Question | Answer |
alliteration | repetition of consonant sounds |
assonance | repetition of vowel sounds |
onomatopoeia | word sounds like its meaning |
anaphora | repetition of non-conjunction word to show emphasis |
anastrophe | inversion of words |
asyndeton | lack of conjunctions |
chiasmus | an ABBA pattern of words |
ellipsis | elimination of a word (usually a form of esse) |
enjambment | break in a line by a period, colon, or semicolon |
hendiadys | the use of noun + noun instead of adjective/noun |
hyperbaton | the separation of two words to show actual separation in a sentence |
polysyndeton | the repetition of conjunctions to show emphasis |
prolepsis | events which occur contrary to logical order ("sink the sunken ships") |
syncope | a "shortening" of a word |
synchesis | an ABAB pattern of words |
tmesis | the breaking of a compound verb into two separate parts |
aposiopesis | breaking off in the middle of the sentence |
ecphrasis | elaborate description of a work of art, building, or natural setting |
hyperbole | extreme exaggeration |
metaphor | comparison of two things without the words "like" or "as" |
metonymy | substitution of a word for a similar word |
oxymoron | complete contradiction of two terms |
personification | giving human qualities to non-human things |
simile | comparison of two things using "like" or "as" |
transferred epithet | transferred from the word it strictly belongs to another word connected with it in thought |
apostrophe | talking to someone as if they are present or still alive |
euphemism | a different way to explain something (usually a negative) |
litotes | the use of negative to accentuate the positive |
rhetorical question | anticipates no real answer |
zeugma | the use of one verb in two different meanings |