Tropes
Metaphor implied
comparison between two things of unlike nature
the autumn of his years, sawing the yellow days
into planks
Simile explicit
comparison between two things of unlike nature
she grew like a willow, his ego was as big as
the sky
Synecdoche figure of speech
in which a part stands for the whole
all hands on deck
Metonymy substitution of
some attributive or suggestive word for what is actually meant
crown for king, sweat of brow for hard labor
Antanaclasis repetition of a
word in two different senses
Double your pleasure with the double the
fun.
Paronomasis use of words alike
in sound but different in meaning
They told the sexton, and the sexton tolled the bell.
Syllepsis use of a word
understood differently in relation to two or more other words, which it
modifies or governs
Or stain her honor, or her new brocade…
Anthimeria the substitution
of one part of speech for another
soup that eats like a meal, we partied, we’ll workshop this manuscript
Periphrasis substitution of
a descriptive word or phrase or a quality associated with the name for a proper
name
the Bossman, the Terminator, the Prince of Peace
Personification investing abstractions
or inanimate objects with human qualities or abilities
the wind cries Mary, that car is begging for polish
Hyperbole the use of
exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect
He laughed his head off. That
guy makes me puke my guts out.
Litotes deliberate
use of understatement
In
a Hemingway story describing a woman getting a Ceasarian section with dull
scissors and no anesthetic: It all took a
long time.
Rhetorical question asking a question, not to
elicit an answer but to assert or deny something obliquely
Who are you to criticize him?
When
is it okay to murder children?
Irony use of a word or phrase in
such a way as to convey a meaning other than the literal meaning
Because I could not stop for Death, / He
kindly stopped for me.
Onomatapoeia use of words whose
sounds echo the senses
buzz, scratch, jingle, swish, thump
Oxymoron the yoking of
two terms that are ordinarily contradictory
government intelligence, kindly brutal
Paradox an apparently
contradictory statement that nevertheless contains a measure of truth
alone in a crowd; a wounded deer leaps highest; you can check out any time
you like, but you can never leave
Schemes
Isocolon similarity
not only of structure but of length
I think, therefore I am.
Antithesis the
juxtaposition of contrasting ideas, often in parallel structure
I breathe, therefore I smoke.
Anastrophe inversion of the
usual word order
The first time ever I saw your face…
Very
silent in the chill storm sat the house.
Parenthesis insertion of some
verbal unit in a position that interrupts the normal syntactical flow of a
sentence
Rambo: All I want is for
America
to love—especially at the box office—the
Vietnam
vet as much as we love him.
Apposition placing side by
side two co-ordinate elements, the second of which serves as an explanation or
modification of the first
His brain, a big bowl of tapioca, was not working.
Lucy
sat with her dog, a huge German shepherd.
Ellipsis deliberate
omission of a word or words that is or are readily implied by the context
I went to the store, he [went] to the gym.
Asyndeton deliberate
omission of conjunctions in a series
How could you go on working, walking, breathing?
Polysyndeton deliberate use of
many conjunctions
We walked on through the woods and the fields and the forests and the
pastures and the towns until we tired.
Alliteration repetition of
initial consonants in two or more adjacent words
The violet vest bespoke violence in her heart.
Consonance a more general term
indicating repetition of initial or medial consonants in two or more adjacent words
The moan of doves in immemorial elms, / And murmuring of innumerable bees.
Assonance repetition of
similar vowel sounds, preceded and followed by different consonants, in the
stressed syllables of adjacent words
We long to round up horrible morons.
Anaphora repetition of
the same word or group of words at the beginnings of successive clauses
[In the Beatitudes:] Blessed are the …
You
have no right to ask me how I feel, you have no right
to speak to me so kind.
Epistrophe repetition of
the same word or group of words at the ends of successive clauses
We do it like you’d do it.
Coke
adds life and everybody wants a little life.
… of the people by the people for the people…
Epanalepsis repetition at the
end of the clause of the word that occurred at the beginning of the clause
Never say never.
People
who need people are the luckiest people.
Anadiplosis repetition of the
last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause
He was sent there to be broken, and broken he was.
Climax arrangement
of words, phrases, or clauses in an order of increasing importance
Does your car sputter, lurch, and then die?
He
got loud, agitated, and violent.
Antimetabole repetition of words
in successive clauses in reverse grammatical order
When you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with.
Chiasmus reversal of
grammatical structures in successive clauses (but no repetition of words)
When you can’t be with the one you love, watch a game show on TV.
Polyptoton repetition of
words derived from the same root
The slave is a subject, subjected by others; the slave holder is a
subject, but he is the author of his own subjection.
