1. parody A work produced to mock, poke fun at, or comment on an original work, its subject, or author, by means of humorous or satiric imitation. Examples: The novel Snowball’s Chance parodies George Orwell’s Animal Farm with a contemporary twist. The Onion – A parody of newspaper and magazine journalism. Madtv, mockumentaries, The Simpsons, movies (Airplane!, Mel Brooks films), “Weird Al” Yankovic, The Colbert Report, etc. Literary Devices 5

2. aposiopesis (rhetorical figure) From Greek for “maintaining silence.” Individual sentences are left suggestively incomplete or there is a breaking off of discourse, suggesting that the speaker has been rendered speechless by a flood of emotions. Examples: “I am so mad at you that I could… that I could just… Oh!” "They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist... " - Last words of General John Sedgwick, killed in battle during the U.S. Civil War

3. catachresis From Greek for “misuse” or “abuse.” A highly unusual or absurd comparison is made between two things. This figure moves beyond a metaphor by degrees -- the language used for comparative purposes is strikingly at odds with conventional usage. Examples: "The moon was full. The moon was so bloated it was about to tip over. Imagine awakening to find the moon flat on its face on the bathroom floor, like the late Elvis Presley, poisoned by banana splits. It was a moon that could stir wild passions in a moo cow. A moon that could bring out the devil in a bunny rabbit. A moon that could turn lug nuts into moonstones, turn little Red Riding Hood into the big bad wolf." - Tom Robbins, Still Life with Woodpecker "Red trains cough Jewish underwear for keeps! Expanding smells of silence. Gravy snot whistling like sea birds.“ – Amiri Baraka, The Dutchman

4. chiasmus (rhetorical figure) From Greek for “to invert.” Certain words, sounds, concepts or word structures are reversed or repeated in reverse order. Examples: “Fair is foul and foul is fair.” - Shakespeare "I flee who chases me, and chase who flees me.“ - Ovid "Don't sweat the petty things--and don't pet the sweaty things."

5. hyperbaton (rhetorical figure) Involves inversion or disruption of word order to make a point. Example: “This is the sort of English up with which I will not put!” – Sir Winston Churchill "Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man.“ - Edgar Allan Poe, "The Tell-Tale Heart"