Pun

a play on the meaning of words

Ex: This joke is not punny.

(see, jokes are funny, but since pun sounds like fun, well, I think you get it)

Metaphor

an implied comparison between two unlike things

Simile

an explicit comparison between two unlike things signaled by the use of LIKE or AS

Personification

attributing human qualities to an inanimate object

Irony

the writer takes on another voice or role and states the opposite of what is expressed

Ex: The lumberjack's house had been crushed by a falling tree while he was away.

Hyperbole

Exaggeration; deliberate exaggeration for emphasis

Litotes

Opposite of hyperbole; intensifies an idea by understatement

Synechdoche

related to classification and division

ex: "nice wheels" refers to a car

Metonymy

designation of a group of things with something closely associated with it

Ex: the king = the CROWN

the newspaper = the PRESS

Oxymoron

contradiction; two contradictory terms or ideas together

Ex: Parting is such a sweet sorrow

(if you didn't notice, they are opposites-ish)

Paradox

a statement that appears to be contradictory but, in fact, has some meaning

From Macbeth: fair is foul, and foul is fair

(didn't seem possible, did it?)

Onomatopoeia

refers to the use of words whose sound reinforces their meaning

Ex: Snap Crackle Pop

Rhetorical Question

a question that doesn't need to be answered

Asking the reader: What would you do?

Asking the writer: Was it really what I wanted?

Criticizing: Did you really think AP English was going to be easy?

Asking and Answering: Is this a question? Yes.

Apostrophe

"a turning away"

You turn away from the audience to address something new, usually inanimate.

Ex: "Death, where is thy sting?"

Euphemism

Substitution of less pungent words for harsh ones with excellent ironic effect.

Ex: "The schoolmaster corrected the slightest fault with his birch reminder"

(This example didn't help me much, but I think it has something to do with birch.)

Parallelism

expresses similar or related ideas in similar grammatical structure

(think Gossett)

Chiasmus

grammatical structure of the first clause or phrase is reversed in the second

Ex: "And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."

Climax

writer arranges ideas in order of importance

Epanalepsis

repetition at the end of a clause of the word that occurred at the beginning

Ex: Blood hath bought blood, and blows answer'd blows...

Antithesis

juxtaposition of contrasting ideas

Ex: Our knowledge separates us as well as unites.

Epistrophe

repetition of the same word or group of words at the ends of successive clauses

Ex: I'll have my bond! Speak not against my bond! I have sworn an oath that I will have my bond!

Zeugma

(wtf)

When a word applies to two different parts of the sentence, containing two different meanings.

Ex: I f***ed both the man's wife and his bank account to make sure he would be sorry.

(f***ed has two different meanings here, each to its respective object)

Anastrophe

Word order is reversed or rearranged.

Ex: Hungry was he.

(think designed inversion)

Apposition

the placing next to a noun another noun or phrase that explains it

(it's an appositive, they're the exact same thing)

Ex: Ms. Hoodhood, our teacher...

Parenthesis

dashes, parentheses...

all make side notes and additions

Asyndenton

conjunction are ommitted

"ommission of a final series item" - Gossett

Ex: I came, I saw, I conquered.

Polysyndenton

the use of many conjunctions to slow the pace

and, but, or

Anaphora

the regular repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases of clauses

Ex: We shall... We shall... We shall...

Alliteration

the repetition of the same sound at the beginning of successive words

Ex: Creepy, crawly critters.

Assonance

involves the repetition of sounds within words

Ex: No pain, no gain.

Consonance

words at the end of verses in which the final consonants in the stressed syllables agree but the words that precede them differ; a "half-rhyme"

Ex: rhyming "begun" with "afternoon"

Periodic Sentence

Important, independent clause is placed at the end, after a subordinating clause.

Ex: Having passed his house every day and knowing that it had been unoccupied for years, I was suprised to see smoke coming from its chimney.

Loose Sentence

Uses the important, independent clause at the beginning of the sentence.

Ex: I was surprised to see smoke coming from the chimney because I had passed his house every day and knew that it had been empty for years.