Definitions of Terms

Anthropomorphism - The act of attributing human forms or qualities to an entities which are not human. Usually the quality of speech.

Apostrophe - A figure of speech in which an address is made to an absent or deceased person or a personified thing rhetorically.

Irony - A figure of speech in the form of an expression in which the use of words is the opposite of the thought in the speaker's mind, thus conveying a meaning that contradicts the literal definition.

Metonymy - A figure of speech involving the substitution of one noun for another of which it is an attribute or which is closely associated with it

Paradox - A statement which contains seemingly contradictory elements or appears contrary to common sense, yet can be seen as perhaps, or indeed, true when viewed from another angle.

Personification - A type of metaphor in which distinctive human characteristics, e.g., honesty, emotion, volition, etc., are attributed to an animal, object, or idea

Synecdoche - A figure of speech in which a part of something stands for the whole or the whole for a part.

Tautology - The unnecessary and excessive repetition of the same idea in different words in the same sentence.

Understatement - The presentation of a thing with under-emphasis in order to achieve a greater effect.