Epanados) Repetition in reverse order;
“One should eat to live, not live to eat.” or “You like it, it likes you.”

Antithesis (S)

Contrary ideas expressed in a balanced sentence. It can be a contrast of opposites: “Evil men fear authority; good men cherish it.” Or it can be a contrast of degree: “One small step for a man, one giant leap for all mankind.”

Aposiopesis (S)

Breaking off as if unable to continue: “The fire surrounds them while—I cannot go on.”

Appositive (S)

the placing next to a noun another noun or phrase that explain it.
“Pollution, the city’s primary problem, is an issue.” “John, my brother, is coming home.”

Assonance (S)

The close repetition of similar vowel sounds, usually in stressed syllables.
“From the nose to the toes, the body is beginning to sag.” “No pain, no gain.”

Asyndeton (S)

Using no conjunctions to create an effect of speed or simplicity: Veni. Vidi. Vici. “I came. I saw. I conquered.”

Chiasmus (S)

consists of two balanced parts which have their elements reversed. Taking parallelism and deliberately turning it inside out, creating a “crisscross” pattern: “By day the frolic, and the dance by night.” “Naked I rose from the earth; to the grave I fall clothed.”

Climax (S)

(Auxesis and Crescendo) Arrangement in order of increasing importance “Let a man acknowledge his olbligations to himself, his family, his country, and his God.”

Ellipsis (S)

Omitting a word implied by the previous clause: “The European soldiers killed six of the remaining villagers, the American soldiers, eight.”

Enallage (S)

Intentionally misusing grammar to characterize a speaker or to create a memorable phrase “We was robbed!”

Epanalepsis (S)

Repeating a word from the beginning of a clause at the end of the same clause; “Year chases year.” “Common sense is not so common.”

Epenthesis (S)

(infixation) Adding an extra syllable or letters in the middle of a word. “Gosh-diddly-darn-it, Homer.”

Epistrophe (S)

Repetition of a concluding word: “He’s learning fast; are you earning fast”

Metaplasmus (S)

Misspelling a word to create a rhetorical effect.
“dog—>dawg” “deity—>godlet”

Parallelism (S)

When the writer establishes similar patterns of grammatical structure and length. “King Alfred tried to make the law clear, precise, and equitable.” - Has parallel structure in use of adjectives.

Isocolon Parallelism

If the writer uses two parallel structures “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”

Tricolon Parallelism

There are three structures “That government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth.” “Her purpose was to impress the ignorant, to perplex the dubious, and to startle the complacent.”

Polysyndeton (S)

Using many conjunctions to achieve an overwhelming effect “This term I am taking biology and english and history and math and physics and sociology.”

Prosthesis (S)

Adding an extra syllable or letters to the beginning of a word: “All alone, I beweep my outcast state.”

Symploce (S)

Repeating words at both the beginning and the ending of a phrase:
“Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they of the seed of Abraham? So am I.”

Tmesis (S)

Intentionally breaking a word into two parts for emphasis: “I have but two words to say to your request: Im Possible”

Zeugma (S)

A term used to combine/connect 2 things
1. when an object-taking word (preposition/transitive verb) has two or more objects on a different level, like concrete and abstract “I had fancied you were gone down to cultivate matrimony and your estate in the country”
2. when two different words which sound alike are yoked together, “He bolted the door and his dinner.”

Loose Sentence

A sentence that follows the S-V-C pattern.
Subject, verb, completer.

Periodic Sentence

Builds suspense to gain emphasis for the main idea. In spite of heavy snow and cold temperatures, the game continued.