Hupomnemata (50 total)

Alliteration- Repetition of the same sound at the beginning of two or more stressed syllables. The phrase "rubber baby buggy bumpers" is one example you might remember from your childhood. Alliteration is often associated with tongue twisters, but brand names commonly use this technique too, such as American Apparel, Best Buy, and Krispy Kreme.

Assonance- Repetition of similar vowel sounds, preceded and followed by different consonants, in the stressed syllables of adjacent words. The sergeant asked him to bomb the lawn with hotpots.

Anaphora- Repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses, sentences, or lines. "If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh?" is an example from Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. The use of anaphora creates parallelism and rhythm, which is why this technique is often associated with music and poetry. 

Epistrophe- Ending a series of lines, phrases, clauses, or sentences with the same word or words. What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny compared to what lies within us." —Ralph Waldo Emerson

Simile- Directly comparing one object to another. "He smokes like a chimney" is one example. Similes are often confused with metaphors, but the main difference is that a simile uses "like" or "as" to make a comparison and a metaphor simply states the comparison.

Metaphor- A type of implied comparison that compares two things by stating one is the other. "Your eyes are the windows of your soul" means you "see" someone's emotional state by looking into their expressive eyes-eyes are not literally windows.

Hyperbole- An exaggeration. Saying "I have done this a thousand times" to indicate that you're very familiar with a task is an example of hyperbole because it is unlikely you've really performed the task a thousand times.