Rhetorical Techniques & Literary Devices Flashcards
A figure of speech that makes reference to an event, a place, a person, or idea. They must be well known or else they fail to succeed. The author alludes to something.
“That is her Achilles’ heel.”
“What an Eden that place was.”
“Don’t act like a Romeo in front of her.”
“The rise in poverty will unlock the Pandora’s box of crimes.”
Allusion
Is the repetition of similar sounds (like we saw in consonance and assonance).
"She sells sea shells by the seashore." "But a better butter makes a batter better." "Best Buy" "Sammy Sosa" "PayPal"
Alliteration
Assonance: is the repetition of vowel sounds so that there is internal rhyming in verses:
On a proud round cloud in
white high night
Consonance: is the repetition of identical or similar consonants. This is the counterpart of assonance:
When my mother died I was very young, And my father sold me while yet my tongue Could scarcely cry " 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!" So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep.
Literally meaning “opposite,” this is a rhetorical device that combines 2 ideas that seem to contradict each other, but together, make a larger point. This figure of speech was favored by Augustan poets and users of the heroic couplet.
“Setting foot on the moon may be a small step for a man but a giant step for mankind.”
“You are easy on the eyes, but hard on the heart.”
“Man proposes, God disposes.”
“Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing.”
“Speech is silver, but silence is gold.”
“Patience is bitter, but it has a sweet fruit.”
“Money is the root of all evil: poverty is the fruit of all goodness.”
“You are easy on the eyes, but hard on the heart.”
Antithesis
A statement of truth or opinion expressed in a concise and witty manner. The term is often applied to philosophical, moral, and literary principles.
“If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.”
“Pride goeth before a fall”
“Life’s tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late”
Aphorism
Is when a writer detaches herself from reality and talks to an imaginary character, like this example from Macbeth:
"Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee! I have thee not, and yet I see thee still."
“Oh! Stars and clouds and winds, ye are all about to mock me; if ye really pity me, crush sensation and memory; let me become as naught; but if not, depart, depart, and leave me in darkness.”
Apostrophe
Is a figure of speech in which the writer tries to make us admit a similarity between two things, in a clever way, of whose unlikeness we are strongly conscious. Can be a metaphor.
“You are as slow as a snail.”
Conceit
Metaphysical conceit: is from the 17th century, and it is an analogy between one’s spiritual qualities and an object in the physical world. It was used by John Donne.
“Like gold to airy thinness beat.”
Refers to polite, indirect expressions that replace words and phrases considered harsh and impolite, or which suggest something unpleasant.
“He kicked the bucket.”
“The company is downsizing (firing people).”
“Shoot (shit), I wish I hadn’t done that.”
Euphemism
An exaggeration (overstatement) to make a point. Very common in love poetry.
“I’m starving.”
“I was going 1000 miles an hour to get here on time.”
Hyperbole
When intended meaning is different from actual meaning. In simple words, it is a difference between appearance and reality.
The name of Britain’s biggest dog was “Tiny.”
You laugh at a person who slipped stepping on a banana peel, and the next thing you know, you’ve slipped too.
Irony
Dramatic irony: The characters are oblivious of the situation but the audience is not.
Tragic irony: the audience or reader recognizes the tragic fate of the character before he experiences it.
A figure of speech that makes an implicit, implied, or hidden comparison between two things that are unrelated, but which share some common characteristics.
Does not use “like” or “as”.
“Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s day”
“That person is a door knob.”
“The skies of his future began to darken.”
“My sister was boiling mad.”
“My conscience is my barometer.”
“But thy eternal summer shall not fade…”
Metaphor
When a thing or concept is replaced with an idea associated with it.
“He served a very nice dish (meal) tonight.”
“The pen (diplomacy) is mightier than the sword (violence).”
Metonymy
The formation of words that sound like the object to which they refer.
“Cluck, cluck, cluck.”
“Moo.”
“Buzz.”
“Tick tock.”
Onomatopoeia
Is a figure of speech in which two opposite ideas are joined to create an effect. The common _____ phrase is a combination of an adjective proceeded by a noun with contrasting meanings.
"Pretty ugly." "Jumbo shrimp." "Seriously funny." "Liquid gas." "Original copies."
Oxymoron
A statement that appears to be self-contradictory or silly, but which may include a latent truth. It is also used to illustrate an opinion or statement contrary to accepted traditional ideas. It is often used to make a reader think over an idea in innovative way.
All animals are equal, but
some are more equal than
others.
“Your enemy’s friend is your enemy.”
“What a pity that youth must be wasted on the young.”
“I can resist anything but temptation.”
“He is a wise fool.”
Paradox
Is the use of components in a sentence that are grammatically the same; or similar in their construction, sound, meaning, or meter. Examples are found in literary works as well as in ordinary conversations.
This method adds balance and rhythm to sentences, giving ideas a smoother flow and thus persuasiveness, because of the repetition it employs. For example,
“Alice ran into the room, into the garden, and into our hearts.” We see the repetition of a phrase that not only gives the sentence a balance, but rhythm and flow as well.
This repetition can also occur in similarly structured clauses, such as, “Whenever you need me, wherever you need me, I will be there for you.”
“He came, he saw, and he conquered.”
“The book was interesting as well as adventurous.”
Parallelism
