Where two words normally not associated are brought together: 'cold heat' 'bitter sweet'.
Oxymoron
The use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities by giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal sense.
Symbolism
A word that sounds like the noise it is describing: 'splash', 'bang', 'pop', 'hiss'.
Onomatopoeia
The repetition of initial stressed, consonant sounds in a series of words within a phrase or verse line.
Alliteration
Contrast is a rhetorical device through which writers identify differences between two subjects, places, persons, things or ideas. Simply, it is a type of opposition between two objects highlighted to emphasize their differences.
Contrast
A phrase which establishes similarity between two things to emphasise the point being made. This usually involves the words 'like' or 'as'
Simile
The way that words sound the same at the end of lines in poetry. Poems often have a fixed rhyme-scheme (for example, sonnets have 14 lines with fixed rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG).
Rhyme
The same vowel sound is repeated but the consonants are different; he passed her a sharp, dark glance, shot a cool, foolish look across the room.
Assonance
The humorous or sarcastic use of words or ideas, implying the opposite of what they mean.
Irony
A repetitive beat or metre within a poem.
Rhythm
A word or phrase used to imply figurative, not literal or 'actual', resemblance; he flew into the room.
Metaphor
Language that is used in speech with an informal meaning; 'chill', 'out of this world', 'take a rain check'.
Colloquial language
The use of figurative language to represent objects, actions and ideas in such a way that it appeals to our physical senses.
Imagery
Exaggerating something for literary purposes which is not meant to be taken literally; we gorged on the banquet of beans on toast.
Hyperbole
The repetition of a word or words at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines to create a sonic effect.
Anaphora
Attributing a human quality to a thing or idea: the moon calls me to her darkened world.
Personification
The underlying message or 'big idea.' In other words, what critical belief about life is the author trying to convey in the writing of a novel, play, short story or poem?
Theme
A question asked just for effect or to lay emphasis on some point discussed when no real answer is expected.
Rhetorical question
The atmosphere or feeling that pervades the text, such as sadness, gloom, celebration, joy, anxiety, dissatisfaction, regret or anger.
Tone
A device used in poetry where a sentence continues beyond the end of the line or verse. This technique is often used to maintain a sense of continuation from one stanza to another.
Enjambment
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