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A comparison of two unlike things using 'like' or 'as'. Example: 'Her cheeks are like roses.'

A word that imitates the sound it represents. Example: 'The bees buzzed in the garden.'

An exaggerated statement that is not meant to be taken literally. Example: 'I could sleep for a hundred years.'

The repetition of vowel sounds within non-rhyming words. Example: 'Hear the mellow wedding bells.'

A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction. Example: 'Bittersweet.'

Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses. Example: 'My life is my purpose. My life is my goal. My life is my inspiration.'

A descriptive literary device that describes a place, a thing or a person in such a way that it helps in making its characteristics more prominent than they actually are. Example: 'Alexander the Great.'

Descriptive language that creates vivid pictures in the reader's mind. Example: 'The sunset was a rich tapestry of flaming oranges and reds.'

Repetitive sounds produced by consonants within a sentence or phrase. Example: 'The lumpy, bumpy road.'

Attributing human feelings and responses to inanimate things or animals, especially in art and literature. Example: 'The somber clouds darkened our mood.'

A figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa. Example: 'All hands on deck.'

The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. Example: 'She sells seashells by the seashore.'

A literary technique in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant or expected. Example: 'A marriage counselor files for divorce.'

A literary device used to give an indication or hint of what is to come later in the story. Example: 'The evening was still. Suddenly, a cool breeze started blowing and made her shiver.'

A brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing, or idea of historical, cultural, literary, or political significance. Example: 'He was a real Romeo with the ladies.'

Using symbols to signify ideas and qualities by giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal sense. Example: 'A red rose can symbolize romance and love.'

A recurring element that has symbolic significance in a story. Example: 'Repeated references to the color white in 'Moby Dick' signify purity and obsession.'

A figure of speech in which the poet addresses an absent person, an abstract idea, or a thing. Example: 'O Death, where is thy sting?'

A comparison between two unlike things without using 'like' or 'as'. Example: 'Love is a rose; but you better not pick it.'

Attributing human characteristics to non-human objects or abstract ideas. Example: 'The wind whispered through the trees.'

A mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing. Example: 'He passed away' instead of 'He died.'

The ordered pattern of rhymes at the ends of the lines of a poem or verse. Example: 'abab' in a four-line stanza.

The inversion of the usual order of words or clauses. Example: 'Excited the children were when Santa entered the room.'

A rhetorical or literary figure in which words, grammatical constructions, or concepts are repeated in reverse order. Example: 'Never let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You.'

A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. Example: 'Animal Farm by George Orwell is an allegory for the Russian Revolution.'

A play on words that exploits the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings. Example: 'Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.'

A figure of speech in which a thing or concept is called not by its own name but rather by the name of something associated in meaning with that thing or concept. Example: 'The pen (writing) is mightier than the sword (war/fighting).'

A form of understatement that involves making an affirmative point by denying its opposite. Example: 'He's not bad looking.' (Meaning: He's good looking.)

In poetry, the continuing of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza. Example: 'I think that I shall never see / A poem lovely as a tree.'