| Term | Definition |
|---|
| sarcasm | a sharp and often satirical or ironic utterance designed to cut or give pain |
| metonymy | a figure of speech consisting of the use of the name of one thing for that of another of which it is an attribute or with which it is associated |
| alliteration | the repetition of usual initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words or syables |
| antithesis | the rhetorical contrast of ideas by means of parallel arrangements of words, clauses, or sentences (as in "action, not words") or ("they promised freedom and provided slavery") |
| ad hominem | appealing to one's prejudices, emotions, or special interests rather than to one's intellect or reason. |
| hyperbole | obvious and intentional exaggeration. |
| simile and metaphor | a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds (usually formed with 'like' or 'as') and, a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance, as in “A mighty fortress is our God.” |
| anaphora | The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs; for example, "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" (Winston S. Churchill). |
| oxymoron | conjoining contradictory terms (as in 'deafening silence') |
| irony | the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning: the irony of her reply, “How nice!” when I said I had to work all weekend. |
| pathos | the quality or power in an actual life experience or in literature, music, speech, or other forms of expression, of evoking a feeling of pity or compassion. |
| ethos | the moral element in dramatic literature that determines a character's action rather than his or her thought or emotion. |
| logos | A name, symbol, or trademark designed for easy and definite recognition, especially one borne on a single printing plate or piece of type. |
| allusion | a passing or casual reference; an incidental mention of something, either directly or by implication: an allusion to Shakespeare. |
| analogy | a similarity between like features of two things, on which a comparison may be based: the analogy between the heart and a pump. |
| onomatopoeia | the formation of a word, as cuckoo or boom, by imitation of a sound made by or associated with its referent. |
| apostrophe | a digression in the form of an address to someone not present, or to a personified object or idea, as “O Death, where is thy sting?” |
| personification | the attribution of a personal nature or character to inanimate objects or abstract notions, esp. as a rhetorical figure. |
| independent clause | A clause that can stand alone as a sentence. The following sentence consists of two independent clauses joined by but: “The farmers complained of the low price of food, but the office workers did not complain.” |
| didacticism | teaching or intending to teach a moral lesson. |
| diction | style of speaking or writing as dependent upon choice of words: good diction |
| syntax | choice of words used in a structured sentence |
| tone | a mood or feeling of a specific writing |
| satire | the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc |
| synecdoche | A figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole (as hand for sailor), the whole for a part (as the law for police officer), the specific for the general (as cutthroat for assassin), the general for the specific (as thief for pickpocket), or the material for the thing made from it (as steel for sword). |
| understatement | A form of irony in which something is intentionally represented as less than it is |
| imagery | The use of vivid or figurative language to represent objects, actions, or ideas. |
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