Tropes and Schemes UPDATED!

Tropes and schemes are collectively and sometimes referred to  as figures of speech. The following is a short list of some of the most common figures of speech. I have selected figures that politicians and pundits use often--especially schemes of repetition and word order, which convey authority.

Anadiplosis - repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause "The crime was common, common be the pain”

antimetabole/chiasmus/Anastrophe: A scheme in which normal word order is changed for emphasis. Example: "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."

Antithesis: A scheme that makes use of contrasting words, phrases, sentences, or ideas for emphasis (generally used in parallel grammatical structures). Example: " Americans in need are not strangers, they are citizens, not problems, but priorities."

Apostrophe: A scheme in which a person or an abstract quality is directly addressed, whether present or not. Example: "Freedom! You are a beguiling mistress."

Epistrophe: A scheme in which the same word is repeated at the end of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences. Example: “I believe we should fight for justice. You believe we should fight for justice. How can we not, then, fight for justice?”

Hyperbole: A trope composed of exaggerated words or ideals used for emphasis and not to be taken literally. Example: "I've told you a million times not to call me a liar!"

Irony: A trope in which a word or phrase is used to mean the opposite of its literal meaning. Example: "I just love scrubbing the floor."

Litotes: A trope in which one makes a deliberate understatement for emphasis. Example: Young lovers are kissing and an observer says: "I think they like each other."

Metaphor: A trope in which a word or phrase is transferred from its literal meaning to stand for something else. Unlike a simile, in which something is said to be "like" something else, a metaphor says something is something else. Example: "Debt is a bottomless sea."

Metonymy: A trope that substitutes an associated word for one that is meant. Example: Using "top brass" to refer to military officers.

Oxymoron: A trope that connects two contradictory terms. Example: “Bill is a cheerful pessimist.”

Periphrasis: A trope in which one substitutes a descriptive word or phrase for a proper noun. Example: “The big man upstairs hears your prayers.”

Personification: A trope in which human qualities or abilities are assigned to abstractions or inanimate objects. Example: “Integrity thumbs its nose at pomposity.”

Pun: A play on words in which a homophone is repeated but used in a different sense. Examples: “She was always game for any game."

Rhetorical Question: A trope in which the one asks a leading question. Example: "With all the violence on TV today, is it any wonder kids bring guns to school?"

Simile: A trope in which one states a comparison between two things that are not alike but have similarities. Unlike metaphors, similes employ "like" or "as." Example: "Her eyes are as blue as a robin's egg."

Synecdoche: A trope in which a part stands for the whole. Example: "Tom just bought a fancy new set of wheels."

Zeugma: A trope in which one verb governs several words, or clauses, each in a different sense. Example: “He stiffened his drink and his spine.”