Rhetorical Device Vocabulary

Question 0

Analogy

Answer 0

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

Question 1

Allusion

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Anaphora

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Antithesis

Answer 3

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

Question 4

Aphorism

Answer 4

A terse statement of know authorship which expresses a general truth or a moral principle

Example: absence make the heart grow fonder

Question 5

Argumentation

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Concrete Language

Answer 6

Refers to objects or events that are available to the senses

Example:

Question 7

Deduction

Answer 7

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.

Question 8

Emotional Appeal

Answer 8

Ethos, appeal to the emotion, caring side of the mind

Question 9

Extended Metaphor

Answer 9

A metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout the work.

Example:

Question 10

Figures of Speech

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Hyperbole

Answer 11

A figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement

Example: I am so hungry I could eat a horse

Question 12

Induction

Answer 12

A conclusion reaches through reasoning

Question 13

Logical appeal

Answer 13

Logos, appeal to the logical way of thinkin

Question 14

Negative position

Answer 14

Need definition

Question 15

Paradox

Answer 15

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.

Question 16

Parallelism

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Persuasion

Answer 17

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.

Question 18

Repetition

Answer 18

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.”

Question 19

Rhetoric

Answer 19

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?”

Question 20

Rhetorical Question

Answer 20

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