Rhetorical Terms Quiz 1 Flashcards
Allegory
The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning. In some ____________, for example, an author may intend the characters to personify an abstraction lie hope or freedom. The allegorical meaning usually deal with moral truth or a generalization about human existence.
Allegory Example
“Animal Farm” George Orwell
Alliteration
The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonants in tow or more neighboring words The repetition can reinforce meaning, unify ideas, supply a musical sound, and/or echo the sense of the passage.
Alliteration Example
She sells sea shells by the sea shore
Allusion
A direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably common known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art. ____________ can be historical, literary, religious, topical, or mythical. There are many more possibilities, and a work may simultaneously use multiple layer of allusion.
Ambiguity
The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage.
Analogy
A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them. An ____________ can explain something unfamiliar by associating it with or pointing out its similarity to something more familiar. _________ can also make writing more vivid, imaginative, or intellectually engaging.
Analogy Example
“He that voluntarily continues ignorance is guilty of all the crimes which ignorance produces, as to him that should extinguish the tapers of a lighthouse might justly be imputed the calamities of shipwrecks.” – Samuel Johnson
Anaphora
One of the devices of repetition, in which the same expression (word or words) is repeated at the beginning of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences.
Anaphora Example
“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times”
“They are masters who instruct us without rod or ferule, without angry words, without clothes or money.” – Richard de Bury
Anecdote
A short narrative detailing particulars of an interesting episode or event. The term most frequently refer to an incident in the life of a person.
Antecedent
The world, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun.
Antithesis
Figure of balance in which two contrasting ideas are intentionally juxtaposed, usually through parallel structure; a contrasting of opposing ideas in adjacent phrases, clauses, or sentences. __________ creates a definite and systematic relationship between ideas.
Antithesis Example
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose” – Jim Elliot
“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind” – Neil Armstrong
Aphorism
A terse statement of know authorship which expresses a general truth or a moral principle. Can be a memorable summation of the author’s point
Apostrophe
A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love. It is an address to someone or something that cannot answer. The effect is to give vent to or display intense emotion, which can no long be held back.
Apostrophe Example
“Milton, thou shouldst be living at this hour: /England hath need of thee.”
Asyndeton
consists of omitting conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses. This can give the effect of unpremeditated multiplicity, of an extemporaneous rather than a labored account
Asyndeton Example
On his returned he received medals, honors, treasures, titles, fame.
They spent the day wondering, searching, thinking, understanding.
Atmosphere
The emotional mood created by the entirety of a literary work, established partly by the setting and partly by the author’s choice of objects that are described.
Chiasmus
Is a figure of speech in which two successive phrases or clauses are parallel in syntax, but reverse the order of analogous words.
Clause
A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb. An independent, or main, ________ expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence. A dependent, or subordinate _______ cannot stand alone as a sentence and must be accompanied b an independent ________
Colloquial/colloquialism
The use of slang or informalities in speech or writing. Not generally acceptable for formal writing and can include local/regional dialects
Coherence
A principle demanding that the parts of any composition be arranged so that the meaning of the whole may be immediately clear and intelligible.
Conceit
A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects.
Connotation
The non-literal, associative meaning of a word; the implied, suggested meaning. May involve ideas, emotions, or attitudes.
Allusion Example
“Plan ahead: it wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark” - Richard Cushing
Chiasmus Example
“The land was ours before we were the land’s” – Robert Frost
“Pleasure’s a sin, and sometimes sin’s a pleasure” – Lord Byron
