Figure of Speech

Guidelines to Remember

Example

Simile Metaphor

Comparing using like/as

Cute as a button

Direct comparing

Shes an angel

Personification

Human characteristics to inanimate objects

The sky cried loudly last night.

Hyperbole

Exaggeration

Ive said it a million times.

Alliteration

Repetition of initial sounds

Dans dad dressed as a dog.

Onomatopoeia

Imitation of sounds

She heard the ding, dong of the front door Her loyalty for the crown is too great.

Metonymy

Calling an object intimately related to that object. A part of something to represent a whole

Synedoche

Her mind is with him.

Irony

Contradiction of what is said

The thieves robbed the police station.

Assonance

Repetition of vowels

I pat the cat.

Litotes

Negative

None did their job well.

Oxymoron Paradox Apostrophe

Contradiction of terms

Loud silence

Contradict itself

Freedom is slavery.

Communicating to an imaginary idea

Stars, when will I ever reach you? Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice

Antithesis

Opposing the ideas

Polysyndenton

Overuse of conjunctions

She danced and sang and celebrated.

Euphemism

Substitute a milder term

Passed away = Death

Asyndenton

Omits conjunctions

I screamed, cried, wept for him.

Epistrophe

Repeating sequence of words.

He dance for love, to love, and with love.

Anaphora

Repeating the beginning

Be who you want to be. Be someone. Be yourself.

Epigram Allegory

Witty statement Metaphor in an entire narrative; equates persons

I can resist everything but temptation. Fables "The hangman, a grey-haired convict in the white uniform of the prison, was waiting beside his machine." "The King of Pop" is an epithet for Michael Jackson. If practice makes perfect, and no one's perfect, then why practice? "I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat and a gun." I love coffee; my spouse, soda. Day is to month as minute is to hour.

Appositive

Juxtaposed; extra information

Epithet Rhetorical Question

Denote certain characteristics

Question with obvious answer

Anaphora

Repetition for emphasis

Ellipsis

Commission of words but sentence is still understood

Analogy

Logical metaphor of parallel term

False Analogy Palindrome

Comparison of two dissimilar thing

"People are like dogs. They respond best to clear discipline." Cigar? Toss it in a can. It is so tragic.

same in both direction

Tautology Chiasmus Paralipsis

Repetition of near synonyms to denote same thing Order of words is reversed parallel Focuses on anything without making it obvious

I am feeling very sleepily sleepy as I got up at 5 am in the morning. Do I love you because you're beautiful? Or are you beautiful because I love you? I won't speak of his habit of intoxication.