Figurative speech

There are thousands of techniques for speaking figuratively, and many have multiple names and many subtle variations. The following is a brief but I hope useful list of some of the most commonly observed figurative devices.

Schemes: calculated differences in the way words are arranged to make them more attractive or give them greater force

• accumulation: a vigorous summation of previous points

• alliteration: beginning a series of words with the same letter or a similar sound

• anadiplosis: beginning a clause or sentence with the last or most prominent word of the preceding sentence

• anaphora: beginning successive clauses, sentences or paragraphs with the same word or words

• antimetabole (also ‘chiasmus’): repetition of words in successive clauses but in (rough) reverse order

• antithesis: the employment of opposite or contrasting ideas

• aposiopesis: breaking off from a speech suddenly for dramatic effect

• apostrophe: sudden redirection of the speech to another person or object

• assonance: the use of two or more words that sound similar

• asyndeton: the exclusion of conjunctions between words or clauses (usually the omission of ‘and’ in lists)

• climax: words or ideas arranged in escalating importance

• epanalepsis: beginning or ending a clause or sentence with the same word or words

• epiphora: repetition of the same word or words at the end of a clause or sentence

• isocolon: a succession of phrases containing an equal number of syllables

• parallelism: the use of two or more similarly constructed clauses

• parenthesis: interrupting a sentence to introduce additional descriptive information

• periphrasis: using multiple words when one or two will do

• polysyndeton: the multiple use of conjunctions in rapid succession

• repetition: repeating words or clauses for forceful effect

• symploce: the combination of anaphora and epiphora in the same line.

• tricolon: speaking in threes to emphasise points.