Rhetoric Flashcards
What is Rhetoric?
Rhetoric is the name given to the explicit techniques that text producers use to attempt to persuade and exert influence over their readers. Unsurprisingly, common rhetorical devices are often found in political speeches, persuasive articles and argumentative polemics.
What is Anaphora?
The repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses. E.g. ‘I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. ‘
What is Antithesis?
The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases. E.g. ‘Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing.’
What is Elegant Variation?
Using synonyms to refer to the same thing. E.g ‘Cheryl Cole’ and ‘the former Girls Aloud singer’.
What is Euphemism?
The substitution of an inoffensive term for one considered offensively explicit. E.g ‘Let go’ instead of fired, ‘passed away’ instead of died.
What is Hyperbole?
An extravagant statement; the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect. E.g. ‘You’re so low down you need an umbrella to protect yourself from ant piss.’
What is Irony?
The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning. e.g.‘Yeah, right’
What are Litotes?
A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite. E.g. ‘You’re not wrong’
What is a Metaphor?
An implied comparison between two unlike things that actually have something important in common. E.g. ‘the business world is a jungle’
What is Metonymy?
A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated; also, the strategy of describing something indirectly by referring to things around it. E.g. ‘Crown for royalty.’
What is Onomatopoeia?
The use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to. E.g.‘Bang!’
What is Oxymoron?
A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side. E.g. ‘Alone together’.
What is Paradox?
A statement that appears to contradict itself.
‘War is peace, Freedom is slavery, Ignorance is strength.’
What is Personification?
A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction is endowed with human qualities or abilities.
‘The wind stood up and gave a shout, he whistled on his fingers’
What is Pseudo community?
The creation of a group including the writer and the audience, using personal pronouns such as ‘we’ and ‘us’: ‘We all know and love Cheryl Cole, obviously.’
