alliteration
repetition of the same sound beginning several words or syllables in sequence
allusion
brief reference to a person, event, or place (real or fictitious) or to a work of art
anaphora
a form of parallelism in which the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines
antimetabole
a form of parallelism that utilizes repetition of words in reverse order *a mirror in the middle of the sentence
antithesis
opposition, or contrast, of ideas or words in a parallel construction. a form of parallelism
archaic diction
old-fashioned or outdated choice of words
asyndeton
omission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words. A form of parallelism
cumulative sentence
sentence that completes the main idea at the beginning of the sentence and then builds and adds on
hortative sentence
sentence that exhorts, urges, entreats, implores, or calls to action
imperative sentence
sentence used to command or enjoin
inversion
inverted order of words in a sentence (variation of the subject-verb-object order) *more poetic
juxtaposition
placement of two things closely together to emphasize similarities or differences
metaphor
figure of speech that compares two things without using like or as
oxymoron
paradoxical juxtaposition of words that seem to contradict one another
parallelism
similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses
periodic sentence
sentence whose main clause is withheld until the end
personification
attribution of a lifelike quality to an inanimate object or an idea
rhetorical question
figure of speech in the form of a question posed for rhetorical effect rather than for the purpose of getting an answer
synecdoche
figure of speech that uses a part to represent the whole
zeugma
use of two different words in a grammatically similar way that produces different, often incongruous, meanings
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