Rhetorical Devices - Summer Vocabulary Words Flashcards
Ad Hominem (adj)
- appealing to personal considerations rather than to reason
- fallacy that occurs when, instead of attacking the argument, one attacks the person or source of the argument
Example: Socrates’ arguments about human excellence are rubbish. What could a man as ugly as he know about human excellence?
Alliteration (n)
Use of the same consonant at the beginning of each word
Example: Polly’s prancing pony performed perfectly.
Amplification (n)
- addition of extra material or illustration or clarifying detail
- adding more detail to a word or idea - such as imagery
Purpose: draws attention to a word, phrase, or idea that may otherwise be passed over
Example: The dog is an excellent breed, full of intelligence, loyalty, and overall healthfulness
Anacoluthon (n)
- an abrupt change within a sentence from one synthetic structure to another
- finishing a sentence with a different grammatical structure form than which it began with
Example: Seeing the changing leaves makes me so - I don’t want to talk about it.
Anadiplosis (n)
The repetition of the final words of a sentence or line at the beginning of the next
WARNING: NOT the same as anaphora. Anadiplosis uses a DIFFERENT word or phrase to be repeated in each clause or line, while anaphora uses the SAME word or phrase.
Example: Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.
Anaphora (n)
The repetition of a word or phrase to begin successive clauses
WARNING: NOT the same as anadiplosis. Anaphora uses the SAME word or phrase to be repeated in each clause or line, while anadiplosis uses a DIFFERENT word or phrase.
Example: Stay safe. Stay well. Stay happy.
Anastrophe (n)
The reversal of the normal order of words
REMEMBER: A hyperbaton transposes the order of words in a sentence for emphasis. An anastrophe, which transposes one word in the sentence, is a TYPE of hyperbaton.
Example: Powerful you have become.
Antiphrasis (n)
The use of a word in a sense opposite to its normal sense (especially in irony)
Example: “Friday” by Rebecca Black is a legendary song.
Antithesis (n)
- the juxtaposition of contrasting words or ideas for balance
- refers to when a phrase contains two contrasting ideas and is used to paint a picture of the concept
Example: I hope that one day my children will be judged not by their skin color but by their character
Aposiopesis (n)
Breaking off in the middle of a sentence, leaving the sentence incomplete
Example: If you do that again, I’ll-
Apostrophe (n)
An address to an absent or imaginary person or non-human
Example: Oh nature, thou art my goddess
Apposition (n)
- the act of placing close together or side by side
- addition of an adjacent, coordinate, explanatory, or descriptive element to further describe a noun placed beside it
Example: Edison, the inventor of the light bulb, is America’s greatest inventor.
Archaism (n)
The use of an outdated expression
Example: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Assonance (n)
The repetition of similar vowels in successive words
Example: The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.
Asyndeton (n)
The omission of conjunctions where they would usually be used
REMEMBER: the “A” stands for “absent.” Asyndeton is the OPPOSITE of polysyndeton.
Example: I came, I saw, I conquered
Bathos (n)
A change from a serious subject to a disappointing one
Example: In the United States, Osama bin Laden is wanted for conspiracy, murder, terrorism, and unpaid parking tickets.
Cacophony (n)
Loud, confusing, disagreeable sounds
Example: Crawling, sprawling, breaching spokes of stone
Catachresis (n)
- strained or paradoxical use of words either in error (as “blatant” to mean “flagrant”) or deliberately (as in a mixed metaphor: “blind mouths”)
- a powerful metaphoric phrase that combines highly unlikely ideas or objects in ways that can never be literally true
Example: His voice was a tornado of emotions
Chiasmus (n)
Inversion in the second of two parallel phrases
Example: All for one, and one for all.
Climax (n)
The decisive moment in a novel or play
Colloquialism (n)
An expression that seeks to imitate informal speech
Example: You’re nuts.
Dialectic (n)
- arriving at the truth by the exchange of logical arguments
- usually in the form of questions and answers
Discourse (n)
- extended verbal expression in speech or writing
Ecphonesis (n)
An exclamatory rhetorical device to call/express sudden emotion - “O” is often used but is not necessary
Example: O, the times!
Epideictic (adj)
- designed primarily for rhetorical display
- speeches that praise or blame someone by describing their actions as shameful or commendable & typically take place at a celebration, commemoration/ceremony, or funeral
Epigraph (n)
A quotation at the beginning of some piece of writing
Epistrophe (n)
The repetition of the ends of successive sentences, verses, etc.
REMEMBER: An epistrophe is the opposite of an anaphora
Example: See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil
Epithet (n)
- descriptive word or phrase
- a phrase or adjective used to express a quality or characteristic that can be attributed to a person or thing
Example: My mother is very green-fingered, and she loves to do gardening.
Example: Ivan the Terrible
Eponym (n)
The name derived from a person (real or imaginary)
Example: Achilles’ heel
Eristic (n)
- the art of logical disputation (especially if plausible, but actually wrong)
- a literary device in which writers and speakers engage in a heated argument without reaching a conclusion or solving the particular issue
Euphemism (n)
An inoffensive expression substituted for an offensive one
REMEMBER: Euphemism sounds like euphoria –> makes it sound more pleasant
Example: We’re letting you go (You’re fired)
Euphony (n)
Any pleasing or harmonious sounds
REMEMBER: Euphony is the opposite of cacophony
Example: mists, mellow, close, sun, bless, vines. and eves
Exordium (n)
The introductory section of an oration or discourse
Hendiadys (n)
The use of two conjoined nouns instead of a noun and a modifier
REMEMBER: The example talks about the weather. “Hendiadys” reminds me of the word “sun.”
Example: rainy weather –> rain and weather
Hypallage (n)
- the reversal of the syntactic relation of two words
- a figure of speech in which an adjective qualifies a noun other than the person or thing it is describing
Example: her beauty’s face
Example: His coward lips did from their color fly
Hyperbaton
- reversal order of normal word order
REMEMBER: A hyperbaton transposes the order of words in a sentence for emphasis. An anastrophe, which transposes one word in the sentence, is a TYPE of hyperbaton.
Example: Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing.
Hyperbole (n)
Extravagant exaggeration
Example: My feet are killing me
Hypothesis (n)
A message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence
Hysteron proteron (n)
- the reversal of the normal order of two words or sentences, etc.
- the chronological order does not make sense
Example: I die! I faint! I fall!
Invective (n)
- abusive language used to express blame or censure
- an assaulting expression that aims to shame its target
Example: You dirty rotten scoundrel
Irony (n)
Incongruity between what is expected and what occurs
Jargon (n)
- technical terminology characteristic of a particular subject
- special words or expressions that are used by a particular person or group and are difficult for others to understand
Litotes (n)
- an understatement for rhetorical effect
- an affirmative is conveyed by the negation of its opposite
Example: Hmm, this day has been less than good so far (bad)
Maxim (n)
A statement that is widely accepted on its own merits
Example: Actions speak louder than words
Metaphor (n)
A figure of speech that suggests a non-literal similarity without using the words “like” or “as”
Metonymy (n)
Substituting the name of the feature for the name of a thing
Example: the “crown” refers to the “king”
Non sequitur (n)
A conclusion that does not follow from its premises
REMEMBER: “sequitur” sounds like “sequence” –> the sequence leads to an unreasonable conclusion
Example: All trees are tall. All tall things are yellow. Therefore, all trees are green.
Onomatopoeia (n)
Using words that imitate the sound they denote
Examples: bang, buzz, boom
Oxymoron (n)
Conjoined contradictory terms
Example: Deafening silence
Paradox (n)
A statement that contradicts itself
Example: Save money by spending it.
Paralipsis (n)
- suggesting by deliberately concise treatment that much of significance is omitted
- the speaker specifies that he/she will not discuss a particular topic, yet still mentions it
REMEMBER: An ellipsis (…) is used to omit significance…“para” reminds me of “part,” so “partially an ellipsis”
Example: I will not mention the fact that she missed the last four meetings.
Parallelism (n)
- similarity by virtue of corresponding
- a grammatical device that uses a consistent/parallel structure of two or more clauses, phrases, or words that have similar form and length
Example: No pain, no gain
Parenthesis (n)
- a message that departs from the main subject
- typically surrounded by round or square brackets, commas, or dashes
Parody (n)
A composition that imitates or misrepresents a style
Paronomasia (n)
A humorous play on words, a pun
REMEMBER: “Paronomasia” sounds like “paranoid.” When I’m paranoid, I try to be funny or delusional.
Example: I love a good triangle, especially when it’s acute one with a good figure.
Periphrasis (n)
An act of expressing things in an indirect or roundabout way
Example: The elongated yellow fruit (banana)
Personification (n)
Representing an abstract quality or idea as human
Pleonasm (n)
Using more words than necessary to convey a meaning, creating redundancy
Example: True facts –> facts are true
Polyptoton (n)
- repetition of a word in a different case or inflection in the same sentence
- the repetition of words derived from the same root but with different endings
Example: To the movement of pain that is painless and motionless,
To the drift of the sea and the drifting wreckage
Polysyndeton (n)
Using several conjunctions in close succession, especially where some might be omitted
REMEMBER: The “poly” stands for many –> many conjunctions. Polysyndeton is the opposite of asyndeton.
Example: He ran and jumped and laughed for joy
Prolepsis (n)
- anticipating and answering objections in advance
- the speaker deals with counterarguments before they arise
REMEMBER: The prefix pro- means forward/before. The objections are answered BEFOREhand.
Prosopopoeia (n)
Representing an abstract quality or idea as a person or creature
REMEMBER: Prosopopoeia sounds complicated –> complicated & abstract
Example: death
Rebuttal (n)
The speech act of refuting by offering a contrary argument
Reductio Ad Absurdum (n)
- (reduction to the absurd) a disproof by showing that the consequences of the proposition are absurd; or a proof of a proposition by showing that its negation leads to a proposition
- the speaker/writer disproves a proposition by making an absurd conclusion in relation to the logical implications of the proposal
- proving a claim by showing that its opposite would be absurd
Example: I didn’t want to steal the candy bar, but my friend told me to. If your friend told you to jump off a cliff, would you do it?
Repetition (n)
The continued use of the same word or word pattern
Examples: Anaphora, epistrophe, alliteration, assonance
Simile (n)
A figure of speech expressing a resemblance between things using the words “like” or “as”
Syllepsis (n)
- use of a word to govern two or more words through agreeing in number or case etc. with only one
- when a single word governs or modifies two or more others must be understood differently with respect to each of the words
REMEMBER: Syllepsis is a type of ellipsis: it takes out words but still adds syllables.
REMEMBER: Similar to zeugma, but both/all make logical sense
Example: I finally told Ross, late in the summer, that I was losing weight, my grip, and my mind.
Syllogism (n)
Reasoning in which a conclusion is derived from two premises
Example: All mammals are animals. All elephants are mammals. Therefore, all elephants are animals.
Symploce
The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning and another at the end of successive clauses (the simultaneous use of anaphora and epistrophe)
Example: When there is talk of hatred, let us stand up and talk against it. When there is talk of violence, let us stand up and talk against it.
Syncope (n)
The loss of sounds from within a word
REMEMBER: Syncope sounds like another word that lost some letters
Example: ne’er (never)
Synecdoche (n)
Using part of something to refer to the whole thing
Example: The alphabet is commonly referred to as the ABCs
Tautology (n)
- A statement that is necessarily true
- A redundant word or phrase
REMEMBER: “Taut” means “tight,” if a person is tight (nervous), he/she may repeat the phrase unintentionally.
Example: She was so excited she could hardly contain her enthusiasm.
Thesis (n)
An unproved statement advanced as a premise in an argument
Topos (n)
- a traditional theme, motif, or literary convention
Trope (n)
- language used in a nonliteral sense
- any rhetorical device (metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, irony, etc.) that consists in the use of words other than their literal sense
REMEMBER: Tropes in books are not literal –> friends to lovers is so hard to find in real life
Understatement (n)
Something said in a restrained way for ironic contrast
Example: Looks like it rained a bit last night (flood)
Zeugma (n)
Rhetorical use of a word to govern two or more words, but only one makes literal sense
REMEMBER: Somewhat similar to syllepsis but only one makes literal sense
Example: He opened the door and his heart to the homeless man
Aphorism (n)
A short pithy instructive saying
Example: The grass is always greener on the other side.
Anecdote (n)
A short account of an incident
Connotation (n)
An idea that is suggested or implied
Denotation (n)
The most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression
Precis (n)
A sketchy summary of the main points of an argument
REMEMBER: Precise sounds like precise, a summary should be precise, but the “e” in precis is missing, so it is sketchy
Antecedent (n)
A preceding occurrence or cause or event
Ellipsis (n)
- a mark indicating that words have been omitted
- omitting a few words for the reader to fill in gaps, but the sentence is still comprehendible
Inductive reasoning (n)
Reasoning from detailed facts to general principles
Example: Every cat that you’ve observed purrs. Therefore, all cats must purr.
Deductive reasoning (n)
Reasoning from the general to the particular
Example: All dogs have ears; golden retrievers are dogs, therefore they have ears.
Juxtaposition (n)
The act of positioning close together to highlight differences
Malapropism (n)
Misuse of a word by confusion with one that sounds similar
REMEMBER: “Malapropism” sounds like “mal” and “appropriate” –> the word used is not appropriate & not correct
Example: My doctor gave me a subscription for my allergies
Pedantic (adj)
- marked by a narrow focus on or display of learning
- a character that is pedantic may be someone who constantly corrects another’s grammar, is always ready with a new fact, or monitors events to make sure they turn out exactly as they expect
Solecism (n)
- a nonstandard or ungrammatical usage
REMEMBER: “sole wrongness/misuse of grammar”
Examples: Unflammable, they was
- a socially awkward or tactless act
Syntax (n)
- the study of the rules for forming admissible sentences
- how words and phrases are arranged in sentences
Vernacular (n)
- the everyday speech of people
- the everyday language spoken by “a people”
REMEMBER: The spring season, different parts of the world experience different seasons
Example: soda, pop, soft drink
Consonance (n)
- the recurrence of similar consonant sounds in close proximity ANYWHERE in the word
Example: Some mammals are clammy
- a harmonious state of things and of their properties
Archetype (n)
- a universal symbol or pattern that recurs in literature: characters, motifs, themes, symbols
- something that serves as a model
Ploce (n)
Repetition to gain special emphasis or extend meaning
Example: When she’s angry, she’s angry.
Enjambment (n)
Continuation from one line of a verse to the next without a terminating punctuation
REMEMBER: You “jab” into the next verse
Synesthesia (n)
A sensation that occurs when a different sense is stimulated
REMEMBER: Synesthesia –> synthesia –> piano
Example: The piano piece sounded like colors of blue, black, and purple.
