trees.”

Cathy is an excitable girl who tends to use hyperbole, or extreme exaggeration for effect. In chapter 22, she exaggerates her emotional reactions and behavior in regard to her father and his ill health:

I fret about nothing on earth except papa's illness … And I'll never—never— oh, never, while I have my senses, do an act or say a word to vex him.

An allusion is a reference to a person, place, event, or idea, whether real or imaginary. In chapter 22, when Heathcliff encounters Cathy during one of her walks, he chastises her for breaking off communication with his son. He says that Linton has grown depressed or despondent because of her silence.

You dropped Linton … into a Slough of Despond.

This “slough” is a marsh or bog mentioned in John Bunyan’s A Pilgrim’s Progress. In addition to being a place, it represents and a state of mind that the hero Christian must pass on his spiritual journey.

Most of the allusions are based on the folklore of Yorkshire, England. It was full of stories about ghosts. There are also references to Yorkshire rituals. Edgar's act of sitting up the entire night with Catherine's body after she dies was a traditional ritual in Yorkshire. Also, the ritual of "bidding", which was "an invitation to accompany a body to the grave" was common in Bronte's community. Finally, the many references to tuberculosis were references to the disease that was rampant in an area where the climate was so severe and heating so poor.

What makes Wuthering Heights such an outstanding work of fiction is its blend of concreteness with abstraction. For instance, the familiar narration of Nelly who provides dates and exact details mixes with the almost preternatural nature of Catherine and Heathcliff's relationship.  And, while Heathcliff is described often with animal imagery as, for example, "a mad dog," he is yet perceived as possessing supernatural attributes, being likened to "the devil." 

This trope of forces working against each other is also evidenced in the theme of the destructiveness of love. Nelly condemns the love of Heathcliff and Catherine, yet it is the strongest and most compelling force in the novel. In fact, it is the cause of the major conflicts of the novel.  With this theme again comes Bronte's characteristic ambiguity as the reader is unsure of whether the author is depicting Catherine and Heathcliff as romantic heroes or as some type of naturalistic destructive force.  In fact, it is this ambiguity that makes Bronte's novel so intriguing with the dual nature of various elements and blend of the literary genres of Romanticism, Realism, and Naturalism.

Wuthering Heights blends the genres of Romanticism, Naturalism, and Realism together to achieve a balance between the three.  The novel is rich in Romantic imagery and characterization: nature as good, Heathcliff as a Byronic hero, mystery and ghosts, unbridled passion, and consequences of unrequited love (revenge).

The novel also deals with the Naturalistic/Realistic themes of social class barriers, gender differences, and geography.  The narration of Nelly seems very realistic, as it is modest, plain-spoken, and objective.  Though, we often doubt her motivations (is she in love with Heathcliff or not?).

The novel is a great example of doubling, doppelgangers, foils, and dualities.  It is two novels in one.  It has two narrators, two Catherines, two Heathcliffs (hero and villain), and two settings (Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange).  And a lot of rabid dogs.  In this way, it is a forerunner for the Gothic psychological horror tales.

Metonymy is a language device in which one part of the whole, or one thing connected to the whole, is used to represent the whole. A classic example is "the pen is mightier than the sword," which really means "the written word is more powerful and persuasive than violence." A pen is not literally stronger than a sword, but what it represents is deemed to be more effective than what a sword represents.

Many writers make use of this device in their writing in order to create evocative imagery, or underline the part of something which is most important or representative in context. In Wuthering Heights, we could possibly argue that the name of the house itself is an example of metonymy (though, this classification would be a bit of a stretch). The house's name, literally meaning something like "a high hill top around which the wind howls noisily," does not stand only for the house itself, but for the entire landscape in which it is situated, while also describing the features of the landscape, namely the wind and the exposure of the moors.

Sometimes metonymy is confused with symbolism—for example, I have seen students suggest that many Gothic symbols in this novel are examples of metonymy (for example, the wind symbolizes external chaos and peril trying to disturb the existence of those within the house; the moors symbolize wildness, uncertainty and confusion) but this is a very liberal use of the term, which should more properly be confined to specific figures of speech.

You could give some examples of synecdoche as a sub-type of metonymy—this is where one part of something/someone, or an attribute of someone, is used to represent the whole person. For example, in chapter 3, "A more elastic footstep entered next [...]." Here, the footstep itself is clearly not the only thing entering the room; Lockwood, as the narrator, is using the footstep to represent the whole person and ascribing characteristics to that person through the descriptor of the footstep as "elastic."

I suggest you explore “The Forest of Rhetoric” for definitions and examples of rhetorical choices.  As far as identifying examples in Wuthering Heights specifically, begin looking for the more general rhetorical choices—for example appeals to ethos, logos, and pathos. 

If a character is trying to convince someone through the use of logic, that is an appeal to logos.  If a character uses his or her own credibility or reputation to convince another, that is an appeal to ethos.  Finally, if emotions are the persuading force, that is an appeal to pathos.

Sections of the text that are dialogue-heavy would be the first I would analyze.  Usually, when characters are speaking with one another they are trying to communicate some sort of position on something.  This is especially apparent in the face of conflict.  Look closely for examples of logical fallacies, tactics a speaker might use to persuade another through faulty reason or manipulation.  The most common of these include a “slippery slope” fallacy (where one poor decision leads to a worse and a worse and a worse situation),  a “false dilemma” fallacy (where the speaker forces the audience to see a proposed solution as necessary and solitary, while the speaker is clearly omitting other possible solutions or exaggerating the urgency of the situation), and “appeal to tradition” (where a proposition is considered sound for the sole reason that things have always been done a certain way).