Adage A traditional saying; proverb. Often symbolic. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.

Aphorism A short statement observing a general truth. Keep your friends close; your enemies, closer.

Axiom A self-evident truth that requires no proof. What goes up must come down.

Alliteration The repetition of sound at the beginning of (near) consecutive words. Nancy’s nana said, “No.”

Allusion A reference to a historical, literary or pop-cultural person or event, for the purpose of comparison. When my band hits the big time we’ll make Snoop- Dogg money.

Analogy A comparison between two things based on a similarity they share. The heart is like a water pump, drawing in and pushing out fluid.

Flashback A reference to something that happened earlier in a story’s timeline. Jack stopped talking. The words she said when they’d first met repeated in his mind.

Foreshadowing The implying of future events in a story. Cheerfully, she set the wedding day for the Saturday after Jim was set to return home from war.

Hyperbole Extreme exaggeration. Hatred burned like a star within the furnace of his mind.

Irony (Situational) When the opposite of what should be expected occurs in a story. Brian and Lucy, who argued all through high school, have been happily married for fifty years.

Irony (Dramatic) When the audience knows something the characters don’t. Think of the countdown timer on a bomb.

Irony (Verbal) When what is said is not what is meant (sarcasm, understatement, or overstatement). He looked at her muddy dress and shoes and said, “Nice outfit.”

Metaphor A figurative comparison between dissimilar things not using like or as. She’s a gladiator on the tennis court.

Onomatopoeia Auditory imagery that can only be defined by making the sound. His head hit the steering wheel – Bam! – because he wasn’t wearing his seatbelt.

Oxymoron A pair of self-contradicting words. That order of jumbo shrimp you bought is pretty ugly.

Paradox A statement that appears to contradict itself, but is actually true. The harder you try to hold on to someone, the easier it is for them to run away.

Personification Giving human attributes to non-human things. The dog greeted me with a snarling growl.

Simile A figurative comparison between dissimilar things using like or as. His tears flowed like the Mississippi River.