Rhetorical Devices

Question 1

Allusion

Answer 1

A short, informal reference to a famous person or event.

Question 2

Ambiguity

Answer 2

Doubtfulness or uncertainty as regards interpretation.

Question 3

Analogy

Answer 3

Compares two things, which are alike in several respects, for the purpose of explaining or clarifying some unfamiliar or difficult idea or object by showing how the idea or object is similar to some familiar one. While simile and analogy often overlap, the simile is generally a more artistic likening, done briefly for effect and emphasis, while analogy serves the more practical end of explaining a thought process or a line of reasoning or the abstract in terms of the concrete, and may therefore be more extended.

Question 4

Anaphora

Answer 4

The repetition of the same word or words at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences, commonly in conjunction with climax and with parallelism.

Question 5

Antithesis

Answer 5

Establishes a clear, contrasting relationship between two ideas by joining them together or juxtaposing them, often in a parallel structure. Human beings are inveterate systematizers and categorizers, so the mind has a natural love for antithesis, which creates a definite and systematic relationship between ideas.

Question 6

Apostrophe

Answer 6

A device that interrupts the discussion or discourse and addresses directly a person or personified thing, either present or absent. Its most common purpose in prose is to give vent to or display intense emotion, which can no longer be held back.

Question 7

Diction

Answer 7

Choice and use of words in speech or writing.

Question 8

Ethos

Answer 8

Persuasive language that contains an appeal based on the writer’s reputation or authority.

Question 9

Euphemism

Answer 9

The act or an example of substituting a mild, indirect, or vague term for one considered harsh, blunt, or offensive.

Question 10

Hyperbole

Answer 10

The counterpart of understatement, the deliberate exaggeration of conditions for emphasis or effect. In formal writing, the hyperbole must be clearly intended as an exaggeration, and should be carefully restricted. That is, do not exaggerate everything, but treat hyperbole like an exclamation point, to be used only once a year. Then it will be quite effective as a table-thumping attention getter, introductory to your essay or some section thereof.

Question 11

Logos

Answer 11

Persuasive language that contains an appeal based on logic.

Question 12

Metaphor

Answer 12

Compares two different things by speaking of one in terms of the other. Unlike a simile or analogy, a metaphor asserts that one thing is another thing, not just that one is like another. Very frequently, a metaphor is invoked by the verb “to be.”

Question 13

Mood

Answer 13

A state of mind or emotion.

Question 14

Onomatopoeia

Answer 14

The use of words whose pronunciation imitates the sound the word describes. “Buzz,” for example, when spoken is intended to resemble the sound of a flying insect.

Question 15

Oxymoron

Answer 15

A paradox reduced to two words, usually in an adjective-noun (“eloquent silence”) or adverb-adjective (“inertly strong”) relationship, and used for effect, complexity, emphasis, or wit.

Question 16

Paradox

Answer 16

A seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true.

Question 17

Pathos

Answer 17

Persuasive language that is an appeal based on the emotions.

Question 18

Repetition

Answer 18

A major rhetorical strategy, basically, the use of repeated words and phrases for producing emphasis, clarity, amplification, or emotional effect.

Question 19

Rhetorical Questioning

Answer 19

A question that is not answered by the writer, because its answer is obvious or obviously desired, and usually just a yes or no. It is used for effect, emphasis, or provocation, or for drawing a conclusionary statement from the facts at hand.

Question 20

Simile

Answer 20

A comparison between two different things that resemble each other in at least one way. In formal prose, the simile is a device both of art and explanation, comparing an unfamiliar thing to some familiar thing (an object, event, process, etc.) known to the reader.

Question 21

Syntax

Answer 21

The study of the rules whereby words or other elements of sentence structure are combined to form grammatical sentences. Simply put, it is the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences.

Question 22

Tone/Attitude

Answer 22

The manner in which an author expresses his or her attitude; the intonation of the voice that expresses meaning. Attitude is the author’s personal view or outlook toward a subject. This attitude often determines the way an author approaches the content of his or her writing.

Question 23

Understatement

Answer 23

Deliberately expresses an idea as less important than it actually is, either for ironic emphasis or for politeness and tact. When the writer’s audience can be expected to know the true nature of a fact that might be rather difficult to describe adequately in a brief space, the writer may choose to understate the fact as a means of employing the reader’s own powers of description.

Question 24

Alliteration

Answer 24

The repetition of initial consonant sounds.
Example: He stood stupefied to such a degree that the statues in the park seemed to sway.

Question 25

Antimetabole

Answer 25

A reversal in the order of repeated words or phrases, AB-BA, used to provide an intense conclusion, present alternatives, or show a contrast.

Example: I do not think he did it for love’s sake, but for love’s sake, he did it.

Question 26

Asyndeton

Answer 26

Omitting conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses.
Example: Let us go running in the forest, frolicking among the leaves, rolling in the fallen moss that weepingly hangs from the giant trees.

Question 27

Parallelism

Answer 27

The repeating of phrases or sentences that are similar (parallel) in meaning and structure.

Example: We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament.

Question 28

Personification

Answer 28

Representing an animal, idea, or inanimate object as having human qualities.
Example: They (the buzzards) wanted to begin, but the Parson wasn’t there, so a messenger was sent to a ruler in a tree where he sat.

Question 29

Motif

Answer 29

A motif is an object, image, or idea that is referenced throughout a literary work. A motif helps to develop the theme of the work and contributes to the tone and mood. Motifs are not the same word repeated; instead, a motif of imprisonment might take the form of “chains,” “jail,” “bondage,” “dungeon,” “shackles,” “a bird whose wings are broken,” etc.

A commonly used motif is that of light and darkness. See how this motif is used in these well-known works:

• In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, images of light and darkness are woven into the play to contrast the love of Romeo and Juliet with the rivalry of their families. Romeo calls Juliet “the sun,” and when he leaves Verona he says “More light and light it grows; more dark and dark our woes.”
• In The Pearl by John Steinbeck, the pearl is described as “winking and glimmering in the light of the little candle,” but later, as the family begins to suffer, images of darkness and shadows are used to describe the family and the pearl.

Remember, when you analyze a passage, ask yourself the following questions:

1. What images, objects, or ideas are repeated throughout the text?
2. What is the purpose of the repetition?
3. What is the effect of the repetition?

Question 30

Juxtaposition

Answer 30

Along with the careful placement of rhetorical appeals, speakers often use juxtaposition. Juxtaposition may be used to make an issue appear as right or wrong, portray an idea as a problem or a solution, or depict an experience as a blessing or a curse. This device is often used to appeal to pathos and ethos.

One of the most recognized examples of this device can be found in A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. The novel opens with the lines, “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, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.”

Take a closer look at the antithetical pairings from the example.

best…………..worst
wisdom……..foolishness
belief…………incredulity
Light………….Darkness
hope………….despair
everything…..nothing
Heaven………the other way