Rhetorical Devices Flashcards
Metaphor
An implied comparison; a comparison that says one thing is another
Simile
A comparison using like or as
Hyperbole
The use of exaggeration for effect
Allusion
A passing reference to another person or literary work considered familiar to most people; used to convey meaning.
Verbal Irony
Using words that on the surface mean something different (often something opposite) to what is really intended.
Sarcasm
Dramatic irony
The effect when the audience knows facts of which the characters in the play are ignorant.
Tragic irony
Akin (similar) to dramatic irony, broader in scope. When an audience is aware of the forces compelling the hero to his doom, tragic irony exists.
Sarcasm
Apparent praise for dispraise;a form of irony
the use of irony to mock or convey contempt
Satire
The use of irony or ridicule to expose or discourage vice or folly. Often times humour is used.
Pun
A play upon two different meanings of a word
Anecdote
A short, personal account of an interesting event a small story or memory withing a larger work.
Oxymoron
The setting together of 2 words or phrases of opposite meaning
Juxtaposition
Two opposite ideas set alongside one another for effect; unlike an oxymoron these are ideas, not words.
Symbol
The use of a person, place, thing or event to represent something else.
Alliteration
The noticable or effective use in a phrase or sentence of words beginning with or containing the same letter or sound.
Personification
Making into a person or giving the traits of a person to something that is none person.
Imagery
The use of figurative language for poetic and rhetorical effect; most often metaphor and simile. The representation through language of sense experience. Language and description that appeals to our 5 senses.
Onomatopoeia
Formation of names or words from sounds that resemble those associated with the object or action to be named, or that seem suggestive of its qualities.
Assonance
The repetition of vowel sounds
Pathetic Fallacy
Pathetic fallacy attributes human qualities and emotions to inanimate objects of nature. The word pathetic in the case means imparting emotions to something else.
