Rhetorical Devices
About this set
Created by:
edwardcullen22 on November 8, 2010
Subjects:
Description:
Terms for Ciancio's Test tomorrow
Log in to favorite or report as inappropriate.
Order by
52 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Alliteration | use of the same consonant at the beginning of each stressed syllable in a line of verse |
| Allusion | passing reference or indirect mention |
| Anadiplosis | repetition of the final words of a sentence or line at the beginning of the next |
| Anaphora | repetition of a word or phrase as the beginning of successive clauses |
| Anastrophe | the reversal of the normal order of words |
| Anistrophe | Repetition of a phrase at the end of another clause |
| Antithesis | a direct opposite, a contrast, exact opposite |
| Aphorism | a short pithy instructive saying |
| Aporia | expression of doubt about conclusions |
| Apostrophe | address to an absent or imaginary person |
| Assonance | the repetition of similar vowels in the stressed syllables of successive words |
| Asyndeton | lack of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses or words |
| Bombast | impressive but meaningless language; pompous or pretentious talk or writing |
| Cacophony | loud confusing disagreeable sounds |
| Catachresis | strained or paradoxical use of words either in error (as 'blatant' to mean 'flagrant') or deliberately (as in a mixed metaphor: 'blind mouths') |
| Climax | the decisive moment in a novel or play |
| Circumlocution | an indirect way of expressing something |
| Connotation | an idea that is implied or suggested |
| Counterpoints | Contrasting ideas such as black/white, darkness/light, good/bad. |
| Denotation | the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression |
| Euphemism | an inoffensive expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive |
| Flashback | a transition (in literary or theatrical works or films) to an earlier event or scene that interrupts the normal chronological development of the story |
| Hyperbole | extravagant exaggeration |
| Imagery | the ability to form mental images of things or events |
| Irony | incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs |
| Litotes | understatement for rhetorical effect (especially when expressing an affirmative by negating its contrary) |
| Malapropism | the unintentional misuse of a word by confusion with one that sounds similar |
| Metaphor | a figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarity |
| Metonymy | substituting the name of an attribute or feature for the name of the thing itself (as in 'they counted heads') |
| Onomatopoeia | using words that imitate the sound they denote |
| Oxymoron | conjoining contradictory terms (as in 'deafening silence') |
| Paradox | (logic) a self-contradiction |
| Parallelism | phrases or sentences of a similar construction/meaning placed side by side, balancing each other |
| Parenthesis | a message that departs from the main subject |
| Personification | the act of attributing human characteristics to abstract ideas etc. |
| Point of View | a mental position from which things are viewed |
| Pun | a humorous play on words |
| Repetition | the repeated use of the same word or word pattern as a rhetorical device |
| Rhetorical Question | a statement that is formulated as a question but that is not supposed to be answered |
| Sarcasm | witty language used to convey insults or scorn |
| Satire | literary tone used to ridicule or make fun of human vice or weakness |
| Simile | a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds (usually formed with 'like' or 'as') |
| Situational Irony | occurs when the outcome of a work is unexpected, or events turn out to be the opposite from what one had expected |
| Style | a way of expressing something (in language or art or music etc.) that is characteristic of a particular person or group of people or period |
| Syllepsis | use of a word to govern two or more words though agreeing in number or case etc. with only one |
| Synchysis | interlocked word order |
| Synecdoche | substituting a more inclusive term for a less inclusive one or vice versa |
| Syntax | the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences |
| Understatement | a statement that is restrained in ironic contrast to what might have been said |
| Verbal Irony | occurs when what is said contradicts what is meant or thought |
| Voice | the writer's general attitude towards the world, etc. |
| Parody | humorous or satirical mimicry |
First Time Here?
Welcome to Quizlet, a fun, free place to study. Try these flashcards, find others to study, or make your own.
Set Champions
Scatter Champion
34.4 secs by edwardcullen22
Space Race Champion
5,750 points by edwardcullen22