Rhetorical devices Flashcards
What is a metaphor?
A comparison in which something is said to figuratively be something else.
Example: He was a wolf among sheep.
What is hyperbole?
An intentional exaggeration.
Example: The plate exploded into a million pieces.
What is alliteration?
Repeating the same or similar sounds at the beginning of words.
Example: She sells seashells by the sea shore.
What is an analogy?
A comparison between two similar things, typically using figurative language.
Example: Life is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you are going to get.
What is onomatopoeia?
A word that imitates the sound it refers to.
Example: The thunder boomed and the lightning crashed.
What is allusion?
The act of casually referencing something.
Example: Finishing his memoir was his white whale.
What is an oxymoron?
A figure of speech that uses two opposite words together.
Example: The treaty led to a violent peace.
What is satire?
Uses humor to criticize foolish or evil customs, behaviors, institutions, people, etc.
Example: When Senator Jackson said “numbers don’t lie,” he forgot that his first name wasn’t “Numbers.”
What is a paradox?
Making a statement that seems self-contradictory or impossible but actually makes sense.
Example: Youth is wasted on the young.
What is a simile?
A comparison in which something is said to figuratively be like something else.
Example: It was as hot as a desert this morning.
What is irony?
Using words to mean the opposite of their literal meaning.
Example: Ashley said it was a beautiful day while drying off from the drenching rain.
What is personification?
The act of giving human elements to non-human things.
Example: The beautiful valley spread its arms out and embraced us.
What is an anecdote?
A brief story about something that happened to the speaker, usually something funny or interesting.
Example: Five years ago, I went to the store and met some clowns.
What is a euphemism?
Using alternative language to refer to explicit or unpleasant things.
Example: The baseball struck him in a sensitive area.
What is connotation?
Using words to suggest a social or emotional meaning rather than a literal one.
Example: This is a house, but I want a home.
What is meiosis?
Using euphemism to minimize the importance or significance of something.
Example: We must put an end to this peculiar institution.
What is apostrophe?
Occurs when a writer or speaker directly addresses an absent person, a concept, or an inanimate object.
Example: You have made a fool out of me for the last time, washing machine!
What is antithesis?
Using parallel sentences or clauses to make a contrast.
Example: No pain, no gain.
What is sarcasm?
Using irony to mock something or to show contempt.
Example: Oh, yeah, John is a great guy.
What is consonance?
A repetition of consonants or consonant sounds within words.
Example: The early bird gets the worm.
What is a rhetorical question?
A question that isn’t intended to be answered, meant to make an audience think.
Example: Can we really know what our place in the universe is?
What is an epithet?
A nickname or descriptive term used to refer to someone.
Example: You need to listen to me and not Clueless Kevin over there.
What is anaphora?
The repetition of a word or words at the start of phrases, clauses, or sentences.
Example: I came, I saw, I conquered.
What is climax?
Ordering words so that they build up in intensity.
Example: Look at the sky! It’s a bird! A plane! Superman!
What is cacophony?
The act of purposefully using harsh sounds.
Example: The gnashing of teeth and screeching of bats kept me awake.
What is assonance?
The repetition of the same vowel sound with different consonants.
Example: The gleaming sunbeams shone down on the vast green fields.
What is a pun?
Humorously using words with multiple meanings or similar sounds to create wordplay.
Example: The farmer tried to get his cows to get along.
What is parallelism?
Using grammatically similar phrases or sentences together.
Example: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
What is an aphorism?
A short sentence that presents truth or opinion, usually in a witty manner.
Example: A penny saved is a penny earned.
What is synecdoche?
When a part of something is used to refer to a whole.
Example: The commander had an army of 10,000 swords.
What is parody?
An imitation of something with the intent to poke fun at it.
Example: If Edgar Allen Poe had written this speech.
What is colloquialism?
An instance of informal language or a local expression.
Example: Here in Philly, we love to eat hoagies.
What is understatement?
Using language to intentionally lessen a major thing or event.
Example: The erupting volcano was a little problem for the neighboring city.
What is syllogism?
An argument based on deductive reasoning that uses generalizations to reach specific conclusions.
Example: Dogs are mammals. Biscuit is a dog. Therefore, Biscuit is a mammal.
What is an eponym?
A word based on or derived from a person’s name.
Example: Nick is the LeBron James of birding.
What is metonymy?
When the name of something is replaced with something related to it.
Example: He loved music from the cradle to the grave.
What is parenthesis?
An interruption used for clarity.
Example: The audience, or at least the paying members of the audience, enjoyed the show.
What is metanoia?
Any instance of self-correction.
Example: We’ll work on it on Sunday. No, let’s make that Monday.
What is chiasmus?
Reversing the grammatical order in two otherwise parallel phrases or sentences.
Example: Dog owners own dogs and cats own cat owners.
What is asyndeton?
The removal of conjunctions from a sentence.
Example: Get in, cause a distraction, get out.
