implied comparison between two unlike things

Her presence is an exclamation point to life.

an extended metaphor, which often controls an entire poem or essay.

Robert Frost=s poem, ATwo Roads Diverged in a Wood@ is one example.

explicit comparison between two unlike things

Her presence is like adding an exclamation point to life.

using words to convey their opposite meaning

"For Brutus is an honourable man; so are they all, honourable men."  Shsp. 

yoking two terms ordinarily contradictory.  (A Paradox "turns" the whole statement)

"Oh miserable abundance, O beggarly riches!"  John Donne

substituting names or their descriptive words for a quality associated with the name

He's Elvis in Godzilla form.

substituting a "part" word so it gives suggesting meaning to the whole

Bread for food, creature for man, sail for ship, steel for sword.

substituting a suggestive word(s) to give greater depth of meaning.

Clinging vines only want a strong shoulder to lean on.

the substitution of one part of speech for another

"The thunder would not peace at my bidding"  Shakespeare:  King Lear

repetition of a word in two different senses.

"If we don't hang together, we'll hang separately."  Ben Franklin

use of words alike in sound but different in meaning.  ("A Deceitful Seatful")

"Independence is what a boy feels when all he wants from father is to be left a loan."

use of a word understood differently in relation to word it modifies or governs

She'd rather press forward than clothes.

giving abstractions or inanimate objects human qualities or abilities

Snow blinded his vision, cold halted his step.

addressing an absent person or a personified abstraction

Death, where is thy victory?  Death, where is thy sting?

using exaggerated terms for emphasis or heightened effect.

"We walked along a road in Cumberland and stopped, because the sky hung so low." 

using words that deliberately lessen the impact of the meaning.

(Lawyer to judge)  "This is simply a case of a teen joyride carried to far."

using understatement, to emphasize the impressiveness of what we say.

"To write is, indeed, no unpleasing employment."  Samuel Johnson

use of words whose sound makes meaning in the sentence.

"Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark innyard."  A. Noyes. 

How can you deny the value of having words and their effect on people at your command?