Rhetorical Terms

Question 0

Allegory

Answer 0

a piece of art or literature, like a poem or story, in which people, things or happenings have a hidden or symbolic meaning

Question 1

Ad Hominem

Answer 1

commenting on or against an opponent to undermine him instead of his arguments

Question 2

Alliteration

Answer 2

She sells sea-shells down by the sea-shore

Question 3

Ambiguity

Answer 3

The definition of ambiguity is vagueness or a lack of clarity

Question 4

Anaphora

Answer 4

using the same word or words to start two or more sentences or paragraphs that follow one another

Question 5

Antecedent

Answer 5

a thing or event that existed before or logically precedes another.

Question 6

Assonance

Answer 6

repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words

Question 7

Asyndeton

Answer 7

the writing style of leaving out several conjunctions (such as “as” or “and”) from a sentence or a group of related sentences.
“She spoke. She left.”

Question 8

Chiasmus

Answer 8

inversion of the second of two parallel phrases, clauses, etc;
“He went to the country, to the town went she”

Question 9

Clause

Answer 9

a group of related words containing a subject and a verb

Question 10

Colloquial Diction

Answer 10

characteristic of or appropriate to ordinary or familiar conversation

Question 11

Conceit

Answer 11

a figure of speech in which two vastly different objects are likened together with the help of similes or metaphors

Question 12

Consonance

Answer 12

to repetitive sounds produced by consonants within a sentence or phrase

Question 13

Connotation

Answer 13

a meaning that is implied by a word apart from the thing which it describes explicitly
“Wall Street” literally means a street situated in Lower Manhattan but connotatively it refers to “wealth” and “power”.

Question 14

Denotation

Answer 14

The literal or primary meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas that the word suggests.
The dove example

Question 15

Didactic

Answer 15

emphasizes the idea that different forms of art and literature ought to convey information and instructions along with pleasure and entertainment

Question 16

Epistrophe

Answer 16

repetition of phrases or words at the end of the clauses or sentences. Opposite of anaphora.

Question 17

Ethos

Answer 17

A means of convincing others of the character or credibility of the persuader

Question 18

Euphemism

Answer 18

refers to polite, indirect expressions which replace words and phrases considered harsh and impolite or which suggest something unpleasant.
“You are becoming a little thin on top (bald)”

Question 19

Figurative Languge

Answer 19

Hyperbole, simile, metaphor, etc;

Question 20

Trope

Answer 20

a figurative or metaphorical use of a word or expression.

Question 21

Homily

Answer 21

A sermon, or a short, exhortatory work to be read before a group of listeners in order to instruct them spiritually or morally

Question 22

Invective

Answer 22

Speech or writing that attacks, insults, or denounces a person, topic, or institution, usually involving negative emotional language

Question 23

Logos

Answer 23

The principle of reason and judgment

Question 24

Loose sentence

Answer 24

begins with a main clause that is followed by phrases and/or clauses that modify the main clause.
“I went to the movies yesterday, bought candy, and shopped at the mall.”

Question 25

Metonymy

Answer 25

It is a figure of speech that replaces the name of a thing with the name of something else with which it is closely associated.
“Let me give you a hand. (Hand means help.)”

Question 26

Motif

Answer 26

an object or idea that repeats itself throughout a literary work.

Question 27

Narrative

Answer 27

is a report of related events presented to the listeners or readers in words arranged in a logical sequence.

Question 28

Onomatopoeia

Answer 28

defined as a word, which imitates the natural sounds of a thing.
“The buzzing bee flew away.”

Question 29

Parallelism

Answer 29

the use of components in a sentence that are grammatically the same; or similar in their construction, sound, meaning or meter
“Whether in class, at work or at home, Shasta was always busy.”

Question 30

Pathos

Answer 30

a quality of an experience in life or a work of art that stirs up emotions of pity, sympathy and sorrow

Question 31

Pedantic

Answer 31

When someone makes a big deal of showing off his or her knowledge.

Question 32

Predicate Adjective

Answer 32

Modifies the subject of the sentence, and is connected to the subject by a linking verb.
Children grow OLDER every day.

Question 33

Predicate nominative

Answer 33

term for a noun, pronoun, or other nominal that follows a linking verb.

Question 34

Prose

Answer 34

a form of language that has no formal metrical structure.

Question 35

Rhetoric

Answer 35

a technique of using language effectively and persuasively in spoken or written form

Question 36

Satire

Answer 36

a technique employed by writers to expose and criticize foolishness and corruption of an individual or a society by using humor, irony, exaggeration or ridicule.

Question 37

Semantics

Answer 37

words can be manipulated to influence human thought and action.

Question 38

Stylistic devices

Answer 38

Figure of speech or rhetorical devices

Question 39

Subject complement

Answer 39

the adjective, noun, or pronoun that follows a linking verb

“Brandon is a gifted ATHLETE.”

Question 40

Subordinate clause

Answer 40

a clause that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence because it does not express a complete thought
“A musicologist is a man ‘who can read music but’”

Question 41

Syllogism

Answer 41

a rhetorical device that starts an argument with a reference to something general and from this it draws conclusion about something more specific
“No healthy food is fattening, all cakes are fattening
No cakes are healthy,

Question 42

Verisimilitude

Answer 42

The sense that what one reads is “real,” or at least realistic and believable

Question 43

Apostrophe

Answer 43

detaches himself from the reality and addresses an imaginary character in his speech