Rhetorcal Terms #1 Flashcards
Alliteration
The reputation of sounds, especially initial consonants in two or more words.
Ex: She sells sea shells
Allusion
A direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art.
Ex:” Plan ahead: it wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.”
Allegory
The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning.
Ex: “Animal Farm”
Ambiguity
The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage.
Analogy
A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them.
Anaphoric
One of the devices of repetition, in which the same expression is repeated at the beginning of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences.
Anecdote
A short narrative detailing particulars of an interesting episode or event.
Antecedent
The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun
Antithesis
Figure of balance in which two contrasting ideas are intentionally juxtaposed, usually through parallel structure.
Aphorism
A terse statement of know authorship which expresses a general truth or a moral principle.
Apostrophe
A figure of speech that directly addresses and absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction such as liberty or love.
Asyndeton
Consists of omitting conjunctions between the words phrases or clauses.
Atmosphere
The emotional mood created by their entirety of a literary work established partially by this setting and partially by the authors choice of objects that are described.
Chiasmus
Figure of speech in which two successive phrases or clauses are parallel it’s in text but reverse the order of the analogous words
Clause
A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb.
