Rhetoric Flashcards
Analogy
Extended comparison b/n 2 unlike things; usually a well-known thing is employed to explain something less familiar
Apostrophe
Direct address of a personified object or audience, forceful emotional device
Irony
Contrast b/n what seems to be and what really is
Dramatic Irony
Reader or audience knows more about what is happening/is about to happen than the characters do
Situational Irony
An event is the opposite of what is expected (lottery winners go bankrupt)
Verbal Irony
Words mean opposite of what is intended (“great weather, right?” when there is the 3rd consecutive weekend snowstorm)
Kairos
rhetorical art of seizing the occasion, covering both timing and the appropriate medium
Metaphor
Figure that makes a comparison w/out using like or as
Metonymy
reference to something closely related to the actual subject, so standing in for the object itself
Paradox
An impossible pair that does point to a truth
Synecdoche
use of a part of something to represent the whole
understatement
force of description is less than one might expect; can emphasize an idea, calm a reader, highlight an extreme nature, or add humor
Juxtaposition
placement of 2 things side by side for emphasis
Inversion
reversal of normal word order: blessed are the pure in heart
Anadiplosis
figure that builds one thought on top of another by taking the last word of a clause and using it to begin the next clause
Anaphora
repeats the first word in the succeeding phrases or clauses
Antimetabole
repetition of words in an inverted order
Antithesis
parallel structure that juxtaposes contrasting ideas
Appositive
word or phrase that renamed a nearby noun or pronoun
asyndeton
leaves out conjunctions in a list or between clauses
polysyndeton
figure that links clauses with a repeated conjunction
epanalepsis
same word or phrase is found both in the beginning and at the end of a sentence
epistrophe
same word or phrase is repeated at the end of multiple clauses or sentences
parallelism
use of same general structure to provide links
conditional
use of the “if…then” clause
declarative
gives info/explains what’s going on (strong verb)
exclamatory
provides emotion/emphasis
imperative
makes a command (often “you” is implied)
interrogative
asks a question, thereby placing responsibility on the audience
hortative sentence
urges or strongly encourages
negative definition
technique that defines by explaining what something IS NOT, followed up usually by an actual definition
Allusion
short, informal reference to a generally well-known place, person, event, etc.