Rhetorical Terms Flashcards
Figure of Speech
A device used to create figurative language, such as an irony, metaphor, etc.
Allusion
An indirect reference to a event, place, person, etc.
Anadiplosis
The repetition of the last word of a sentence with the beginning of the next sentence.
Analogy
A comparison of similar things in order to explain something unfamiliar with one familiar. e.x.: “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what your gonna get.”
Apostrophe
A rhetorical device used to address the dead or a person, can also be used to reference an object.
Cliche
An overused expression that was fresh but not anymore e.x.: “the rising sun”
Hyperbole
exaggeration for the use of emphasis e.x.: “That fish was ten feet long!”
Kenning
A metaphoric compound word used as a synonym for a noun e.x.: “Angel’s landing’ for clouds.”
Litotes
Understatement used to enhance an expressed idea, contains a negative e.x.: “I’m not as fast as I once was”
Metaphor
A comparison of similar items without using like or as e.x.: “His legs had the strength of a mule.”
Metonymy
The use of a name of one thing in order to infer another, stands for a larger idea. e.x.: “The Courtroom” of the “Judge”
Synecdoche
a figure of speech that utilizes a part to represent the whole e.x.: “Eyes of the sky” for planes
Trope
A figure of speech
Understatement
Also known as meiosis, opposite of hyperbole, verbal irony to understate something to seem unimportant than it actually is.
Syntax
The way an author combines phrases, clauses, and sentences, similar to diction but applies to multiple words not just one word. Consider sentence length, unusual sentence structure, etc.
Anaphora
The repetition of the same phrase or word at the beginning of successive words/phrases. e.x.: “Look at the ground above you, Look at your fellow man, Look at the beautiful sky.”
Anastrophe
A rhetorical term for the inversion of the normal order of a sentence, the noun follows the adjective.
