Rhetorical Devices

Allegory

an extended metaphor, prolonged use of an image to express meaning

alliteration

repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of a series

anaphora

repetition of words or words at the beginning of successive clause

anastrophe

inversion of usual word order

asyndeton

omission of conjunctions

chiasmus

an “a-b-b-a” arrangement of words, often used with pairs of nouns and adjectives

ecphrasis

extended description of a work of art or scene of nature

ellipsis

omission of words easily understood in context

enjambment

continuation of a clause beyond the end of one line and into the beginning of the next

golden line

synchesis(interlocking word order) with a verb in the middle

hendiadys

expressing a single idea with two nouns joined by a conjunction

hyperbaton

distortion of normal word order( e.g. separation of words meant to be together)

hyperbole

exaggeration

hysteron proteron

reversal of the natural order of events

interlocking word order(synchesis)

ABAB order often used with pairs of nouns and adjectives

litotes

use of negative(often a double negative) to express something positive

metaphor

expression through another image

metonymy

the use of one noun or image to suggest another

onomatopoeia

use of words that sound like their meaning

personification

attribution of human characteristics to something not human

pleonasm

the use of superfluous words to enrich the thought

polysyndeton

use of more conjunctions(Gr. syndeton) than are needed

simile

explicit comparison using words “like” or “as”(sicut, similis, velut, qualis, quam)

synecdoche

use of the part to express the whole, a type of metonymy

tmesis

the separation of a compound word into two parts

enallage

the transfer of an adjective from its proper object to a related object