Paradox: A statement in which a seeming contradiction may reveal an unexpected truth.

Example: The hurrier I go the behinder I get.
THIS SENTENCE IS FALSE

Personification: Giving human characteristics to an inanimate object, animal, or idea.

Example: The days crept by slowly, sorrowfully.

Pun: Word play in which words with totally different meanings have similar or identical sounds.

Examples: Like a firefly in the rain, I’m de-lighted.
I’m reading a book about anti-gravity. It’s impossible to put down.
A new type of broom came out, it is sweeping the nation.

Simile: A direct comparison of two unlike things using “like” or “as.”

Examples: He’s as dumb as an ox.
Her eyes are like comets.

Symbol: An ordinary object, event, animal or person to which we have attached extraordinary meaning and significance.

Example: A small cross by the dangerous curve on the road reminded all of Johnny’s death.

Synecdoche (pronounced “sin-eck-duh-key): Indicating a person, object, etc. by letting only a certain part represent the whole.

Examples: All hands on deck.
Nice wheels.

Schadenfreude: To take pleasure from someone else’s suffering.