Stage 42 Rhetorical Devices Flashcards
Alliteration
repetition of the same letter at the beginning of words or syllables
Allusion
a brief reference to details the writer expects the readers to recognize
Anaphora
repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive clauses or phrases
Apostrophe
a sudden break in the narrative to address the reader or an absent person or thing
Assonance
repetition of a vowel sound in words close together (usually a the beginning of the word)
Asydeton
Omission of connecting words
Connotation
cluster of implicit or associated meanings of a word as distinguished from the word’s denotative or specific meaning
Ellipsis
omission of words necessary for the grammatical structure of a sentence
Euphemism
using a pleasant expression to replace an unpleasant one
Hendiadys
using two connected nouns rather than a noun modified by an adjective or its equivalent
Hyperbole
extravagant exaggeration not intended to be taken literally
Litotes
affirming something by denying its opposite
Metonymy
substituting a word for a related word
Onomatopoeia
the use of a word or phrase whose sound echoes the meaning
Oxymoron
putting two contradictory terms together
Paradox
a statement that seems contradictory but that reveals a truth
Polysyndeton
piling up of connectives
Rhetorical Quesion
a questions used for its persuasive effect and for which no answer is expected
Synecdoche
substituting a part for a whole
Tmesis
separating the two parts of a compound word
Transferred Epithet
the application of a significant modifier to a word other than the one to which it actually belongs
Vivid Particularization
a concrete or specified description
Chiasmus
a crisscross arrangement of words (ABBA)
Synchysis
interlocking word order (ABAB)
Parallelism
the recurrence or repetition of a grammatical pattern
