English Language

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Ellipsis/Ellipses

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A mark or series of marks ( . . . or * * * , for example) used in writing or printing to indicate an omission, especially of letters or words
*I..I...I can't. I just, I can't do it...

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Dash

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A dash is a punctuation mark, similar to a hyphen but differing primarily in length, and serving different functions. The most common versions of the dash are the en dash (–) and the em dash (—)

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Asyndeton

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Is the omission of the conjunctions that ordinarily join coordinate words or clauses
* He received applause, prizes, money, fame.
* He provided her education, allowance, dignity.
* I could have gone to war, I didn't.
* He tried to betray you, to cheat you, to deceive you.
* Smile, talk, bye-bye.
* We met, we got engaged, we married.
* She is addicted to chocolates, cakes, cookies.

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Polysyndeton

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Sentence style that employs many conjunctions like and, or, but, for, nor, so
*Sam is so puzzled, so perplexed, so bewildered, so befuddled by English grammar!

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Parallel Structure

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Using the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance. This can happen at the word, phrase, or clause level. The usual way to join parallel structures is with the use of coordinating conjunctions such as "and" or "or."
*Mary likes hiking, swimming, and bicycling

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Simile

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A figure of speech that directly compares two different things, usually by employing the words "like" or "as"
*She was as cute as a kitten

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Metaphor

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A figure of speech containing an implied comparison, in which a word or phrase ordinarily and primarily used of one thing is applied to another
*I have a broken heart

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Personification

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Assigning the qualities of a person to something that isn't human or, in some cases, to something that isn't even alive
*The leaves danced in the wind

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Hyperbole

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An extreme exaggeration used to make a point
*I am so hungry I could eat a horse

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Alliteration

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When a series of words in a row (or close to a row) have the same first consonant sound
*She sells sea-shells down by the sea-shore

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Short sentence

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A summary after a longer description
*I want this. Not that. Right now.

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Repetition

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The simple repeating of a word, within a sentence or a poetical line, with no particular placement of the words, in order to emphasize.
*We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.

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Imagery

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The use of vivid or figurative language to represent objects, actions, or ideas
*Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

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Contrast

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When he or she describes the difference(s) between two or more entities.
*We will be giving a party for our new students. We won't, however, be serving drinks

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Oxymoron

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A figure of speech that combines contradictory terms
*The living dead

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Rhetorical question

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A figure of speech in the form of a question that is asked in order to make a point and without the expectation of a reply
*Can't you do anything right?

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Pun

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A form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect.
*Atheism is a non-prophet [non-profit] organization.

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Euphemism

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The use of an indirect, mild, delicate, inoffensive, or vague word or expression for one thought to be coarse, sordid, or otherwise unpleasant, offensive, or blunt
*She passed away recently

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Irony

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A rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is an incongruity between the literal and the implied meaning
*A man who is a traffic cop gets his license suspended for unpaid parking tickets

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Idiom

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A word or phrase that is not taken literally
*I jumped the gun on this