Rhetorical Term 1

Question 1

Alliteration

Answer 1

Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words that are close to one another.

Question 2

Allusion

Answer 2

A reference to a well-known person, place, or thing from literature, history, etc

Question 3

Anadiplosis

Answer 3

Repetition of the last word or phrase in one clause at or very near the beginning of the following clause.

Question 4

Anadiplosis

Answer 4

Repetition of the last word or phrase in one clause at or very near the beginning of the following clause.

Question 5

Analogy

Answer 5

Comparison of two similar but different things, usually to clarify an action or a relationship, such as comparing the work of a heart to that of a pump. A comparison to a directly parallel case.

Question 6

Anaphora

Answer 6

Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row. This is a deliberate form of repetition and helps make the writer’s point more coherent.

Question 7

Anecdote

Answer 7

A short, simple narrative of an incident; often used for humorous effector to make a point.

Question 8

Antithesis

Answer 8

The presentation of two contrasting images. The ideas are balanced by word, phrase, clause, or paragraphs.

Question 9

Apostrophe

Answer 9

Usually in poetry but sometimes in prose; the device of calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person or to a place, thing, or personified abstraction.

Question 10

Asyndeton

Answer 10

Commas used (with no conjunction) to separate a series of words. The parts are emphasized equally when the conjunction is omitted; in addition, the use of commas with no intervening conjunction speeds up the flow of the sentence.

Question 11

Chiasmus

Answer 11

Might be called “reverse parallelism,” since the second part of a grammatical construction is balanced or paralleled by the first part, only in reverse order.

Question 12

Connotation

Answer 12

Implied or suggested meaning of a word because of its association in the reader’s mind.

Question 13

Denotation

Answer 13

Literal meaning of a word as defined.

Question 14

Diction

Answer 14

Word choice, an element of style; it creates tone, attitude, and style, as well as meaning. Different types and arrangements of words have significant effects on meaning

Question 15

Dissonance

Answer 15

Harsh or grating sounds that do not go together.

Question 16

Ellipsis

Answer 16

The artful omission of a word implied by a previous clause.

Question 17

Hyperbole

Answer 17

Deliberate exaggeration in order to create humor or emphasis.

Question 18

Idiom

Answer 18

A speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements, as in keep tabs on.

Question 19

Inversion

Answer 19

Reversing the customary (subject first, then verb, then complement) order of elements in a sentence or phrase; it is used effectively in many cases, such as posing a question.

Question 20

Juxtaposition

Answer 20

The placement of two things (usually abstract concepts, though it can refer to physical objects) near each other.

Question 21

Litotes

Answer 21

A particular form of understatement, is generated by denying the opposite or contrary of the word which otherwise would be used.

Question 22

Metonymy

Answer 22

A figure of speech that uses the name of an object, person, or idea to represent something with which it is associated.

Question 23

Oxymoron

Answer 23

A figure of speech composed of contradictory words or phrases, such as “wise fool,” bitter-sweet,” “pretty ugly,” “jumbo shrimp,” “cold fire”

Question 24

Paradox

Answer 24

A statement that seems to contradict itself but that turns out to have a rational meaning.

Question 25

Parallelism

Answer 25

The technique of arranging words, phrases, clauses, or larger structures by placing them side by side and making them similar in grammatical form

Question 26

Polysyndeton

Answer 26

Sentence which uses and or another conjunction (with no commas) to separate the items in a series.

Question 27

Synecdoche

Answer 27

A figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent a whole, such as using “boards” to mean a stage or “wheels” to mean a car or “All hands on deck”

Question 28

Synesthesia

Answer 28

Taking one type of sensory input (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste) and co-mingling it with another separate sense in an impossible way. In the resulting figure of speech, we end up talking about how a color sounds, or how a smell looks.

Question 29

Syntax

Answer 29

The grammatical structure of a sentence; the arrangement of words in a sentence.

Question 30

Understatement

Answer 30

The opposite of exaggeration. It is a technique for developing irony and/or humor where one writes or says less than intended.

Question 31

Zeugma

Answer 31

When a grammatical construction changes the verb’s initial meaning but is still grammatically correct. Ex. “She exhausted her audience and her repertoire.”