comparison between two unrelated things NOT using words such as "like" or "as"- an assertion that one thing IS another thing

Example: from Romeo & Juliet: “But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!"

a word that imitates a sound

Example: BANG!

descriptive language that creates a picture in one's mind while reading

Example: The busy squirrels ran through the lush, green trees, chasing acorns and packing them away for colder days.

gross over-exaggeration for emphasis/effect

Example sentence: I've said that a million times.

repetition of beginning consonant sounds.

Example: The fog filtered over the field finally hiding the fence.

comparison between two unrelated things using "like" or "as."

Example: Jose sleeps like a log.

object used to represent an idea or concept

Example: a dove being used to represent the idea of peace

Using a word or a phrase to mean exactly opposite of its normal meaning.

Example: Calling a boy "Stretch" when he is short.

One word sounds the same as another word with different meaning; a play on words

Example: You know a clock is hungry when it goes back four seconds.

using two contradictory words for a special effect.

Example: jumbo shrimp

repetition of vowel sounds - not rhyming because end consonants don't match

Example: Great Lake

repetition of consonant sounds anywhere within the words of a phrase (not limited to beginnings, like alliteration; usually at the end of words, but can be anywhere)

Example: Sally sells seashells on the seashores.

Using more appropriate or pleasant language to describe something inappropriate or uncomfortable.

Example: "restroom" instead of "toilet"

a worn-out idea or overused expression

Example: "as busy as a bee"

placement of two things closely together to emphasize comparisons or contrasts

Example: The innocent young girl walks through the haunted hallway.

a figure of speech that utilizes a part as representative of the whole, or vise versa

Example: "all hands on deck"

a figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated

Example: "the White House" used for meaning the entire US government

a statement that appears to be self-contradictory or opposed to common sense but upon closer inspection contains some degree of truth or validity.

Example: the beginning of Dickens' Tale of Two Cities: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...."

an opposition or contrast of ideas in the same or neighboring sentence

Example: "One small step for man, One giant leap for mankind."

a phrase that emphasizes the magnitude of a statement by denying its opposite

Example: "Hitler was no angel."

a figure of speech in which someone absent or dead or something nonhuman is addressed as if it were alive and present and could reply

Example: "Oh, Wind! Stop blowing my hair!"

indirect reference to a well-known person, place, or thing in literature; no explanation of the reference/connection (think "name drop")

Example: "I have a dream that my students will pass this test."

a comparison between two unlike things that is continued throughout the piece (beyond a single phrase or sentence/line)

Example: "All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts."

repeated use of sounds, words, or ideas for effect and emphasis

Example: from A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief..."

animal attributes are imposed upon non-animal objects, humans, and events and animal features are ascribed to humans, gods and other objects

Example: "She has bright, dark eyes and satiny brown skin and stands tilted up on her toes with arms slightly extended to her sides, as if ready to take wing at the slightest sound."

a common, often used expression that doesn't make sense if you take it literally; an expression whose meanings cannot be inferred from the meanings of the words that make it up

Example: "It's raining cats and dogs outside!"

the presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is

Example: “I did O.K.” – Said by a student who got 100% on the test.

the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues

Example: Animal Farm is a work critiquing Stalinism and the politics Soviet Union.

a narrative device that hints at coming events; often builds suspense or anxiety in the reader

Example: In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the witches portend evil, chanting, “Something wicked this way comes.”

the choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing; involved in almost every piece of writing because it is a vehicle for conveying the tone of the work

Example: Huck Finn "Right is right, and wrong is wrong, and a body ain’t got no business doing wrong when he ain’t ignorant and knows better.”

an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning

Example: The old dog lounged lazily in the sun conveys a positive or neutral association while the old mutt...conveys a more negative association

the interpretation of a nonhuman animal, event, or object as embodying human qualities or characteristics

Example: Inanimate objects such as Mrs. Potts and Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast.

a parallel between disparate ideas, people, things, or events that is more elaborate than a metaphor or simile

Example: from Romeo & Juliet: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet.”

a scene that interrupts the normal chronological sequence of events in a story to depict something that happened at an earlier time

Example: When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow. When it healed, and Jem’s fears of never being able to play football were assuaged, he was seldom self-conscious about his injury. (from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee)

intellectually amusing language that surprises and delights; the ability to use words or ideas in an amusing, clever, and imaginative way

Example: from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland:

“But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked.“Oh, you can’t help that,” said the Cat: “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.”“How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice.“You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn’t have come here.”

using the same pattern of words, phrases, and/or grammatical structure to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance

Example: The cat runs across the garden, jumps over to the plant, and moves down the road.

when a person says or writes one thing and means another, or uses words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of the literal meaning. *Sarcasm is a form used to mock or criticize something or someone.

Example: “I’m so glad the professor moved up the deadline for our essays; I was hoping I’d have too much work to go to that party this weekend.”

involves a situation in which actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended, so that the outcome is contrary to what was expected

Example: A fire station burns down.

when the audience or reader knows something that one or more characters do not know; because of that knowledge, the audience has a bigger picture of the action

Example: Snow White and the Seven Dwarves: We know that Snow White’s stepmother is evil and has poisoned an apple with which to kill her. Thus, when Snow White’s stepmother disguises herself and gives Snow White the apple we try vainly to warn Snow White, knowing what will happen when she bites into the apple.