Rhetorical Devices Vocab_(ALL)

Question 1

Parallelsim def.

Answer 1

Similarity of structure in a pair of related words, phrases, and clauses.

Question 2

Explain ‘Parallelism’

Answer 2

This basic principle of grammar or rhetoric demands that equivalent things forth in coordinate grammatical structures:

Question 3

‘Parallelism’ examples(2)

Answer 3

She likes cooking, jogging, and reading.

Every time you smile at someone, it is an act of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.

Question 4

Antithesis def.

Answer 4

The juxtaposition of contrasting idea, often in parallel structure.

Question 5

Explain ‘Antithesis’

Answer 5

The contrast may be in words or in ideas or both. When used well, antithesis can be very effective, even witty.

Question 6

‘Antithesis’ examples(2)

Answer 6

Man proposes. God disposes.

Love is an ideal thing; marriage is a real thing.

Question 7

Ellipsis def.

Answer 7

The deliberate omission of a word or of words which are already implied by the context.

Question 8

Explain ‘Ellipsis’

Answer 8

It can be used on occasion for clichés.

Question 9

‘Ellipsis’ examples(2)

Answer 9

Don’t count your chickens until…

“It was dark and there was water standing in the street and no lights and widows broke…”

Question 10

Asyndeton def.

Answer 10

The deliberate omission of conjunctions between a series of related clauses.

Question 11

Explain ‘Asyndeton’

Answer 11

The effect of this device is to produce a hurried rhythm in the sentence. This builds momentum and tension.

Question 12

‘Asyndeton’ examples(2)

Answer 12

Friends for now, forever.

The picnic had pears, Pepsi, crackers, cheese, potato salad.

Question 13

Alliteration def.

Answer 13

The initial or medial consonants in two or more adjacent words.

Question 14

Explain ‘Alliteration’

Answer 14

Used sparingly, alliteration provides emphasis. Overused, it sounds silly.

Question 15

‘Alliteration’ examples(2)

Answer 15

“It was the meanest, moment of eternity.”

And looking up, I beheld the mystery of the silent stars.

Question 16

Assonance def.

Answer 16

The repetition of similar vowel sounds, preceded and followed by different consonants, it stresses syllables of adjacent words.

Question 17

‘Assonance’ example(1)

Answer 17

Whales in the wake like capes in the Alps.

Question 18

Anaphora def.

Answer 18

The repetition of the same word group of words at the beginning of successive clauses.

Question 19

Explain ‘Anaphora’

Answer 19

This device produces a strong emotional effect, especially in speech. It also establish a marked change in rhythm.

Question 20

‘Anaphora’ example(1)

Answer 20

We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills.

Question 21

Climax def.

Answer 21

The arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in an order of increasing importance.

Question 22

‘Climax’ example(1)

Answer 22

Let a man acknowledge obligations to is family, his country and his God.

Question 23

Metaphor def.

Answer 23

An implied comparison between two things of unlike nature.

Question 24

‘Metaphor’ examples(2)

Answer 24

“Exhaustion is a thin blanket tattered with bullet wounds.”

“The sun in the west was drop of burning gold.”

Question 25

Simile def.

Answer 25

An explicit comparison between two things of unlike nature.

(usually using “like” or “as” or some other direct word of comparison like “resembles”

Question 26

‘Simile’ examples(2)

Answer 26

Our soldiers are above brave as lions.

“I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high over vales and hills.”

Question 27

Synecdoche def.

Answer 27

A figure of speech in which a part stands for the whole.

Question 28

‘Synecdoche’ examples(2)

Answer 28

Are you paying with plastic?

When you pulled in that sports car, she noted that she really like you wheels.

Question 29

Metonymy def.

Answer 29

The substitution of some attributive or suggestive word for what is actually meant.

Question 30

‘Metonymy’ examples(2)

Answer 30

My grandmother loved going to movies; I will always remember her fascination with the silver screen.

The pen is mightier than the sword.

Question 31

Personification def.

Answer 31

Investing abstractions or inanimate objects heightened effect.

Question 32

‘Personification’ examples(2)

Answer 32

The night comes crawling in on all fours.

Sometimes the sun smiles, the wind whispers in the trees, and the shadows of the trees dance in the breeze.

Question 33

Hyperbole def.

Answer 33

The use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis of heightened effect.

Question 34

‘Hyperbole’ example(1)

Answer 34

When I was young, I had to walk 15 miles to school, uphill in the snow.

Question 35

Litotes def.

Answer 35

The deliberate use of understatement.

Question 36

‘Litotes’ examples(2)

Answer 36

Last week I saw a woman flayed, and you will hardly believe how much it altered her appearance for the worse.

“There is a bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them.”

Question 37

Rhetorical Question def.

Answer 37

It is asking a question, not for the purpose of eliciting an answer but for the purpose of asserting or denying something obliquely.

Question 38

‘Rhetorical Question’ example(1)

Answer 38

“What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun or fester like a sore and run.”

Question 39

Irony def.

Answer 39

It is the use of a word in such a way as to convey a meaning opposite to the literal meaning of the word.

Question 40

‘Irony’ example

Answer 40

I posted a video on Youtube about how boring and useless Youtube is.

The dentist is as kind-hearted as a wolf.

Question 41

Onomatopoeia def.

Answer 41

The use of words whose sounds echoes the sense.

Question 42

‘Onomatopoeia’ examples(2)

Answer 42

“From the clamor and clangor of the bells”

The dishes bell to the floor with a clatter.

Question 43

Oxymoron def.

Answer 43

The yoking of two terms which are ordinarily contradictory.

Question 44

‘Oxymoron’ examples(2)

Answer 44

Parting is such sweet sorrow.

He claimed to have an original copy of the poem.

Question 45

Paradox def.

Answer 45

An apparently contradictory statement that nevertheless contains a measure of truth.

Question 46

‘Paradox’ examples

Answer 46

Art is a form of lying in order to tell the truth.

Deep down you’re really shallow.

Question 47

Synesthesia def.

Answer 47

It is when one sensory experience is described in terms of another sensory experience (to create an effective yet mixed combination of senses).

Question 48

‘Synesthesia’ examples(2)

Answer 48

“with blue, uncertain stumbling buzz” Emily Dickenson

Back to the region where the sun is silent.