| Alliteration | the repetition of initial consonant sounds | The sly snake slithered slowly in the sand. |
| Allusion | reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art | Chocolate cake is my achilles heel. |
| Anachronism | something out of its normal time period | The caveman microwaved his dinner. |
| Analogy | a comparison that explains or describes one subject by pointing out its similarities to another subject | She is as blind as a bat. |
| Anecdote | a brief story about an interesting, amusing, or strange event. It is told to entertain or to make a point. | The fire safety instructor told a story about how fire safety was useful in her life. |
| Antagonist | character or force in conflict with a main character, or protagonist | Mother Gothel was in conflict with Rapunzel. |
| Antithesis | involves a direct contrast of structurally parallel word grouping | Hope for the best; prepare for the worst. |
| Aphorism | a general truth or observation about life, usually stated concisely and pointedly | Actions speak louder than words. |
| Apostrophe | a figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses an absent person or a personified quality | Oh nature, thou art my goddess. |
| Aside | words spoken by a character in a play to the audience or to another character, that are not meant to be overheard by the other characters. | A little more than kin and less than kind. |