EL RHETORIC QUESTIPNS Flashcards
What is antithesis?
- Antithesis : a person or thing that is the direct opposite of someone or something else.
Example: “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”
Euphemism
A mild or indirect word or expression substitution for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing.
Example : “Darn” instead of “damn”
Rule of three
a writing principle that suggests that a trio of entities such as events or characters is more humorous, satisfying, or effective than other numbers.
Bathos
(especially in a work of literature) an effect of anticlimax created by an unintentional lapse in mood from the sublime to the trivial or ridiculous.
Example: Her hair was finely curled, her cheeks were lined with rouge, and her dress was a flowing green and blue which made her look rather like a tired, old peacock
Meiosis
a deliberate, euphemistic understatement.
Example: “Ambulance chaser”
Tautology :
the saying of the same thing twice in different words, generally considered to be a fault of style (e.g., they arrived one after the other in succession ).
Repetition
the action of repeating something that has already been said or written.
Example: That is a very, very, very big balloon!
Parallelism :
the state of being parallel or of corresponding in some way.
Example: What you see is what you get.
Exaggeration :
a statement that represents something as better or worse than it really is; an overstatement.
This is the worst dessert in the entire world!
Use of personal pronoun
a short word we use `as a simple substitute for the proper name of a person.
Example: I walked down the street. I was very unhappy.
Metaphor
a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.
Example:He’s a couch potato. She’s got a heart of gold.
Personification
compares a human to objects
Simile
a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more empathic or vivid (e.g., as brave as a lion, crazy like a fox ).
Example:as quiet as a mouse
Rhetorical Question
question asked in order to create a dramatic effect or to make a point rather than to get an answer.
Example : Would it kill you to stop chewing your food with your mouth open?
Allusion
an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference.
Example : Chocolate cake is my achilles heel!