| A | B |
|---|
| asyndeton | the lack of necessary conjunctions |
| alliteration | repetition of the same letter at the beginning of successive words or syllables |
| anaphora | repetition of a word, for emphasis, at the beginning of successive phrases or clauses |
| anastrophe | inversion of the usual order of words (grammatical) |
| aposiopesis | an abrupt pause for rhetorical effect |
| assonance | similar vowel sounds repeated in successive or proximate words containing different consonants: |
| chiasmus | arrangement of pairs of words in crisscross order |
| ecphrasis | descriptions of works of art by writers, usually painting, usually by poets. |
| ellipsis | omission of words necessary to the grammatical structure of the sentence, easily supplied from the context |
| enjambment | The running over of a sentence or thought into the next couplet or line without a pause at the end of the line; a run-on line. |
| euphemism | substitution of a non-offensive expression |
| hendiadys | use of two nouns connected by "et" instead of a single modified noun |
| hyperbole | exaggeration for rhetorical effect |
| hysteron proteron | reversal of natural or logical order of events |
| irony | expression contrary to the intended meaning |
| litotes | the affirming of something by denying its opposite; a double negative |
| metaphor | an implied comparison |
| metonymy | the substitution of one word for another that it suggests |
| onomatopoeia | the use of a word whose sound suggests its meaning |
| oxymoron | the use in combination of apparently contradictory words |
| personification | attributing human characteristics to inanimate things |
| pleonasm | use of superfluous words (like a lot of unnecessary ones!) |
| polysyndeton | the use of unnecessary conjunctions |
| praeteritio | pretended omission for rhetorical effect |
| prolepsis | the use of a word sooner than is logically appropriate |
| prosopopoeia | personification, representing animals or inanimate entities with human characteristics or feelings. Alternately, prosopopoeia is a figure a speech in which an imaginary or absent person speaks or acts. |
| rhetorical question | asked for effect, not expecting a verbal answer |
| simile | expressed comparison using " like" or "as" |
| synecdoche | the use of a part to represent a whole |
| tmesis | separation of a compound word by one or more intervening words |
| transferred epithet | an adjective modifying a noun which it cannot logically modify, yet which works because the metaphorical meaning remains clear. |
| tricolon crescens | combination of three elements, increasing in size, importance, effect |
| zeugma | use of a word in two connections, though one is more applicable |
