English Flashcards
Rhetoric
Alliteration
A series of words beginning with the same consonant or vowel sound
Anacoenosis
An appeal to one’s listeners or opponents for their opinion or
judgment to the subject under discussion.
Anaphora
A figure of repe99on that occurs when the first word or set of words in a
sentence, phrase, or clause is repeated in the first word or successive sentences.
Antithesis
The exact or direct opposite
Apostrophe
An exclama9on to an object or things that personify objects, absent
people or Gods. “Oh, happy dagger, this is thy sheath; there rust, and let me die.”
Assonance
Figure of repe99on where different words with the same or similar
vowel sound occur successively.
Chiasmus
A reversal in the order of words in otherwise parallel phrases. “he went to
the town. To the town went she.”
Climax
A figure of speech where each succeeding phrase builds with more intensity
or force than the phrase before.
Euphemism
the substitution of a word or phrase that is milder or less harsh. Ex:
“Plump” as opposed to “fat”
Epistrophe
Figure of speech that occurs when the last word or set of words in a
sentence, clause or phrase is repeated in successive sentences.
Hyperbole
the deliberate exaggera9on of a person, quality, thing, or event.
Irony
the use of words to convey the opposite meaning.
Litotes
The expression of understatement, used with a nega9ve to express a
posi9ve. “That was’nt half bad.”
Metaphor
symbol or figure of speech to represent something else.
Metonymy
A figure of speech that consists of the use of the name of one object or
concept for that of another to which it is related. Ex: “the bo^le”, for Strong drink
