| A | B |
|---|
| Alliteration | the repetition of the same sound beginning several words or syllables in sequence. |
| Archaic diction | Old-fashioned or outdated choice of words |
| Metaphor | Figure of speech that compares two things without using like or as |
| Oxymoron | Paradoxical juxtaposition of words that seem to contradict one another |
| Personification | Assigning lifelike characteristics to inanimate objects |
| Synecdoche | Figure of speech that uses a part to represent a whole (“all hands on deck!”) |
| Consonance | Repetition of consonant sounds in a line or lines of text |
| Assonance | repetition of vowel sounds in a line or lines of text |
| Elevated | Heightened formal language that is free of slang, idioms, colloquialisms, and contractions; often contains polysyllabic words, sophisticated syntax, and elegant word choice |
| Formal | Level of diction in which word choice is polite and proper; often filled with descriptive words that are quite precise, and sentences may be longer. |
| Informal | language used used when addressing a familiar or specific audience; often assumes that the audience already knows what you're talking about and generally uses shorter words. Sentences may be incomplete or ignore some finer points of grammar and usage. |
| Colloqual | a type of informal language used in ordinary or familiar conversation |
| Slang | a type of informal language that consists of words and phrases that are more common in speech than writing and typically restricted to a particular context or group of people. |
| Abstract | language that refers to qualities or ideas. |
| Concrete | language that refers to something tangible or perceptible to the senses |
| Simile | a direct or explicit comparison between two usually unrelated things indicating a likeness or similarity between some attribute found in both things; uses like or as to introduce the comparison. |
| hyperbole | exaggerated language |
| allusion | a reference in literature or in art to previous literature, history, mythology, current events, or the Bible/religious texts. |
| metonymy | A term is substituted for another term with which it is closely associated: “crown” or “scepter” stands duty for “monarch”; “White House” stands in for the President. |
