Rhetoric Flashcards
metathesis
transposition of letters in a word.
Elvis lives in evil levis
antisthecon
change of sound. A pun is it’s own reword. Hamlet is too much in the sun.
parallelism
(scheme of construction: balance) similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses
One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind
antithesis
(scheme of construction: balance) juxtaposition of contrasting ideas, often parallel
Anastrophe
(Scheme of construction: inverted word order [hyperbaton]) inversion of the natural or usual word order
“Deep into that darkness, peering,
Long I stood there, wondering, fearing.”
Parenthesis
(Scheme of construction: inverted word order [hyperbaton]) Insertion of some verbal unit in a place that disrupts the natural syntactical flow of a sentence
Apposition
(Scheme of construction: inverted word order [hyperbaton]) placing side by side two coordinate elements, the second of which explains or modifies the first
Ellipsis
(Scheme of Omission) deliberate omission of a word or words readily supplied by context
Asyndeton
(Scheme of omission) omission of conjunctions
Alliteration
(Scheme of Repetition) repetition of initial or medial consonants in two or more adjacent words
Assonance
Repetition of similar vowel sounds, preceded and followed by different consonants in stressed syllables in adjacent words
Anaphora
The repetition of the same word or group of words at the start of successive clauses
epistrophe
repetition of the same word or group of words at the end of successive clauses
Epanalepsis
repetition at the end of a clause of the word that occurred at the beginning of the clause
Anadiplosis
repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause. The years to come seemed waste of breath, a waste of breath the years behind.
Climax
arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in order of increasing importance
Antimetabole
repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse grammatical order
Chiasmus
Reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases or clauses.
Love without end, and without measure grace.
polyptoton
repetition of words derived from the same root
metaphor
implied comparison between two things of unlike nature that yet have something in common
simile
explicit comparison
synecdoche
a part stands for the whole
Metonomy
substitution of some attributive or suggestive word or what is actually meant
antanaclasis
repetition of a word in two different senses
paranomasia
use of words alike in sound but different in meaning
syllepsis
use of a word understood differently in relation to two or more other words, which it modifies or governs
Anthimeria
substitution of one part of speech for another. I’ll unhair thy head.
Antonomasia
substitution of a descriptive word or phrase for a proper name or of a proper name for a quality associated with name. The King of Pop.
prosopopoeia
personification
hyperbole
the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect
auxesis
magnifying the importance or gravity of something by referring to it with a disproportionate name
litotes
deliberative use of understatement not to deceive but to enhance the impressiveness of what we say
erotema
rhetorical question
irony
use of a word in such a way as to convey a meaning opposite to the literal meaning of the word
onomatopoeia
use of word whose sound echos the sense
oxymoron
yoking of two terms that are ordinarily contradictory
paradox
contradictory statement containing a measure of truth
Isocolon
similarity not only of structure but of length
epimone
repetition of phrases
conduplication
repetition of phrases with other words between each repetition.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy
diacope
repetition of phrases with just a few words between the repeated ones
epizeuxis
repetition of words consecutively
zeugma
a word applying to two others in different senses
hysteron-proteron
first key word of an idea occurs temporally later than the second key word. Put on your socks and shoes.
praeteritio (paralepsis)
describing what you will not say.
Have patience gentle friends I must not read it. It is not meet you know how Caesar loved you.
aposiopesis
leaving a sentence unfinished.
Why you…
matanoia
correcting oneself.
Let but the commons hear this testament which, pardon me, I do not mean to read – and they would go and kiss dead Caesar’s wounds, and dip their napkins in his sacred blood; yea, beg a hair of him for memory, and, dying, mention it within their wills, bequeathing it as a rich legacy unto their issue.
hypophora
asking questions and answering them.
When the enemy struck, on that June day of 1950, what did America do? It did what it always has done in all its times of peril. It appealed to the heroism of its youth.
prolepsis
anticipating objections and meeting them
