The following are the most commonly used tropes and figures in the English language. You should know them for the midterm and to better understand what decorum (meeting expectations) and ornatus (fashioning of a speech) can do for political speeches and advertisements, not mention your sex life.

1. Metaphor: A trope by which one things is described in terms of another. A word is used in a sense different from what was intended. Normally, a comparison is made from one category to another. For example, "George is a wolf" compares a man with an animal to better explain his traits.

2. Simile: A metaphor that is weakened or softened by the use of like or as. "George acts like a wolf." "She was as soft as snow.

3. Personification: A trope by which human qualifies are given to non-human entities. "The chasm yawned before us." (Chasms don't really yawn.) "The cloud stretched itsfluffy arm toward the plane." (Clouds don't really have arms.)

4. Allegories: A long string of related metaphors or extended analogies that tell a story or deliver a message. They are often used to paint a larger picture. "I see myself as the man in the arena who face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again because there is not effort without error and shortcoming, but who does actually strive to do the deeds

5. Synecdoche: A trope which substitutes a part to represent the whole, or which substitutes the whole to represent only a part. "She was in love with a handsome blond." The part, "blond", represent the whole man. "I'll give you a copper for that salt." Here the whole, "copper", represents the part, a penny.

6. Irony: A trope whereby a contrary meaning is implied. Sarcasm is an example of irony. After one of my dull lectures, a student might say, "Boy, that was a sizzling presentation." Or, it is ironic that Reagan, the man who hated the evil empire, should befriend Gorbachev.

7. Hyperbole: A trope that is a massive exaggeration. Johnny Carson uses this trope all the time. For example, he may talk about a woman who was thin. Then someone asks, "How thin was she?" And he replies, hyperbolically, "She was so thin that when she swallowed an olive, her boyfriend left town."

8. Aposiopesis: A figure whereby the speaker is so moved by his own words that he breaks off speaking for moment. Marc Antony in Rome, Nixon in the Checkers Speech, and Ed Muskie in the snows of New Hampshire all break up at one point in their speech. Sophists did it on purpose to convey sincerity. It happens at funerals and farewell parties by accident.

9. Balance: Two clauses or phrases of matching rhythm and length brought together for effect. "He was happy and she was happy." "If I can stand and cook it, you can sit and eat it."

10. Antithesis: A sophisticated balance in which the two phrases or clauses oppose one another. "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." "A coward dies often; a brave man dies once."

11. Oxymoron: Placing two words together which normally have opposite meaning or context. "A wise fool." "A liberal Republican." "An independent dog." "A dumb cat." Calling Roseann Barr "baby."

12. Apophasis: A figure whereby a speaker denies what he or she is doing. "I won't tell you that he is a drunk."

13. Rhetorical Questions: These are questions uttered by a speaker for which he expects no response. "Have we at long last endured enough of this president? How much longer must we suffer?"

14. Epanaphora: A figure of repetition for emphasis. "I have dream" seven times.

15. Asyndeton: A figure using multiple words but eliminating the connectives for emphasis. "I came, I saw, I conquered." Here at Cal. State, we are poor, downtrodden, abused, overworked, undernourished. I will have no more of it."

16. Polysyndeton: The opposite of asyndeton. Here more connectives than are needed are added. "We are poor and downtrodden and abused and overworked and undernourished."

17. Onomatopoeia: A figures by which words imitate sounds. The cannon boomed; the bird screeched."

18. Homeoteleuton: A figure in which words that end with the same sounds are used for effect. "His effect was his defect." &quTrash UNIT 5
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