Figure of speech | Description | Effect | Example(s) |
Alliteration | repetition of initial consonant sound | Alliteration draws attention to the phrase and is often used for emphasis. | |
Allusion | refer to something the reader / audience is familiar with, e.g.:
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used to explain or clarify a complex problem.The reader becomes active by reflecting on the analogy.The message will stick in the reader’s mind.
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Anaphora | successive sentences start with the same word(s) | The reader’s attention is drawn to the message. | |
Antithesis | contrasting relationship between two ideas. The structure of the phrases is usually similar | emphasises the contrast between two ideas. Draws the reader’s attention to the contrast. | |
Hyperbole | deliberate exaggeration | draws the attention to a message that you want to emphasize. | |
Hypophora | question raised and answered by the author / speaker | Uses an opponent’s strategy to counter it. | |
Litotes | understatement | Uses the denied opposite to soften a message | |
Metaphor | Comparison without the help of as… or like | Creates an implicit comparison, uses or creates symbolism, suggests similarity. | |
Oxymoron | Locution made of two parts | produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect | Cruel kindness |
Parallelism | parallel sentence structureSuccessive clauses or sentences are similarly structured. | makes it easier for the reader / listener to concentrate on the message. | |
Parenthesis | The normal progression of a sentence is interrupted by extra information or explanations enclosed in commas, brackets or dashes. | Creates rythm in speech. | |
Personification | attribution of human characteristics to animals, inanimate objects or abstractionsAnimals, inanimate objects or abstractions are represented as having human characteristics (behaviour, feelings, character etc.) | Personification can make a narration more interesting | |
Points of View | first or third person narration | ||
Repetition | repeating words or phrases | Words or phrases are repeated throughout the text to emphasise certain facts or ideas. | |
Rhetorical Question | question without a direct answer | The author / speaker raises a question, but doesn’t answer it directly as he/she sees the answer (usually Yes or No) as obvious. | |
Simile | direct comparison | Two things are compared directly by using ‘like’ (A is like B.). | |
Synecdoche | using a part instead of the whole or vice versaSynechdoche is some kind of generalization or specification that uses a part, a member or a characteristic of what is meant. The following possibilities are common: | ||
Understatement | weaken or soften a statement | A statement is deliberately weakened to sound ironical or softened to sound more polite. |