Rhetorical Terms-Trope Flashcards
Allegory
An extended metaphor.
Ex 1: “During the time I have voyaged on this ship, I have avoided the cabin; rather, I have remained on deck, battered by wind and rain, but able to see moonlight…”
Ex 2: “This is a valley of ashes–a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens, where ashes take forms of houses and…of men…” (Fitzgerald 27).
Allusion
A reference in a written or spoken text to another text or to some particular body of knowledge.
Ex 1: “I doubt if Phaethon feared more – that time/ he dropped the sun-reins of his father’s chariot/ and burned the streak of sky we see today” (Dante’s Inferno).
Ex 2: “Have you read ‘The rise of the Coloured Empires’ by this man Goddard?” (Fitzgerald 17)
Anastrophe
Inversion or reversal of the usual order of words.
Ex: Echoed the hills.
Anthimeria
The substitution of one part of speech for another.
Ex: The thunder would not peace at my bidding.
Antithesis
The juxtaposition of contrasting words or ideas, often in parallel structure.
Ex 1: “Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice, moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” (Barry Goldwater)
Ex 2: “…found her lying on her bed as lovely as the June night in her flowered dress–and as drunk as a monkey” (Fitzgerald 81).
Flat Character
A figure readily identifiable by memorable traits but not fully developed.
Ex: Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen.
Format
The structural elements that constitute the presentation of a written text.
Ex: The Modern Language Association (MLA) has created a format for research papers.
Hyperbole
An exaggeration for effect.
Ex 1: “I told you a billion times not to exaggerate.”
Ex 2: “…we scattered light through half Astoria…” (Fitzgerald 72).
Loose Sentence
A sentence that adds modifying elements after the subject, verb, and complement.
Ex: “Bells rang, filling the air with their clangor, startling pigeons into flight from every belfry, bringing people into the streets to hear the news.”
Metaphor
An implied comparison that does not use the word like or as.
Ex: “No man is an island” (Donne).
Meiosis
Representation of a thing as less than it really is to compel greater esteem for it.
Ex: Calling an act of arson a prank.
Oxymoron
Juxtaposed words with seemingly contradictory meanings.
Ex: “O miserable abundance! O beggarly riches!” (Donne).
Paralipsis
Irony in which one proposes to pass over a matter, but subtly reveals it.
Ex: “She is talented, not to mention rich.”
Peroration
In ancient Roman oratory, the part of a speech in which the speaker would draw together the entire argument and include material designed to compel the audience to think or act in a way consonant with the central argument.
Ex: In Julius Caesar’s speech, the peroration came at the end.
Protagonist
The major character in a piece of literature; the figure in the narrative whose interests the reader is most concerned about and sympathetic toward.
Ex: Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath.
