DICTION
A speaker’s (or author’s) word
choice.
IDIOMAn expression in the usage of a language
that is peculiar to itself either grammatically,
or in having a meaning that cannot be derived
from the conjoined meanings of its
elements.
SIMILEA figure of speech that compares two distinct things by using words
such as like or as.
METAPHORA figure of speech that associates two distinct
things; the representation of one thing by another.
ALLITERATIONThe repetition of
sounds in a sequence of words.
Alliteration generally refers to repeated consonant sounds.
ASSONANCE
The repetition of identical or similar
vowel sounds.
PUNA play on words that
capitalizes on a similarity of spelling and/or
pronunciation between words that have different
meanings. A pun may also employ one word that has
multiple meanings.
ALLUSIONAn indirect reference to a person, event, statement, or theme found in literature, the other arts, history, myths, religion, or popular culture.
HYPERBOLE
A figure of speech that uses deliberate
exaggeration to achieve an effect, whether serious, comic, or ironic.
IRONYA contradiction or
incongruity between appearance or
expectation and reality.
ONOMATOPOEIA
The creation or use of words that, however we
explain it, sound like what they mean or,
perhaps more accurately, seem to
signify meaning through sound effects.
PERSONIFICATION
A figure of speech that bestows human
characteristics upon anything nonhuman,
from an abstract idea to a physical force to an inanimate object to a
living organism.
IMAGERYA term used to refer to
the actual language that a writer uses to
convey a visual picture or, to create or represent any sensory
experience.
SYMBOLISMThe serious and
relatively sustained use of symbols to represent other things or ideas.
