| A | B |
|---|
| Simile | – a direct comparison using “like” or “as” to link persons or things compared. |
| Metaphor | an indirect comparison as by implication, that is without “like” or “as” |
| Personification | giving of human qualities to that which is inanimate. |
| Metonymy | use of the name of one thing for that of another associated with or suggested by it. |
| Hyperbole | overstatement or exaggeration |
| Alliteration | similarity of initial consonant sound of two or more words in close proximity. |
| Repetition | finding the same word or words in a line or nearby lines. |
| Onomatopoeia | - use of words which closely approximate the sound of the action they describe. |
| Assonance | similarity of vowel sounds in two or more stressed syllables. |
| Alliteration | repetition of the initial consonant sounds in successive or closely associated words. |
| Allusion | a casual reference to a famous historical, literary or Biblical person or event or a reference to mythology. |
| Apostrophe | the technique of addressing some non-existent personage, some abstract quality, or some power of nature as if it were present. |
| Balance and antithesis | technique which repeats the same structural form (phrases, clauses or sentences) but which includes a contrast of ideas from part to part of the identical form. |
| Dramatic irony | irony of situation in which the reader and one or more characters are aware of a fact which makes another, unknowing character seem foolish. |
| Enumeration | technique of using several similar words, phrases or clauses so as to form a list. |
| Flashback | a device by which scenes or incidents which occurred prior to the opening scene of the work are presented. |
| Foreshadowing | method of warning the reader of events to come, usually through some clue in dialogue. |
| Hyperbole | (overstatement) – an exaggeration or amplification of a situation or pwers beyond realistic acceptance. |
| Irony | figure of speech in which the actual intent is expressed in words which carry the opposite meaning. It may be in the form of words of praise to imply blame, for example. |
| Litotes | saying less that is meant or understating one’s value or good qualities. |
| Maxim or proverb | a short, concise statement drawn from experience and indicating some practical advice. |
| Metaphor | a literary comparison which does not use the words “like or “as” |
| Metonymy | a figure of speech which substitutes a term naming an object closely associated with the word in mind for the word itself; example: saying “crown” and meaning “king” |
| Motivation | the justification of the action of a character in a plot by the presenting of a convincing and impelling cause for that action. |
| Oxymoron | a rhetorical antithesis bringing together two contradictor terms as “wise fool” or “big shrimp”. |
| Pun | a play on words using two or more homonyms, two words with the same sound by different meanings or with two different pronunciations. |
| Personification | a figure of speech which endows animals, ideas, or inanimate objects with human form, character or responsibilities. |
| Refrain | an entire line of poetry repeated several times in a work. |
| Rhetorical question | a question asked for its emotional impact and not requiring a reply or intended to induce a reply. |
| Simile | a form of literary comparison using “like” or “as” |
| Symbol | the use of an objects to present itself and to evoke in the reader one or more other levels of meanings. |
| Synecdoche | a form of metaphor which in mentioning a part signifies the whole or the whole signifies the part; example: He looked me in the eye. (Really in both eyes) |
| Satire | a literary manner which blends criticism of human manners or institutions with humor with the aim of inspiring improvement of the human condition. |
| Parody | a light composition or passage which imitates a more serious literary work for the purpose of ridicule. |
| Allegory | a form of extended metaphor in which the characters are personifications of some virtue; a deeper religious moral or political meaning can be derived from the second level of interpretation of the allegory, its setting and characters. |
