Lit Terms By Mark Falamoun, Robert Lewis and Nicole Carrasco

Hyperbole A trope in which a point is stated in a way that is greatly exaggerated. Example: Othello Othello greeting his new wife after surviving a harsh storm. “O my soul’s joy! If After every tempest come such calms, May the winds blow till they have wakened death!”

Understatement A form of irony in which a point is deliberately expressed as less, in magnitude, value, or importance, than it actually is. Example: In Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio shrugs off his fatal wound as “a scratch.”

Paradox A trope in which a statement that appears to be contradictory on the surface turns out to express a striking truth. Example: “Less is more”

Oxymoron A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction Examples: “Bittersweet” “A living death” “passive aggressive”

Litotes When a point is affirmed by negating its opposite. Example: “He’s no fool” meaning he’s wise.

Periphrasis When a point is stated indirectly instead of directly. Examples “passed away” instead of “died” “in his cups” instead of “drunk”

Pun A pun plays on words that have the same sound (homonyms) or sounds that are similar, but have very different meanings. Equivoque- A special form of a pun. Where a word or phrase that has disparate meanings is used in a way that makes each meaning equally relevant. o Example: “A cleft in your chin instead of your foot, but no less a devil for that.” -Sylvia Plath’s poem Daddy