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.