2.  Allusion: a reference to something literary, mythological, religious, historical, or found in pop culture  Patrick Henry urged his listeners not to be “betrayed with a kiss” (alluding to Judas kissing Jesus just before betraying him).

3.  Apostrophe: speaker directly addresses a person who is dead or not physically present, an imaginary person or entity, something inhuman, or any other abstract thing:  “O Death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”

4.  Euphemism : an indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant:  In Victorian times, ladies were said to “glisten” rather than to sweat or perspire.

5.  Onomatopoeia: a word formed from the imitation of natural sounds  The fire crackled in the fireplace. We could hear the buzzing of the bees in the hive.

6.  Personification: endowing non human objects or creatures with human qualities or characteristics  The smiling, friendly sun was about to be swallowed by the angry clouds moving in from the south.

7.  Symbol: something that stands for something else; in literature, a symbol must work both literally and symbolically  Flags stand for their countries, a ring may symbolize love/marriage, mascots stand for their schools

8.  Colloquialism: casual language- similar to spoken language or informal writing, often including slang or regional quirks  Huck Finn: "We said there warn't no home like a raft, after all. Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don't. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft."

9.  Hyperbole: Intentional exaggeration to create an effect  There were at least a million people at the mall when I went shopping Saturday.

10.  Repetition: repeating a word or phrase for additional emphasis  Hope has sprung a perfect dive, a perfect day, a perfect lie (from the song “The Good Fight”).  * Note this example is also parallel structure

11.  Alliteration: repetition of sounds (mainly consonant sounds) in the stressed syllables of a sequence of words- often the initial letters of words  B oast your b itter b ragging rights (from “The Good Fight”

12.  Oxymoron: An expression in which two words that contradict each other are joined  Jumbo shrimp; sweet sorrow; little giant

13.  Paradox: An apparently contradictory statement which actually contains some truth  Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind

14.  Irony: a contradiction between appearance or expectation and reality. Truth is opposite of appearances.  In King Lear, Lear believes his daughter Cordelia to be disloyal, when in fact she is his only faithful daughter

15.  Simile: comparison using “like”, “as” or “than”  This room is as hot as an oven

16.  Metaphor: comparison (without using “like” or “as”), one thing representing another  School is a prison