Literary Terms/Rhetorical Devices Flashcards
appeal to an audience’s sense of reason and logic
The speaker or writer intends to make the audience think clearly about the sensible and/ or obvious answer to a problem
Logos
appeal to an audience’s emotions
The speaker or writer attempts to make the audience feel: sorrow, shame, sympathy, embarrassment, anger, excitement, and/ or fear
Pathos
the overall appeal of the speaker or writer himself or herself; it is important that this person have impressive credentials, a notable knowledge of the subject, and/ or appear to be a credible and moral person
Ethos
repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words
Alliteration
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers
Alliteration
repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses or lines
Anaphora
Mad world! Mad kings! Mad composition!
Anaphora
a sudden turn from the general audience to address a specific group or person, either absent or present, real or imagined
Apostrophe
Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory?
Apostrophe
exaggeration for emphasis or for rhetorical effect
Hyperbole
I died laughing
Hyperbole
(verbal) expression in which words mean something contary to what is actually said
Verbal Irony
Looking at your wallet full of nothing but a few pennies, and exclaiming, “Lunch is on me, guys- I am rich!”
Verbal Irony
giving human characteristics to non-human objects
Personification
The pen danced across the author’s page
Personification
a question that is posed for emphasis, not requiring an answer
Rhetorical Question
Art thou mad? Is not the truth the truth?
Rhetorical Question
deliberately de-emphasizing something in order to downplay its importance
Understatement
Gregor waking up in Kafka’s Metamorphosis as a “horrible vermin” and thinking, “What’s happened to me?”
Understatement
a figure of speech which makes an implicit, implied or hidden comparison between two things that are unrelated but share some common characteristics
Metaphor
a figure of speech that makes a direct comparison between two different things with the help of the words “like” or “as”
Simile
a word, which imitates the natural sounds of a thing
onamotopeia
“Dumb gorgeous people should not be allowed to use literature when competing in the pick-up pool. It’s like bald people wearing hats.”
Analogy
A is to B as C is to D
Analogy
a seemingly self-contradictory statement that, on closer examination, proves worthy of belief; someone or something that is full of contradictions and inconsistencies
Paradox
What came first, the chicken or the egg?
Paradox
repetition of the same pattern of words or phrases within a sentence or passage to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance.
Parallel Structure
Joe likes singing, walking and diving. This is correct example. An incorrect version of this sentence would read: Joe likes singing, walking and to dive
Parallel Structure
the assignment of “life-like” qualities to something that’s not alive
Personification
the brook sang a sweet tune
Personification
The use of objects or images to represent or stand for something else
Symbolism
The old shoes represented his practical nature
Symbolism
