Allegory: a story or visual image with a second meaning
partially hidden. It involves a continuous parallel between two or more levels of meaning. Characters and events have counterparts outside the story. Ex. Lord of the Flies
Alliteration: repetition of initial consonant sounds Ex. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Allusion: Passing reference to a literary or historical person, place or event.
Analogy: illustration of an idea using an example that is similar or parallel to it in some significant features.
Apostrophe: a figure of speech in which an absent person or abstract concept is addressed. Ex. Death, be not proud, though some have called thee mighty and dreadful
Assonance: repetition of similar or identical vowel sounds usually in stressed syllables Ex. Twinkle, twinkle, little star
Hyperbole: a deliberate exaggeration for effect. Ex. Ive told you a thousand times to walk the dog.
Imagery: language that evokes sensory impressions. Not just visuals. Metaphor: a comparison of two unlike objects; saying one is the other. Ex. Life is a highway
Onomatopoeia: words that seem to imitate the sounds to which they refer. Ex. Buzz, Murmur, Babble
Oxymoron: putting two contradictory words together. Ex. That girl is pretty ugly.
Paradox: a statement that seems contradictory, yet contains a basis of truth which reconciles the seeming opposites. Ex. Art is a form of lying in order to tell the truth.
Parallelism: the arrangement of similarly constructed clauses, verses or sentences, suggesting some correspondence between them.
Personification: the giving of human attributes to inanimate objects.
Pun: a humourous expression that depends on a double meaning, either between different senses of the same word or between similar sounding words. Ex. The ink, like our pig, keeps running out of the pen.
Rhetorical Questions: a question to which a reply is not required or even wanted. The question is asked for effect; often a rhetorical question is a way of making a statement.
Satire: exposes the failings of individuals, institutions, or societies to ridicule or scorn in order to correct or expose some evil or wrong doing. Ex. The Daily Show
Simile: comparison of two unlike objects using like or as
Symbol: anything that stands for or represents something other than itself. An object, scene or action that has some further significance associated with it.
Tone: a particular way of speaking or writing. Tone may also describe the general feeling of a piece of work.
Understatement (Litotes): saying something is less than what it is Ex. I cut off my arm, but I say its just a scratch.