rhetorical devices

Question 1

alliteration

Answer 1

the
repetition of beginning
consonant sounds in
several consecutive or
neighboring words

Question 2

allusion

Answer 2

a reference to
a mythological, literary,
or historical person,
place or thing

Question 3

analogy

Answer 3

a comparison
between two things
intended to show how
they are alike

Question 4

anaphora

Answer 4

the
repetition of the same
word or group of words
at the beginning of
successive clauses;
it helps to establish
a strong rhythm and
produces a powerful
emotional effect

Question 5

anecdote

Answer 5

a short
account of a particular
incident or event,
especially of an
interesting or amusing
nature

Question 6

antithesis

Answer 6

a device
in which two opposite
ideas are put together in
a sentence to achieve a
contrasting effect

Question 7

assonance

Answer 7

the
repetition of vowel
sounds in a series of
words

Question 8

asyndeton

Answer 8

the
deliberate omission
of conjunctions in a
series of related words,
phrases, or clauses

Question 9

connotative diction

Answer 9

words chosen
deliberately for the
feelings and attitudes
associated with them

Question 10

details

Answer 10

facts, revealed
by the author or speaker,
that support the tone or
purpose of a text

Question 11

euphemism

Answer 11

the use of
a word or phrase that is
less expressive or direct
but considered less
distasteful or offensive
than another

Question 12

hyperbole

Answer 12

a deliberate,
extravagant, and often
outrageous exaggeration
used for either serious
or comic effect

Question 13

imagery

Answer 13

words or
phrases that appeal
to the senses, used
to describe persons,
objections, actions,
feelings, and ideas

Question 14

irony

Answer 14

the use of words
to convey a meaning
that is the opposite of its
literal meaning

Question 15

jargon

Answer 15

the language,
especially the
vocabulary, peculiar
to a particular trade,
profession, or group

Question 16

juxtaposition

Answer 16

a device
in which normally
unassociated ideas,
words, or phrases are
placed next to one
another, often creating
an effect of surprise and
wit

Question 17

metaphor

Answer 17

a
comparison of two
unlike things using like
or as

Question 18

oxymoron

Answer 18

a form of
paradox that combines
a pair of opposite terms
into a single unusual
expression

Question 19

paradox

Answer 19

a statement
containing contradictory
elements that may
appear illogical,
impossible, or absurd
but which actually have
a coherent meaning that
reveals a hidden truth

Question 20

parallelism

Answer 20

a
grammatical or
structural arrangement
of words, phrases,
sentences, or paragraphs
so that elements of
equal importance are
equally developed and
similarly phrased

Question 21

personification

Answer 21

a kind
of metaphor that gives
inanimate objects or
abstract ideas human
characteristics

Question 22

polysyndeton

Answer 22

the
deliberate use of many
conjunctions for special
emphasis—to highlight
quantity or mass of
detail or to create a
flowing, continuous
sentence pattern; it
slows the pace of the
sentence

Question 23

repitition

Answer 23

a device in
which words, sounds,
and ideas are used more
than once to enhance
rhythm and to create
emphasis

Question 24

rhetorical fragment

Answer 24

a sentence fragment
used deliberately for a
persuasive purpose or to
create a desired effect

Question 25

rhetorical question

Answer 25

a
question asked solely to
produce an effect or to
make an assertion and
not to elicit a reply

Question 26

rhetorical shift

Answer 26

a
turn, a change, or a
movement in a text
resulting from an
epiphany, realization,
or insight gained by the
speaker or writer

Question 27

simile

Answer 27

a stated
comparison of two
different things or ideas
through the use of the
words like or as

Question 28

statistics

Answer 28

numerical
facts or data used as
evidence

Question 29

testimonial

Answer 29

a
statement in support of a
particular truth, fact, or
claim

Question 30

understatement

Answer 30

a kind
of irony that deliberately
represents something as
being much less than it
really is