Rhetorical Devices

Question 1

Alliteration

Answer 1

Repetition of the same initial consonant sound

Question 2

Anadiplosis

Answer 2

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”

Question 3

Anaphora

Answer 3

Repetition of a word or phrase as the beginning of successive clauses

“Mad world! Mad kings! Mad composition!”

Question 4

Anthimeria

Answer 4

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”

Question 5

Antithesis

Answer 5

Juxtaposition/ contrast of ideas or words in a balanced or parallel construction

“Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more”

Question 6

Assonance

Answer 6

Repetition or similarity of the same internal vowel sound

Question 7

Asyndeton

Answer 7

Omission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words

“Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils, Shrunk to this little measure?”

Question 8

Chiasmus

Answer 8

Two corresponding pairs arranged in a parallel inverse order

“Fair is foul, and foul is fair”

Question 9

Diacope

Answer 9

Repetition broken up by one or more intervening words

“Put out the light, and then put out the light”

Question 10

Diction

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Ellipsis

Answer 11

Omission of one or more words, which are assumed by the listener or reader

“And he to England shall along with you”

Question 12

Epanalepsis

Answer 12

Repetition at the end of a clause of the word that occurred at the beginning of the clause

“Blood hath bought blood”

Question 13

Epimone

Answer 13

Frequent repetition of a phrase or question; dwelling on a point

“And ain’t I a woman?” x3

Question 14

Epistrophe

Answer 14

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.”

Question 15

Hyperbaton

Answer 15

Altering word order, or separation of words that belong together, for emphasis

“Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall”

Question 16

Hyperbole

Answer 16

A figure of speech involving exaggeration

Question 17

Malapropism

Answer 17

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)”

Question 18

Metaphor

Answer 18

Implied comparison between two unlike things achieved through the figurative use of words

“You’re a pig”

Question 19

Metonymy

Answer 19

Substitution of some attributive or suggestive word for what is meant

“The pen is mightier than the sword”

Question 20

Onomatopoeia

Answer 20

Use of words to imitate natural sounds

“buzz”

Question 21

Paralipsis

Answer 21

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!”

Question 22

Parallelism

Answer 22

Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses

“I am woman; I am mother; I am fierce.”

Question 23

Parenthesis

Answer 23

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.”

Question 24

Polysyndeton

Answer 24

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”

Question 25

Simile

Answer 25

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”

Question 26

Synecdoche

Answer 26

The use of a part for the whole, or the whole for the part

“Bread and Butter”