Common Figures of Speech & Poetic Devices

1. Alliteration--Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds in successive or closely associated words. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. 2. Assonance--Assonance (slant rhyme) is the resemblance of similarity in sound between vowels followed by different consonants in two or more stressed syllables in a line of poetry. Then came the drone of a boat in the cove. 3. Hyperbole--Hyperbole is a fi ure of speech in which conscious e!a eration is used for effect. " had a headache the si#e of a washtub. $. Personification--Personification is a fi ure of speech in which animals% ideas% abstractions or inanimate ob&ects are endowed with human 'ualities. (eath reached down and carried the old man away. ). Simile--* simile is a fi ure of speech in which a similarity between two ob&ects or ideas is e!pressed usin the words +like+ or +as.+ ,he sin s like a bird. -onsiderin how much you hurt me% you mi ht as well have put a da er throu h my heart. /. Metaphor--* metaphor is a fi ure of speech which ima inatively identifies one ob&ect with another and attributes to the first ob&ect one or more 'ualities of the second. ,imply stated% a comparison that does not use +like+ or +as.+ The pretty youn irl is a vi!en. 0ohn was a ti er in the battle% fi htin with tooth and claw. 1. Synecdoche--Synecdoche is a fi ure of speech in which a part is used metaphorically to represent a whole% or a whole is used to represent a part. The factory had more than a hundred hands workin three shifts. The ,panish *rmada was 1)2 sail stron .

3. Metonymy--Metonymy is a fi ure of speech in which a closely associated ob&ect is used metaphorically to represent the thin % person% etc. with which it is associated. *ll of 4a witch5s fortune was confiscated by the crown. The 6hite 7ouse issued a statement about the ,eptember 11% 2221 attacks. 8. Litotes--Litotes is a fi ure of speech in which somethin is e!pressed with a ne ation of the contrary. The soccer stadium was filled with no small number of e!uberant fans. "n 4edieval 9n land public han in s were no rare occurrence% and not a few of the citi#ens came to see them. 12. Pathetic Fallacy--* pathetic fallacy is a type of personification in which inanimate nature is iven human 'ualities. 9very flower en&oys the air it breathes. The happy sunshine streamed throu h the clouds into the peaceful valley. 11. Oxymoron--:!ymoron is a fi ure of speech in which opposites are paired for effect. ;ittersweet. 0umbo shrimp. (eafenin silence. 12. Onomatopoeia--Onomatopoeia is a poetic sound device in which words are used that actually simulate the sounds they represent. -rash. ;an . Pop. Pow. <attle. 13. Apostrophe--* literary apostrophe is a type of personification in which an author addresses an inanimate or non-livin ob&ect or idea as if that entity were alive and could converse with him. * ood e!ample is =eats5 +:de on a >recian ?rn+ in which he directly addresses the urn. *nother e!ample is ,helley5s +:de to the 6est 6ind+ in which he speaks directly to the wind.