A figure of speech is a word or phrase that has a meaning something different than its literal meaning. It can be a metaphor or simile that is designed to further explain a concept. Or, it can be a different way of pronouncing a word or phrase such as with alliteration to give further meaning or a different sound.
1. Alliteration
The repetition of an initial consonant sound.
Example: Sally sells seashells.
2. Allusion
The act of alluding is to make indirect reference. It is a literary device, a figure of speech that quickly stimulates different ideas and associations using only a couple of words.
Example: David was being such a scrooge!. ( Scrooge" is the allusion, and it refers to Charles Dicken'* novel, A Christmas Carol. Scrooge was very greedy and unkind, which David was being compared to.)
3. Anaphora
The repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses. (Contrast with epiphora and epistrophe.)
Example: I came, I saw, I conquered – Julius Caesar
4. Antaclasis
It is a rhetorical device in which a word is repeated and whose meaning changes in the second instance. Antanaclasis is a common type of pun.
Example:
Your argument is sound, nothing but sound. – Benjamin Franklin.
The word sound in the first instance means solid or reasonable. The second instance of sound means empty.
5. Anticlimax
Refers to a figure of speech in which statements gradually descend in order of importance.
Example:
She is a great writer, a mother and a good humorist.
