Rhetorical Terms, Figures of Speech, Metrical Devices Flashcards
Alliteration
the repetition of the same letter or sound, usually at the beginning of a series of words
Anaphora
the repetition of a word or words at the beginning of successive clauses: Miratur molem Aeneas…/miratur portas (repetition of miratur)
Anastrophe
the inversion of normal order of words: te proper (instead of propter te)
Aposiopesis
a breaking off in the middle of a sentence, the syntax of which is never resumed (Greek for “a falling silent”)
Apostrophe
the sudden break from the previous narrative for an address in the 2nd person of someone or something not present
Asyndeton
the omission of conjunctions; nunc hos nunc accipit illos (no “et”’s)
Ecphrasis
an extended and elaborate description of a work of art, a building, or a natural setting
Ellipsis
the omission of one or more words which must be logically supplied in order to create a grammatically complete experssion (usually a form of sum)
Enjambment
the continuation of a unit of though beyond the end of one verse line and into the first few feet of the next.
Hendiadys
the expression of an idea by means of two nouns connected by a conjunction instead of by a noun and a modifying adjective, or by one noun modified by another
Hyperbaton
the distanced placement of two or more words which are logically meant to be understood together.
Hyperbole
exaggeration for rhetorical effect
Hysteron proteron
the reversal of natural or logical order of ideas: submersas… obrue puppes: Juno instructs Aeolus to flood the Trojan ships after they have been sunk
Litotes
understatement, often enhanced by the use of a negative
Metonymy
the substitution of one word for anther which it suggests.
Onomatopoeia
the use of words whose sound mimics their meaning
Polysyndeton
an overabundance of conjunctions
Prolepsis
the inclusion in the main story of references to events which in fact will occur after the dramatic time of the poem, and to the people and circumstances involved in these later events
Simile
a figure of speach which likens or asserts an explicit comparison between two different things (introduced by words like: velut, qualis)
Synchysis/Synchesis
interlocking word order: A B A B
Synecdoche
the use of a part for the whole
Tmesis
the separation into parts of a word normally written as one, often for a (quasi) visual effect
Tricolon crescens
the accumulation of three parallel phrases or clauses, each of which is at least one syllable longer than that preceding
