I received a lot of useful information when taking my writers correspondence course. Over the next few weeks I am going to share a list of words and meanings that every writer should know that came in my starter kit. It never hurts to review and learn something new.
Metaphor-words ordinarily meaning one thing used to describe another: "A copper sky."
Simile-a metaphor using the words "like" or "as."
Onomatopoeia-words that sounds like the action they represent: pop, sizzle, gurgle, boom, bubble...
Alliteration-a series of like consonants or vowels used in a row: shiny sails at sunset; Take the ravel out of travel.
Tautology-redundancy, using more words than necessary. Surrounded on all sides, nodded his head, vacillating back and forth...
Personification-giving human characteristics to inanimate objects.
Synecdoche-a figure of speech in which a part is put for the whole or the whole for a part: "A factory employed 500 hands..." "He had a Piccasso in his living room."
Metonymy-a figure of speech that consists in using the name of one thing for that of another which it naturally suggests. "The pen(power of literature) is mightier than the sword(force)."
Oxymoron-a figure of speech in which words of opposite meaning or suggestion are used together: "Cruel kindness," "Make haste slowly."
Litotes-a figure of speech that makes an assertion by denying its opposite: "This was no small storm." "It is not inappropriate to move ahead in the line."
Hyperbole-exaggeration: "I could eat a horse."
Aphorism-a saying to convey general truths or tenets: "A living dog is better than a dead lion."
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