Oxymoron: A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradicting terms are combined

ex. "seriously funny", "to make haste slowly", "pretty ugly"

Paradox

Paradox: a statement that contradicts itself (wordnetweb.princeton.edu)

Example: "So foul and fair a day I have not seen." -Shakespeare, Macbeth

Dramatic Irony

Dramatic irony: (n) irony that is inherent in speeches or a situation of a drama and is understood by the audience but not grasped by the characters in the play.

Example: In the story Romeo and Juliet, the audience knew Romeo and Juliet were going to die before the characters knew.

VERBAL IRONY

Definition: A figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant.
Example: A woman talking about how much she dislikes messy people and her house is a mess.

Deductive Reasoning

Definition: Deductive reasoning is when you use a generalization to get a specific point.
Example: All men are mortal, therefore if someone is a man, he is mortal.

Synecdoche: a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa






-General Motors announced cutbacks
-He was riding on a new set of Wheels

Metonymy

Definition: A figure of speech in which a word represents something else which it suggests.

Example: "The B.L.T. left without paying"

Whereas the B.L.T. has a deeper meaning. It refers to the customer who did not pay for the meal. Not the actual B.L.T.