Diction and Tropes Terms

Allegory

a piece of work that uses events, actions, or characters to illustrate complex messages and ideas that the audience can easily understand.  

Hyperbole

A statement or claim that is overemphasized or exaggerated and could be used for a humorous purpose, but not always. 

Metonymy

a word or phrase that replaces another word or phrase with something that represents it or is associated with it.

Synecdoche

a word or phrase that uses a piece of something in place of the whole object. 

Apostrophe

address something or someone (they are usually not physically present). 

Eponym

A person who has something named after them.

Pun

The use of a word’s different meanings, or using a word that sounds the same as another word to make a joke.

Conceit

An extended metaphor that compares two unlike things, allowing the reader to look at them in a different way, and connect the two objects by what they do have in common.

Colloquialism

A word or phrase that is not formal or literary, typically one used in ordinary or familiar conversation.

Idiom

A phrase that has a meaning you wouldn't be able to make sense of from the meanings of each individual word. 

Dialect

 The way in which someone speaks with a regional twist

Slang

The unique choice of words used by people of inferior reputation. 

Jargon

The use of complicated words by a specific group of people with the purpose that others have a difficult understanding of it

Connotation

related ideas or feelings to a word that deviate from the actual definition and may be influenced by the word’s context.

Denotation

the actual definition of a word without the branching concepts such as ideas or feelings it inspires.

Cliche

a remark or saying that has been repeated by many people over time and thus is regarded as overused.

Archaic Diction

Using old fashioned speech within text to demonstrate language from the past. 

Pendantic Diction

Someone who talks using a lot of big words. They are just trying to show off how smart they are and it’s annoying.

Concrete Diction

the use of words for their literal meanings and refers to things that appeal to the senses.   

Abstract Diction

words or phrases used to describe abstract qualities, ideas, and feelings.