Rhetorical Device Vocabulary Flashcards
Analogy
A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them
Example: He that voluntarily continues ignorance is guilty of all the crimes which ignorance produces, as to him thatshouldextinguishthetapersofalighthousemightjustlybeimputedthecalamitiesofshipwrecks.” - Samuel Johnson
Allusion
A direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art. Allusions can be historical, literary, religious, topical, or mythical
Example: “Plan ahead: it wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark” - Richard Cushing
Anaphora
One of the devices of repetition, in which the same expression (word or words) is repeated at the beginning of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences
Example: “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.”
“They are masters who instruct us without rod or ferule, without angry words, without clothes or money.” – Richard de Bury
Antithesis
Figure of balance in which two contrasting ideas are intentionally juxtaposed, usually through parallel structure; a contrasting of opposing ideas in adjacent phrases, clauses, or sentences
Example: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose” – Jim Elliot
“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind” - Neil Armstrong
Aphorism
A terse statement of know authorship which expresses a general truth or a moral principle
Example: absence make the heart grow fonder
Argumentation
The process of forming reason, justifying beliefs, and drawing conclusions with the aim of influencing the thoughts/actions of others.
Example: “Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.” - Charles Dickens
Concrete Language
Refers to objects or events that are available to the senses
Example:
Deduction
The process of logic in which a thinker takes a rule for a large, general category and assumes that specific individual examples fitting within that general category obey the same rule.
Emotional Appeal
Ethos, appeal to the emotion, caring side of the mind
Extended Metaphor
A metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout the work.
Example:
Figures of Speech
a word or phrase used in a nonliteral sense to add rhetorical force to a spoken or written passage.
I love you like a brother
Hyperbole
A figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement
Example: I am so hungry I could eat a horse
Induction
A conclusion reaches through reasoning
Logical appeal
Logos, appeal to the logical way of thinkin
Negative position
Need definition
Paradox
A statement that appears to be self-contradictory or opposed to common sense but upon closer inspection contains some degree of truth or validity
Example: You can save money by spending it.
Parallelism
The grammatical or rhetorical framing of words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs to give structural similarity
Example: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity . . .” -Charles Dickens
Persuasion
The use of appeals to reasons, values, beliefs, and emotions to convince a listener or reader to think or act in a particular way
Example: Brand of chips is the crispiest, crunchiest and most delicious brand of chips you will ever taste. Buy a bag today.
Repetition
The duplication, either exact or approximate, of any element of language, such as a sound, word, phrase, clause, sentence, or grammatical pattern
Example: “A horse is a horse, of course, of course,
And no one can talk to a horse of course
That is, of course, unless the horse is the famous Mister Ed.”
Rhetoric
The art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques
Examples: Upon approaching a cashier at the grocery store she asks, “Will you help starving children today by adding $3 to your grocery bill?”
Rhetorical Question
Is not answered by the writer because its answer is obvious or obviously desired, and usually just a yes or no answer would suffice
Example: We shrink from change; yet is there anything that can come into being without it? What does Nature hold dearer, or more proper to herself? Could you have a hot bath unless the firewood underwent some change? Could you be nourished if the food suffered no change? Do you not see, then, that change in yourself is the same order, and no less necessary to Nature? –Marcus Aurelius
