Rhetorical Devices Flashcards
Alliteration
Repetition of the same initial consonant sound
Anadiplosis
The repetition of a word that ends one clause at the beginning of the next
“My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,
And every tongue brings in a several tale,
And every tale condemns me for a villain”
Anaphora
Repetition of a word or phrase as the beginning of successive clauses
“Mad world! Mad kings! Mad composition!”
Anthimeria
Using one part of speech as another part of speech, such as using a noun as if it were a verb
“The little old lady turtled along the road”
Antithesis
Juxtaposition/ contrast of ideas or words in a balanced or parallel construction
“Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more”
Assonance
Repetition or similarity of the same internal vowel sound
Asyndeton
Omission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words
“Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils, Shrunk to this little measure?”
Chiasmus
Two corresponding pairs arranged in a parallel inverse order
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair”
Diacope
Repetition broken up by one or more intervening words
“Put out the light, and then put out the light”
Diction
The selection of words in a literary work
A work’s diction forms one of its centrally important literary elements, as writers use words to convey action, reveal character, imply attitudes, identify themes, and suggest values
Ellipsis
Omission of one or more words, which are assumed by the listener or reader
“And he to England shall along with you”
Epanalepsis
Repetition at the end of a clause of the word that occurred at the beginning of the clause
“Blood hath bought blood”
Epimone
Frequent repetition of a phrase or question; dwelling on a point
“And ain’t I a woman?” x3
Epistrophe
Repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive clauses
“I’ll have my bond! Speak not against my bond! I have sworn an oath that I will have my bond.”
Hyperbaton
Altering word order, or separation of words that belong together, for emphasis
“Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall”
Hyperbole
A figure of speech involving exaggeration
Malapropism
A confused use of words in which an appropriate word is replaced by one with similar sound but (often ludicrously) inappropriate meaning
“Alice said she couldn’t eat crabs or any other crushed Asians. (crustaceans)”
Metaphor
Implied comparison between two unlike things achieved through the figurative use of words
“You’re a pig”
Metonymy
Substitution of some attributive or suggestive word for what is meant
“The pen is mightier than the sword”
Onomatopoeia
Use of words to imitate natural sounds
“buzz”
Paralipsis
Emphasizing a point by seeming to pass over it
“I’m not saying I’m responsible for this country’s longest run of uninterrupted peace in 35 years! I’m not saying that from the ashes of captivity, never has a Phoenix metaphor been more personified!”
Parallelism
Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses
“I am woman; I am mother; I am fierce.”
Parenthesis
Insertion of some word or clause in a position that interrupts the normal syntactic flow of the sentence, such as asides
“…Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words—
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter, Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester—
Be in their flowing cups freshly remembered.”
Polysyndeton
The repetition of conjunctions in a series of coordinate words, phrases, or clauses
“I got into my old rags and my sugar-hogshead again, and was free and satisfied”
Simile
An explicit comparison between two things using ‘like’ or ‘as’
“My love is as a fever, longing still
For that which longer nurseth the disease”
Synecdoche
The use of a part for the whole, or the whole for the part
“Bread and Butter”
