Figures of speech

Alliteration: the same sound is repeated noticeably at the beginning of words placed close together
 
Examples--
 
"World Wide Web"
"Find four furry foxes"
 
Recommendation: Use alliterationsparingly. Too much can wear on the reader.
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Allusion: casual reference to a famous historical or literary figure or event.
 
e.g., " . . . a turn of phrase even Shakespeare wouldappreciate."
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Apostrophe: direct address of an absent or dead person or personified thing.
 
* Invocation: an apostrophe to a god or muse.
 
Examples--
 
"God help me!""Ambition, you're a cruel master!"
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Irony: using words to mean the opposite of what is said.
 
* Sarcasm: cutting, sneering or taunting irony.
 
Examples--
 
"He's handsome ifyou like rodents."
 
* Hyperbole: exaggeration not meant to be taken literally.
 
Examples--
 
"I waited forever for him."
"I destroyed that test!"
"The world ended the day my father died." 
* Understatement: the representation of something as significantly less than it actually is.
 
e.g. "That was some sprinkle." (in reference to the four inches of rain which fell an hourbefore)
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Metaphor: an implied comparison between things, events, or actions which are fundamentally unlike.
 
* Metonymy: substituting a word--which is suggested by it or which isclosely associated with it--for another word
 
Examples--
 
"He hit the bottle soon after his wife died." 
"She counted heads."
"The White House denied the allegations."
 
 
* Synecdoche:using a part for the whole or the whole for a part
 
e.g. "The pen is mightier than the sword"
 
 
*  Personification: representing a thing, quality, or idea as a person
 
*Examples--
 
* "The book just begged to be read."
* "The ocean screamed its fury"
* "Fear lived with us in Vietnam."
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* Recommendations:
 
* The...