Tropes

Metaphor

An implied comparison between two things of unlike nature that yet have something in common; a comparison of two things without using the words "like" or "as".

E.g.

“We are young / Heartache to heartache we stand / No promises / No demands / Love is a battlefield”

Simile

An explicit comparison between two things of unlike nature that yet have something in common; a comparison of two things using either “like” or “as.”

E.g.

“What happens to a dream deferred? / Does it dry up / like a raisin in the sun?”

Synecdoche

A figure of speech where a part stands for the whole.
E.g.

Genus substituted for the species:

• vessel referring to ship, weapon for sword, creature for man, arms for rifles, vehicle for bicycle

Species substituted for the genus:

• bread for food, cutthroat for assassin

Part substituted for the whole:

• sail for ship, hands for helpers, roofs for houses

Matter for what is made from it:

• silver for money, canvas for sail, steel for sword

Metonymy

When an object or concept is referred to not by its own name, but instead by the name of something closely associated with it.

E.g.

“I went and told the Widow about it, and she said the thing a body could get by praying for it was 'spiritual gifts'” In this case, “body” stands in for “person.”

Puns

Generic name for those figures which make a play on words.

Antanaclasis

Paronomasia

Syllepsis

Antanaclasis

Repetition of a word in the same sentence or clauses, but each repetition has a different meaning.

“We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately” The first hang mean to sticking together, but the second hang means to be executed by hanging.

Paronomasia

A phrase used to exploit the confusion between words having similar sounds but different meanings (homophones).

E.g.

“Not I, believe me. You have dancing shoes with nimble soles; I have a soul of lead …”

“Why was the baker so rich? He made a lot of dough” Dough as in bread dough or cash.

Syllepsis

A figure of speech in which one “governing” word or phrase modifies two distinct parts of a sentence of which it grammatically suits only one. Changes the rhythm and structure of a sentence.

E.g.

“He works nights, and I days.” OR "She exercises to keep healthy and I to lose weight." Only one subject (“she” not “I”) agrees with the verb (“exercise”).

Zeugma

Like syllepsis, a figure of speech in which one “governing” word or phrase modifies two distinct parts of a sentence. Unlike syllepsis, the governing word will mean something different when applied to each part.

E.g.

“He carried a strobe light and the responsibility for the lives of his men” Carrying a strobe light is literally physically carrying something but carrying responsibility is not literally carrying a physical thing.

Anthimeria

A word is used as a part of speech different from its typical grammatical form.

E.g.

"I Googled the answer” Google is a noun but is used as a verb.

Periphrasis

The use of a more indirect, roundabout, or longer phrase to express a shorter idea or concept.

E.g.

Grammar

• “Happier” → “More happy”

• “I will eat” → “I am going to eat”

Euphemism

• “Death” → “Pass away” / “Passed on to greener pastures”

Personification

Investing abstractions or inanimate objects with human qualities or abilities.

E.g.

“Because I could not stop for Death – / He kindly stopped for me.”

Apostrophe

A speaker addresses an absent person, a personified inanimate object, an abstract concept, or an imaginary entity as if it were present and could respond.

E.g.

“Is this a dagger which I see before me, / The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch / thee”

Hyperbole

The use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect.

E.g.

“I'm starving! I could eat a horse.”

“I have a million things to do.”

“That's the best book ever written.”

Litotes

Instead of expressing something in a straightforward and often positive way, a negative term or terms are used to create emphasis.

A form of understatement for emphasis through the use of a double negative.

E.g.

“It’s not rocket science”

“It’s not bad” “Nothing will be impossible”

Rhetorical Question / Erotema

Asking a question, not for the purpose of eliciting an answer but for the purpose of asserting or denying something obliquely.

E.g.

“Are you serious?!”

“Can anyone compare the state of our economy when the Carter Administration took office with where we are today and say, ‘Keep up the good work’?”

Irony

Occurs when events or words are the opposite of what is expected, creating a sense of surprise, humor, or deeper meaning in literature, rhetoric, and everyday situations.

E.g.

The Titanic was touted as an unsinkable ship, yet sank on its first voyage.

Dramatic Irony

When the audience knows something that the characters don't.

Verbal Irony

When the literal meaning of what someone says is different from what they actually mean.

E.g.

When there's a hurricane raging outside and someone remarks "what lovely weather we're having,"

Situational Irony

An unexpected, paradoxical, or perverse turn of events.

E.g.

Fire station burns down.

Life guard drowns.

Librarian hates reading.

Sarcasm

Witty language used to convey insults or scorn.

E.g.

“Ugliness is in a way superior to beauty because it lasts”

““hey're really on top of things" to describe a group of people who are very disorganized.

Onomatopoeia

A figure of speech in which words evoke the actual sound of the thing they describe.

E.g.
“SMASH - The door was hit with such a force that it swung clean off its hinges and with a deafening crash landed flat on the floor”

Oxymoron

Apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction.

E.g.

“Old news", “Deafening silence”

Paradox

An apparently contradictory statement that nevertheless contains a measure of truth.

E.g.

“The less we copy the renowned ancients, the more we shall resemble them”

“All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others”