Some very helpful definitions
1. Metaphor: a figure of speech which makes a direct comparison of two unlide objects by identification or substitution.

2. Simile: a direct comparison of two unlike objects, using like or as.

3. Conceit: an extended metaphor comparing two unlike objects with powerful effect.

4. Personification: a figure of speech in which objects and animals have human qualities.

5. Apostrophe: an address to a person or personified object not present.

6. Metonymy: the substitution of a word which relates to the object or person to be named, in the place of the name itself.

7. Synecdoche: a figure of speech in which a part represents the whole object or idea.

8. Hyperbole: gross exaggeration for effect; overstatement.

9. Litotes: a form of understatement in which a thing is affirmed by stating the negative of its opposite.

10. Irony: the contrast between actual meaning and the suggestion of another meaning.
a.) Verbal: meaning one thing and saying another.
b.) Dramatic: 2 levels of meaning: what the speaker says and what he/she means, and what the speaker says and what the author means.
c.) Situational: when the reality of a situation differs from the anticipated or intended effect; when something unexpected occurs.

11. Symbolism: the use of one object to suggest another hidden object or idea.

12. Imagery: the use of words to represent thing, actions, or ideas by sensory description.

13. Paradox: a statement which appears self-contradictory, but underlines a basis of truth.

14. Oxymoron: contradictory terms brought together to express a paradox for strong effect.

15. Allusion: a reference to an outside fact, event, or other source.