1. Holden Caulfield in The Catcher In The Rye, by J. D. Salinger
“I have to have this operation. It isn't very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain.”
Holden Caulfield in The Catcher In The Rye, by J. D. Salinger
litotes
understatement

2. ~ Philip Slater, The Pursuit of Loneliness
"Our transportation crisis will be solved by a bigger plane or a wider road, mental illness with a pill, poverty with a law, slums with a bulldozer, urban conflict with a gas, racism with a goodwill gesture.“
~ Philip Slater, The Pursuit of Loneliness
parallelism
a set of similarly structured words
phrases or clauses

3. allusion a reference to another text or assumed
“The town’s gone wild, I think. She speak of Abigail, and I thought she were a saint, to hear her. Abigail brings the other girls into court, and where she walks the crowd will part like the sea for Israel.” ~ Arthur Miller
allusion
a reference to another text or assumed
knowledge of a reference

4. syllogism a form of reasoning in which two
“All books from that store are new. These books are from that store. Therefore, these books are new.”
syllogism
a form of reasoning in which two
statements are made and a conclusion
is drawn from them

5. a long sentence where your main point
While pondering the stars and deciding never to fall in love again, nor even date, our heroine fell asleep and dreamed.
periodic sentence
a long sentence where your main point
is at the end

6. malapropism absurd or humorous misuse of a word,
“There’s no stigmata connected with going to a shrink.”
~Little Carmine in The Sopranos
malapropism
absurd or humorous misuse of a word,
especially by confusion
with one of similar sound

7. “I’m afraid I am going to have to let you go.”
euphemism
an inoffensive expression that is substituted
for one that is considered offensive or harsh

8. antithesis the placing of opposing words within the same sentence
“…it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…”
~ Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
antithesis
the placing of opposing words within
the same sentence
to emphasize their disparity

9. “Take thy face hence.” ~ William Shakespeare, Macbeth
synecdoche
using part of a thing
to represent the whole thing

10. “I hate intolerant people.” ~ Gloria Steinem
oxymoron
a figure of speech composed of
contradictory words or phrases:
a contradiction in terms

11. “Hello darkness, my old friend I've come to talk with you again . . ..”
~ Paul Simon, “The Sounds of Silence”
apostrophe
an address to the dead as if living;
to the inanimate as if animate;
to the absent as if present;
to the unborn as if alive

12. ~ Mark Twain, “Old Times on the Mississippi”
“I was helpless. I did not know what in the world to do. I was quaking from head to foot, and could have hung my hat on my eyes, they stuck out so far.”
~ Mark Twain, “Old Times on the Mississippi”
hyperbole
deliberate exaggeration for emphasis

13. paradox “The swiftest traveler is he that goes afoot.”
~ Henry David Thoreau, Walden 1854
paradox
a statement that appears to be
contradictory but, in fact, has some truth

14. ~ Frank Oz as Yoda in Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menance
“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. I sense much fear in you.”
~ Frank Oz as Yoda in Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menance
anadiplosis
repeats the last word of one
phrase, clause, or sentence at or very near
the beginning of the next

15. chiasmus a verbal pattern (a type of antithesis)
"I flee who chases me, and chase who flees me." Ovid
"Fair is foul, and foul is fair." William Shakespeare, Macbeth
chiasmus
a verbal pattern (a type of antithesis)
in which the second half of an expression
is balanced against the
first with the parts reversed – an ABBA Pattern

16. “Ogres are like onions.” ~Mike Myers as the voice of Shrek in Shrek
simile
an explicit comparison between two
unlike things with the use of “like” or “as”

17. The White House asked the television networks for air time on Monday night.
metonymy
a figure of speech that uses the name of an
object, person, or idea to represent
something with which it is associated, such
as using “the crown” to refer to a monarch

18. anaphora repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the
“I'm not afraid to die. I'm not afraid to live. I'm not afraid to fail. I'm not afraid to succeed. I'm not afraid to fall in love. I'm not afraid to be alone. I'm just afraid I might have to stop talking about myself for five minutes.”
Kinky Friedman, When the Cat's Away
anaphora
repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the
beginning of two or more sentences in a row:
this is a deliberate form of repetition and
helps make the writer’s point more coherent

19. Senator John F. Kennedy, speech at Wittenberg College, Oct. 17, 1960
“For no government is better than the men who compose it, and I want the best, and we need the best, and we deserve the best.”
Senator John F. Kennedy, speech at Wittenberg College, Oct. 17, 1960
epistrophe
the repetition of a group of words
at the end of successive clauses

20. polysyndeton the repetition of conjunctions in a series of coordinate
"Oh, my piglets, we are the origins of war--not history's forces, nor the times, nor justice, nor the lack of it, nor causes, nor religions, nor ideas, nor kinds of government--not any other thing. We are the killers." Katharine Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter, 1968
polysyndeton
the repetition of conjunctions
in a series of coordinate
words, phrases, or clauses

21. irony a situation or statement in which the actual outcome or meaning
"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room."
Peter Sellers as President Merkin Muffley in Dr. Strangelove, 1964
irony
a situation or statement
in which the actual outcome or meaning
is opposite
to what was expected

22. onomatopoeia a literary device in which the sound
“It went zip when it moved and bop when it stopped, And whirr when it stood still. I never knew just what it was and I guess I never will.” Tom Paxton, “The Marvelous Toy”
onomatopoeia
a literary device in which the sound
of a word is related to its meaning

23. “Oreo: Milk’s favorite cookie.”
personification
the giving of human characteristics
to inanimate objects

24. “[S]he had no room for gaiety and ease
“[S]he had no room for gaiety and ease. She had spent the golden time in grudging its going.” Dorothy Parker, “The Lovely Leave”
alliteration
the repetition of consonant sounds
at the beginning of words

25. asyndeton the omission of conjunctions between
“Anyway, like I was saying, shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That--that's about it.”
Bubba in Forrest Gump, 1994
asyndeton
the omission of conjunctions between
words, phrases, or clauses