Antithesis

Definition: An opposing or contrast of ideas

Example: "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." - JFK

Apostrophe

Definition: A poetic device in which the poet talks to an absetn person, place, or thing as if it were present.

Example: " O Captain! My Captain! Our fearfull trip is done." - Walt Whitman

Hyperbole

Definition: An exxageration or overstatment.

Example: I was so embarrassed I could of died.

Litotes

Definition: A form of understatment in which something is expressed by a negation of the contrary.

Example: He was a man of no small means.

Metaphor

Definition: A comparison of two unlike things in which no words of comparison are used.

Example: The new kid in our class is really a squirrel.

Metonymy

Definition: The substituting of one word for another which is closely realted to it.

Example: The White House has decided to provide a million more public service jobs. ( White House substituted for president)

Personification

Definition: A literary device in which the author elevates an animal, object, and an idea to the level of a human.

Example: My shoes are killing me.

Simile

Definition: A comparison of two unlike things in which a word of comparion is used.

Example: She eats like a bird.

Symbol

Defintion: A concrete object used to represent an idea.

Example: A black object symbolizes death or sorrow.

Synecdoche

Defintion: Using part of something to represent the whole.

Example: All hands on deck