| A | B |
|---|
| ANALOGY | Comparison made between two things to show how they are alike. <i>Similar</i> to a metaphor, except that it's very straightforward; it's <i>not</i> figurative language |
| ANTHROPOMORPHISM | attributing human characteristics to an animal or inanimate object (Personification) |
| APOSTROPHE | calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person, or to a place or thing, or a personified abstract idea. If the character is asking a god or goddess for inspiration it is called an invocation. Josiah Holland ---“Loacöon! Thou great embodiment/ Of human life and human history!” |
| CONCEIT | an elaborate metaphor that compares two things that are startlingly different. Often an extended metaphor. |
| EPITHET | an adjective or adjective phrase applied to a person or thing that is frequently used to emphasize a characteristic quality. “Father of our country” and “the great Emancipator” are examples. A Homeric epithet is a compound adjective used with a person or thing: “swift-footed Achilles”; “rosy-fingered dawn.” |
| FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE | Words which are inaccurate if interpreted literally, but are used to describe. Similes and metaphors are common forms |
| HYPERBOLE | a figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration or overstatement, for effect. “If I told you once, I’ve told you a million times….” |
| IMAGERY | the use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person , a thing, a place, or an experience. |
| IRONY | a discrepancy between appearances and reality. |
| VERBAL IRONY | occurs when someone says one thing but really means something else |
| SITUATIONAL IRONY | takes place when there is a discrepancy between what is expected to happen, or what would be appropriate to happen, and what really does happen. |
| DRAMATIC IRONY | is so called because it is often used on stage. A character in the play or story thinks one thing is true, but the audience or reader knows better. |
| METAPHOR | a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things <i>without</i> the use of such specific words of comparison as "like," "as," "than," or "resembles" |
| IMPLIED METAPHOR | does not state explicitly the two terms of the comparison: “I like to see it lap the miles” is an implied metaphor in which the verb lap implies a comparison between “it” and some animal that “laps” up water. |
| EXTENDED METAPHOR | is a metaphor that is extended or developed as far as the writer wants to take it. (conceit if it is quite elaborate). |
| DEAD METAPHOR | is a metaphor that has been used so often that the comparison is no longer vivid: “The head of the house”, “the seat of the government”, “a knotty problem” are all dead metaphors |
| MIXED METAPHOR | is a metaphor that has gotten out of control and mixes its terms so that they are visually or imaginatively incompatible. “The President is a lame duck who is running out of gas.” |
| METONYMY | a figure of speech in which a person, place, or thing, is referred to by something closely associated with it. “We requested from the crown support for our petition.” The crown is used to represent the monarch. |
| MOTIF | a recurring image, word, phrase, action, idea, object, or situation used throughout a work (or in several works by one author), unifying the work by tying the current situation to previous ones, or new ideas to the theme. Kurt Vonnegut uses “So it goes” throughout Slaughterhouse-Five to remind the reader of the senselessness of death. |
| PERSONIFICATION | a figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes |
| SIMILE | a figure of speech that makes an explicitly comparison between two unlike things, using words such as like, as , than, or resembles |
| SYMBOL | a person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself and that also stands for something more than itself |
| SYNECDOCHE | a figure of speech in which a part represents the whole. “If you don’t drive properly, you will lose your wheels.” The wheels represent the entire car. |
