Counterpart to anaphora. Also a phrase or a word that is repeated but in the end of succesive phrases. Good if you really want to emphasize something.
"It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation: Yes, we can.
"It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail towards freedom through the darkest of nights: Yes, we can.
"It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness: Yes, we can.
Takes a simple statement and expands it, breaking it down into parts and emphasizing the detail.
Compares two different things by speaking of one in terms of the other. Unlike a simile a metaphor asserts that one thing is another thing, not just that one is like another.
Words whose pronunciation imitates the sound the word describes
Onomatopoeia can produce a lively sentence, adding a kind of flavoring by its sound effects:
”The flies buzzing and whizzing around their ears kept them from finishing the experiment at the swamp.”
Comic book language ”Boom, Kablaam, pow, zap”
Parallelism
Used to create balance, this is often sentences, words or phrases that have a similar structure. Often this figure is used with another one like antithesis.
Several parts of a sentence or several sentences are expressed similarly to show that the ideas in the parts or sentences are equal in importance. Parallelism also adds balance and rhythm and, most importantly, clarity to the sentence.
JFK: “If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.”
Jesse Jackson: "I've tried to offer leadership to the Democratic Party and the Nation. If, in my high moments, I have done some good, offered some service, shed some light, healed some wounds, rekindled some hope, or stirred someone from apathy and indifference, or in any way along the way helped somebody, then this campaign has not been in vain."
Quickly and happily he walked around the corner to buy the book.
Personification
metaphorically represents an animal or inanimate object as having human attributes. Attributes of form, character, feelings, behavior, and so on. Ideas and abstractions can also be personified.
”We bought this house instead of the one on Maple because this one is more friendly.”
”This coffee is strong enough to get up and walk away”
Simile
Basically like metaphor but instead of saying that something is something else you say that something is like something else or it’s as something else. Often an unfamiliar thing is compared with a familiar one.
”brave as a lion”, ”it fits like a glove”
He ate like he hadn't seen food in a week.
Syntheton
When you position two ideas next to each other with the help of a conjunction (and, but, because, so, etc):
"passion and dedication"
"fascism or communism"
"bread and wine"
"God and man"
Tricolon
You know, three is a magic number… yes it is, it’s a magic number…
a series of three parallel words, phrases, or clauses. It's a simple enough structure, yet potentially a powerful one.
”Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I may remember. Involve me and I will learn”
”Never in the history of human endeavor has so much been owed by so many to so few”
Understatement
deliberately expresses an idea as less important than it actually is, either for ironic emphasis or for politeness and tact.
”The 1906 San Francisco earthquake interrupted business somewhat in the downtown area.”
A succesful businessman or woman might say: ”I know a a little about running a company”
Instead of saying that you don’t agree at all with someone you might use: ”I think we have slightly different opinions on this topic”