(examples from The Cop and the
Anthem)
alliteration: several words beginning
with the same sound or letter ("the menaced mallard")
anadiplosis: repetition of words from
end of one phrase at beginning of next
anaphora: repetition of words at
the beginning ("he would ... he would ... he would ...")
anticlimax: enumeration in order of
decreasing importance ("mothers and roses and ambitions ... and
collars")
antithesis: words or phrases that
contrast with each other ("large appetites and modest purses")
apostrophe: sudden shift to direct
address
asyndeton: enumeration without
conjunctions ("degraded days, unworthy desires, dead hopes, wrecked
faculties")
chiasm: crosswise arrangement of
parts of a sentence
climax: enumeration in order of
increasing importance
conceit: an elaborate, often
extravagant metaphor
ellipsis: leaving out a word ("a
policeman in the lead")
epiphora: repetition of words at
the end
euphemism: substitution of an
inoffensive term for an unpleasant one ("Island" for
"prison")
exclamation: sudden outcry or
interjection expressing violent emotion
hyperbaton: change of regular word
order ("neatly upon his left ear ...")
hyperbole: exaggeration ("a
pail of suds")
invocation: direct address of a god
or similar being
irony: words are used to convey
a meaning contrary to their literal sense
litotes: emphasis by negating the
opposite ("his hibernatorial ambitions were not of the highest")
metaphor: implicit comparison ("the
level sea of asphalt")
metonymy: use of one word for a
related one ("bottle" for "drink")
onomatopoeia: imitation of natural
sounds by words
oxymoron: combination of two
contradictory words (bittersweet)
paradox: statement that appears
contradictory to common sense yet is true in fact. ("damaged by
improvements")
parenthesis: a piece of text that
wanders off from the main topic
parallelism: equal syntactic
structure ("Its crockery and atmosphere were thick; its soup and napery
thin")
periphrasis: round‑about
explanation ("the minutest coin and himself were strangers")
personification: representation of
inanimate objects or abstract ideas as living beings ("the callous
pavement")
polyptoton: repetition of words in
different forms ("Soapy moved uneasily ... Soapy moves uneasily
...")
polysyndeton: enumeration with
conjunctions ("quaint and rambling and gabled")
prolepsis: use of a word logically
too early
pun: humorous use of words
usually with more than one meaning
rhetorical question: no answer is expected by
the speaker
rhyme: similar sounds at word
endings ("right little, tight little")
simile: comparison by means of
the words "like" or "as" ("... as a carpenter's
rule opens")
syllepsis: one word wrongly refers
to several in a sentence
synecdoche: the part stands for the
whole, the whole for a part, ("brass buttons" for
"policeman")
zeugma: one word refers to
several in sentence with different meaning