Tropes and Schemes

Anthimeria

Using a different part of speech to act as another, such as a verb for a noun, or a noun for a verb

Aporia

Talking about not being able to talk about something

Apostrophe

A figure of speech in which a person not present or a personified abstraction is addressed; referring to death, Einstein would be proud

Catachresis

Completely impossible figure of speech, closely related to hyperbole and synaesthesia

Erotema

Asking a rhetorical question as a transition or thought-provoking tool

Euphemism

A substitution of less pungent words for harsh ones, resulting in an excellent ironic effect

Irony

The writer takes on another voice or role that states the opposite of what is expressed, as verbal, situational, dramatic, or socratic irony,

Meiosis

Understatement(opposite of exaggeration)

Metaphor

An implied comparison between two unlike things by identification or by the substitution of one for the other; when something is something else

Metonymy

Using a vaguely suggestive, physical object to embody a more general idea; crown is royalty, pen is mightier than the sword

Onomatopoeia

Words that sound like what they mean

Oxymoron

Greek for pointedly foolish; figure of speech made of two apparently contradictory terms that express a startling paradox; using contradiction in a manner that oddly makes sense

Paradox

A statement which contains a basis of truth that reconciles the seeming opposites

Personification

Giving human qualities to inanimate objects

Prosopopeia

Powerful personification in which an inanimate object gains the ability to speak

Paronomasia (Puns)

Twisting the meaning of words, often to create a humorous effect

Simile

An explicit comparison between two unlike things signaled by the use of “like” or “as”

Synæsthesia

Mixing one type of sensory input with another in an impossible way, how a color sounds, how a smell looks

Synecdoche

Using a part of a physical object to represent the whole object(twenty eyes watching = 10 people)

Zeugma

Artfully using one verb with two or more different objects; If we don’t hang together, we shall hang separately

Syllepsis

zeugma that changes the original meaning of the word

Alliosis

Presenting alternatives in a balanced manner

Alliteration

Repetition of a sound in multiple words

Consonance

Repetition of consonant sounds

Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds

Anaphora

Repetition of beginning clauses

Anadiplosis

Repeating the last word of a clause at the beginning of the next clause

Anapodoton

Deliberately creating a sentence fragment by the omission of a clause

Anastrophe

Deliberate inversion of word order from what one expects

Antimetabole (Epanoados)

Repetition in reverse order, similar to chiasmus

Antithesis

Contrary ideas expressed in a balanced sentence; contrast of opposites or contrast of degree

Aposiopesis

Breaking off as if unable to continue

Appositive

The placing next to a noun another noun or phrase that explain it

Asyndeton

Using no conjunctions to create an effect of speed or simplicity

Chiasmus

Placing crosswise, two balanced parts that have their elements reversed; taking parallelism and turning inside out creating a “crisscross” pattern

Climax (Auxesis and Crescendo)

Arrangement in order of increasing importance

Ellipsis

Omitting a word implied by the previous clause

Enallage

Intentionally misusing grammar to characterize a speaker or to create a memorable phrase

Epanalepsis

Repeating a word from the beginning of a clause at the end of the same clause

Epenthesis (infixation)

Adding an extra syllable or letters in the middle of a word

Epistripohe

Repetition of a concluding word

Metaplasmus

Misspelling a word to create rhetorical effect such as dialect, gender, importance, timeP

Parallelism

Writer establishes similar patterns of grammatical structure and length can come in isocolon and tricolon; law clear precise and equitable vs clear laws that had precision and were equitable

Isocolon Parallelism

The bigger they are, the harder they fall

Tricolon Parallelism

The government of the people, by the people, and for the people

Polysyndeton

Using many conjunctions to achieve an overwhelming effect; and and and and and

Prosthesis

Adding an extra syllable or letters to the beginning of a word, creating a poetic effect to turn a run-of-the-mill word into something novel

Symploce

Repeating words at both the beginning and the end of a phrase; Are they Hebrews? So am I…

Tmesis

Intentionally breaking a word into two parts for emphasis

Zeugma

Using a verb on two different nouns in the same sentence where one makes sense and the other makes sense in the context of the first

Loose sentences

S-V-C pattern, ends with a dependent sentence element

Periodic sentences

Builds suspense to gain emphasis for the main idea, if the main idea is postponed until the last part of the sentence and modifying elements are built up in the first part, real suspense can be achieved on the reader