1. Flashcards
represents nonhuman entities as if they had human qualities. For example, the sentence “The leaves danced in the wind”
personification
the qualities of one thing are figuratively carried over to another. example: “Dude, I’m drowning in work”
metaphor
a phrase that uses a comparison to describe.
example: “life” can be described as similar to “a box of chocolates.”
-[…] as proud as a […]
simile
a literary device that involves two or more words that appear close together and have the same initial stressed consonant syllable. “Good grief” and “red rose” are two examples
alliteration
a word or expression is repeated at the beginning of a number of sentences, clauses, or phrases. example: “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…”
anaphora
exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.example: “I’ve told you a million times to clean your room.”
hyperbole
a word or phrase that softens an uncomfortable topic. example: ‘‘hes no longer with us’’ instead of ‘‘he died’’
euphemism
the expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.
example: “Don’t go overboard with the gratitude”
irony
a word that actually looks like the sound it makes, and we can almost hear those sounds as we read.examples of onomatopoeia are: slam, splash, bam, babble, warble, gurgle, mumble, and belch.
eine Luatmalerei
onomatopoeia
a figure of speech that combines contradictory words with opposing meanings, like “old news,” “deafening silence,”
oxymoron
a situation or statement that seems impossible or is difficult to understand because it contains two opposite facts or characteristics.examples: Less is more.The only constant is change.
paradox
the repetition of vowel sounds in words that are close together in a sentence or verse. For example, “His tender heir might bear his memory” (William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 1”). The “eh” sound in “tender,” “heir,” “bear,” and “memory” is an assonant sound
assonance
literary device that positions opposite ideas parallel to each other. Think heroes and villains, hot and cold, bitter and sweet
antithesis
figure of speech that uses a word for a single part of something in place of a word that describes the whole.
‘‘Do a quick headcount and see who’s missing.–>Do a quick count of the number of people here and see who’s missing.’’
synechdoche
a figure of speech in which successive words, phrases, clauses, or sentences are arranged in ascending order of importance. “If you think that’s bad, it gets worse.”
“To infinity, and beyond!”
climax
can be used to signify an unfinished thought or to create a pause (often for dramatic effect). It is marked by the use of three periods (… or . . . ).
ellipsis
is a figure of speech where a single word, especially a verb or adjective, is applied to two or more words, even though it has a different meaning in each context (e.g., “He lost his phone and his temper,” where “lost” has a different meaning in relation to “phone” and “temper’’
zeugma
-a short remark that introduces antithetical ideas in order to startle and captivate the listener
-Unlike antithesis, they have the ability to surprise and grab the attention of the reader/listener.
-“The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.”
epigram
is redundancy in linguistic expression, such as in “black darkness,” “burning fire,” “the man he said,” or “vibrating with motion.”
pleaonasm
-pretend the reader knows what you are talking about
- leave it up to the audience to make the connection.
- example, when we describe something as a Waterloo instead of saying it was a total defeat, we assume others know about the Battle of Waterloo.
allusion
-a word is used for another word that is closely associated withit
-For example, “the White House” is often used as a insead of ‘‘the presidential administration’’.
metonymy
imply “less” than what you mean, and irony when saying the opposite of what you mean. As the hurricane approached, they noted that it was “a little breezy today.”
understatement
