Rhetorical Terms

Question 0

Allusion

Answer 0

Brief reference to a person, event, or place (real or fictitious) or to a work of art

EX: let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah

Question 1

Alliteration

Answer 1

Repetition of the same sound beginning several words or syllables

EX: Let us go forth to lead the land we love

Question 2

Analogy

Answer 2

A comparison between two seemingly dissimilar things. Often, an analogy uses something simple or familiar to explain something unfamiliar or complex.

EX: as birds have flight, our special gift is reason

Question 3

Anaphora

Answer 3

Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines

EX: not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need – not as a call to battle, though embattled we are

Question 4

Anecdote

Answer 4

A brief story used to illustrate a point or claim

Question 5

Antimetabole

Answer 5

Repetition of words in reverse order

EX: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country

Question 6

Antithesis

Answer 6

Opposition, or contrast, of ideas or words in a parallel construction

EX: We shall…support any friend, oppose any foe

Question 7

Archaic diction

Answer 7

Old-fashioned or outdated choice of words

EX: beliefs for which our forebears fought

Question 8

Asyndenton

Answer 8

Omission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words

EX: we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, etc.

Question 9

Complex Question

Answer 9

A sentence that includes one independent clause and at least one dependent clause

EX: if a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich

Question 10

Compound sentence

Answer 10

A sentence that includes at least two independent clauses

EX: the energy, the faith, the devotion to which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it and glow from the fire that can truly light the world

Question 11

Connotation

Answer 11

Meanings or associations that readers have with a word beyond its dictionary definition, or denotation. Often have either a positive or negative connotation and affect the author’s tone

Question 12

Counter argument/concession and refutation

Answer 12

An opposing argument to one a writer is putting forward. Rather than ignoring a counter argument, a strong writer will usually address it through the process of concession and refutation

Question 13

Cumulative sentence

Answer 13

Sentence that completes the main idea at the beginning of the sentence and then builds and adds on

Question 14

Hortative Sentence

Answer 14

Sentence that exhorts, urges, entreats, implores, or calls to action

Question 15

Hyperbole

Answer 15

Deliberate exaggeration used for emphasis or to produce a comic or ironic effect; an overstatement to make a point

Question 16

Imperative Sentence

Answer 16

Sentence used to command or enjoin

Question 17

Inversion

Answer 17

Inverted order of words in a sentence (variation of the subject-verb-object order)

EX: United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is little we can do.

Question 18

Irony

Answer 18

A figure of speech that occurs when a speaker or character says one thing but means something else, or when what is said is the opposite of what is expected, creating a noticeable incongruity.

Question 19

Juxtaposition

Answer 19

Placement of two things closely together to emphasize similarities or differences.

Question 20

Metaphor

Answer 20

Figure of speech that compares two things without using like or as

Question 21

Oxymoron

Answer 21

A paradox made up of two seemingly contradictory on words

EX: but this peaceful revolution…

Question 22

Parallelism

Answer 22

Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses

EX: let both sides explore…let both sides, for the first time..

Question 23

Periodic sentence

Answer 23

Sentence whose main clause is withheld until the end

Question 24

Persona

Answer 24

Greek for “mask”. The face or character that a speaker shows to his or her audience

Question 25

Personification

Answer 25

Attribution of a lifelike quality to an inanimate object or an idea

Question 26

Polysyndenton

Answer 26

The deliberate use of multiple conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words

EX: I paid for my plane ticket, and the taxes, and the fees, and he charge for a checked bag, and five dollars for a bottle of water.

Question 27

Rhetorical Question

Answer 27

Figure of speech in the form of a question posed for rhetorical effect rather than for the purpose of getting an answer

EX: will you join in that historic effort?

Question 28

Simile

Answer 28

A figure of speech used to explain or clarify an idea by comparing it explicitly to something else, using the words like, as, or as though

Question 29

Understatement

Answer 29

A figure of speech in which something is presented as less important, dire, urgent, good, and so on, than it actually is, often for satire or comical effect. Also called litotes, it is the opposite of hyperbole.

Question 30

Zeugma

Answer 30

Use of two different words in a grammatically similar way that produces different, often incongruous, meanings

EX: when you open a book, you open your mind