20. Alliteration A literary device that uses the same consonant sound at a close succession.

. Example: She sells sea shells by the sea shore Alliteration is particularly evident in our modern day lives as the shop houses and magazines do hire this device. For instance, the coffee connoisseur, the coffee club, womens weekly etc. 19. Anaphora a rhetorical device that repeats a certain expression in order to give emphasis Examples: An excerpt from The tyger by William Blake And what shoulder, and what art could twist the sinews of thy heart And when thy heart began to beat, what dread hand and what dread feet? 18. Autonomasia a descriptive word or phrase is used to subsititute a persons proper name. Example: The Iron lady for Margaret thatcher The King of pop for Micheal Jackson The Mahatma for Mahatma Ghandhi 17. Circumlocution the use of unnecessaily large number of words to express a simple idea. An ambiguous and round about form of speech. Example: The square looking bulky black box to describe a television set. 16. Irony an incongruity present between what is expressed and what is intended, or between an expectation of a reality and what actually happens. The literal truth is incongruent to the reality. Its such an irony that she is at the checkpoint but the immigrations refuse to let her in the country.

Its ironic that the charming guys in school turned out to be gays. 15. Onomatopoeia a poetic device whereby the words are sounds made by things/animals they represent. Example: Hiss for snakes, Oink for pigs, Quack for ducks, buzz of bees etc. 14. Simile is the comparison with two different things often using like or as Example: She eats like an ant. as regular as a clock, as cunning as a fox, as slow as sloth etc. 12. Metaphor one word is treated as being equal to another. It carries a step further than what a simile does. Dead metaphors are metaphors that are so common they are usually unnoticed. Examples: to catch a cold, to run a program, to grasp a concept etc. 11. Allegory an extended metaphor whereby one story consists of two meanings; one literal and another symbolic. 10. Allusion a brief reference to a literary work, event or person either directly or by implication. Example: 9. Analogy -to compare two things which are rather unlike and try to point out the similarities between them 8. Antithesis an obvious contrast in expression Examples: Actions, not words Read, not sleep 7. gemination doubling, duplication of words or phrases Examples: 6. hyperbole when a speech is exaggerated Examples: I can eat a horse when the person means that he is very hungry.

I am flooded with work when the person means that he has a lot to do. Ive told you a million times when the person means many times. 5. malapropism the unintentional misuse of words by a speaker because of the words sounding similar Example: Keep numb about the matter (Keep mum about it) Its not the heat, its the humility (humidity) Lorraine, my density has brought me to you. Yes, George, you are my density (destiny). George Mc Fly, back to the Future 4. Metonymy is to substitute a name for word closely associate with the word Example: He loves his bed. ( He loves to sleep) The pen is mightier than the sword. (literary power is superior to millitary force) Blood is thicker than water (relationship between relatives are stronger than other relations establish elsewhere) List of metonyms 3. Oxymoron two contradictory terms conjoined to form a phrase Examples: deafening silence, bitter sweet, smelly fragrance, wicked awesome (slang) Inadvertent oxymorons are caused by unintentional errors or sloppiness in our langauge but has been made common in our everyday speech. Examples: original copy, extremely average, objective opinion 2. Spoonerism is a deliberate error made by the speaker by changing a morpheme, consonant or vowel of a word. Example: That must be a blushing crow for them ( A crushing blow) Is the cable teen? ( Is the table clean?) 1. Sarcasm is a form of humour that uses sharp cutting remarks intended to mock or ridicule others

Example: When you made the most silly mistake ever, your friend says to you Good job. Alliteration Repetition of an initial consonant sound. Anaphora Repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses. Antithesis The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases. Apostrophe Breaking off discourse to address some absent person or thing, some abstract quality, an inanimate object, or a nonexistent character. Assonance Identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighboring words. Chiasmus A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first but with the parts reversed. Euphemism The substitution of an inoffensive term for one considered offensively explicit. Hyperbole An extravagant statement; the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect. Irony The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning. A statement or situation where the meaning is contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the idea.

Litotes A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite. Metaphor An implied comparison between two unlike things that actually have something important in common. Metonymy A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated; also, the rhetorical strategy of describing something indirectly by referring to things around it. Onomatopoeia The formation or use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to. Oxymoron A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side. Paradox A statement that appears to contradict itself. Personification A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction is endowed with human qualities or abilities. Pun A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words. Simile A stated comparison (usually formed with "like" or "as") between two fundamentally dissimilar things that have certain qualities in common. Synechdoche

A figure of speech is which a part is used to represent the whole, the whole for a part, the specific for the general, the general for the specific, or the material for the thing made from it. The Top 20 Figures
1. Alliteration Repetition of an initial consonant sound. Eg. -"A moist young moon hung above the mist of a neighboring meadow." (Vladimir Nabokov, Conclusive Evidence) -"Guinness is good for you." (advertising slogan) -"Good men are gruff and grumpy, cranky, crabbed, and cross." (Clement Freud) -"My style is public negotiations for parity, rather than private negotiations for position." (Jesse Jackson)

2. Anaphora Repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses. Eg, "We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender." 3. Antithesis The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases. Eg. "Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing." (Goethe) 4. Apostrophe Breaking off discourse to address some absent person or thing, some abstract quality, an inanimate object, or a nonexistent character. Eg. "O western wind, when wilt thou blow That the small rain down can rain?" (anonymous, 16th c.)

5. Assonance Identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighboring words. Eg. "Those images that yet Fresh images beget, That dolphin-torn, that gong-tormented sea." (W.B. Yeats, "Byzantium")

6. Chiasmus A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first but with the parts reversed. Eg. "Nice to see you, to see you, nice!" (British TV entertainer Bruce Forsyth)

7. Euphemism The substitution of an inoffensive term for one considered offensively explicit.

Eg. Dr. House: I'm busy. Thirteen: We need you to . . . Dr. House: Actually, as you can see, I'm not busy. It's just a euphemism for "get the hell out of here."

8. Hyperbole An extravagant statement; the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect. Eg. "Ladies and gentlemen, I've been to Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and I can say withouthyperbole that this is a million times worse than all of them put together."

9. Irony The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning. A statement or situation where the meaning is contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the idea.

10. Litotes A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite. 11. Metaphor An implied comparison between two unlike things that actually have something important in common. 12. Metonymy A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated; also, the rhetorical strategy of describing something indirectly by referring to things around it. 13. Onomatopoeia The formation or use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to. 14. Oxymoron A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side

15. Paradox A statement that appears to contradict itself. 16. Personification A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction is endowed with human qualities or abilities. 17. Pun A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words. 18. Simile A stated comparison (usually formed with "like" or "as") between two fundamentally dissimilar things that have certain qualities in common

19. Synechdoche A figure of speech is which a part is used to represent the whole, the whole for a part, the specific for the general, the

general for the specific, or the material for the thing made from it. 20. Understatement A figure of speech in which a writer or a speaker deliberately makes a situation seem less important or serious than it is