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Definition
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Example
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Device
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A direct comparison, where a text claims that one thing is something else.
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Hope is a flower.
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Metaphor
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A metaphor that runs through an entire poem as the poem's central device.
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Conceit
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An indirect comparison, where two things are compared with the words "like" or "as."
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Jeppy is like a pineapple.
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Simile
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An argumentative comparison that draws attention to similarities between otherwise distinct things.
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This quiz is to the Nile River as text is to water.
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Analogy
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The use of figurative language to describe something.
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The JetPunk menu bar is blue, studded with white text and a caricature of a fish.
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Imagery
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Imagery that relates to the sense of sight.
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The sunset glazed the sky with a shimmering kaleidoscope of azure and orange.
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Visual Imagery
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Imagery that relates to the sense of smell.
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The egg smelled sulfurous and rotten.
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Olfactory Imagery
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Imagery that relates to the sense of sound.
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The twig snapped sharply underfoot.
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Auditory Imagery
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Imagery that relates to the sense of touch.
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The sandpaper was coarse and dry.
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Tactile Imagery
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Imagery that relates to the sense of taste.
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The grapefruit was sour, and almost bittersweet.
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Gustatory Imagery
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Imagery that relates to motion.
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The tempest rushed through the trees, sending leaves flying.
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Kinesthetic Imagery
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Imagery that relates to internal emotion.
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Faced with this seemingly unending quiz, you struggle with melancholy and fatigue.
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Organic Imagery
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The use of an object to represent a concept.
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A dove flew over the scarred and broken earth.
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Symbolism
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The attribution of human qualities to a nonhuman entity.
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The trees cried out in pain.
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Personification / Anthropomorphism
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A heavily exaggerated description or statement.
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The COVID pandemic was the end of the world.
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Hyperbole
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Dialogue or a situation that is presented as the opposite of what it really is.
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The bed of nails was, of course, incredibly soft and inviting.
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Irony
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A different form of irony, where the audience understands the true state of affairs but the characters remain unaware.
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Dramatic Irony
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The placement of two contrasting ideas beside each other.
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The scruffy, dirty, and altogether typical peasant approached the throne of her wise and magnificent king.
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Juxtaposition
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An apparently contradictory juxtaposition.
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They won, but in doing so they lost.
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Paradox
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A reference to a different piece of art or literature.
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He was the reincarnation of Michelangelo's David.
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Allusion
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A story that is directly based on another piece of art.
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Two roads diverged in the busy city, and I—I took the one with slightly fewer cars.
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Ekphrasis
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A story that is intended entirely to represent an abstract concept or idea.
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eg Animal Farm or Plato's Allegory of the Cave
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Allegory
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Direct speech to an object or person that is not present in a literary work.
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Caesar, Caesar, why did you die two thousand years ago?
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Apostrophe
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The replacement of one noun with a different noun that is directly related to it.
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The pen is mightier than the sword.
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Metonymy
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The use of a part to represent a whole, or a whole to represent a part.
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All hands on deck!
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Synecdoche
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The use of line breaks that interrupt a sentence.
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The birds sang softly In the green-boughed tree.
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Enjambment
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The use of line breaks that do not interrupt a sentence.
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Suddenly the birds were silent. The tree was still and worn.
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End-Stopping
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The use of one verb to mean two different actions for two different objects.
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Weigh your anchor and your vows.
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Zeugma
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A general term for a literary device that emphasizes sound in writing.
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Sound Device
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The use of a word that sounds like the noise it describes.
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The gate closed with a clang.
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Onomatopoeia
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A sound device where the same sounds are repeated at the beginning of successive words.
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The quickly cut cake came out well.
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Alliteration
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A sound device where the same consonant sounds are repeated in the middle successive words.
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Grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt.
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Consonance
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A sound device where the same vowel sounds are repeated in the middle successive words.
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The seal creaked and yielded.
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Assonance
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The use of words or sentences that flow well and sound pleasant.
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The water ran across the velvet leaf.
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Euphony
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The use of words or sentences that do not flow well, typically created with hard consonant sounds.
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Quickly, his luck ran out, and he was knocked against the granite wall.
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Cacophony
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The use of similar plot events that are completely unrelated.
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Parallelism
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A character who is portrayed as the opposite of another character.
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Foil
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A fancy word for word choice.
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Diction
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The literal meaning of a word.
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Denotation
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The implications attached to a word.
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Connotation
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A reference toward later events in a work.
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Foreshadowing
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A story that is told starting in the middle.
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In Media Res
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A short, descriptive passage of prose with little to no plot advancement.
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Vignette
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An interruption in a narrative that goes backward in time.
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Flashback
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A long speech with no audience.
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Soliloquy
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The use of a word or phrase multiple times.
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Echo, echo, echo, echo, echo.
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Repetition
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The repetition of the same words at the beginning of consecutive clauses or lines.
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I came, I saw, I conquered.
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Anaphora
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Repetition of a word or phrase in successive clauses.
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The mountains look on Marathon—And Marathon looks on the sea...
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Anadiplosis
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Repetition of a word in a sentence in which each usage has a different meaning.
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To England I will steal, and there I will steal.
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Antanaclasis
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Repetition of a phrase or sentence in the reverse order, but not necessarily exactly the same length.
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It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the man the oath.
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Chiasmus
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Repetition of a phrase or sentence in the reverse grammatical order.
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Go, will I? I will go.
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Antimetabole
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The repetition of the same words at the end of consecutive clauses or lines.
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Once there was nothing here. We saw opportunity here. Now we are here.
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Antistrophe
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The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning and end of a clause or sentence.
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Trust only in the capacity of man to trust.
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Epanalepsis
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Repetition for the purpose of emphasizing a point.
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O woe! O woeful, woeful, woeful day.
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Epimone
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The repetition of words in quick succession.
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Running, running, running away.
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Epizeuxis
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The repetition of conjunctions in quick succession.
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Here and there and everywhere.
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Polysyndeton
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The use of multiple words with the same root.
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Drifting along with the driftwood's drift.
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Polyptoton
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The repetition of the same words at the beginning and end of consecutive sentences or lines.
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Surely they will break forth in song. Surely the sailors will be drawn in by that siren song. Surely nothing will remain but song.
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Symploce
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The repetition of ideas or images throughout a work.
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Motif
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A three-part logical argument that involves deductive reasoning to arrive at a conclusion.
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All crows are black. That bird is a crow. Therefore, that bird is black.
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Syllogism
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