Week 5 Rhetorical Vocab Flashcards
onomatopoeia
formation of a word that sounds like the thing
oxymoron
contradictory terms appear together (ex: bittersweet)
parable
a short fictional story that illustrates a moral attitude or religious principle
paradox
a statement that contradicts itself but contains a kernel of truth. ex- “I am not lying” - but how can you trust what they say?
parallelism
when a sentence is constructed in a parallel fashion.
(ex: I like dogs and I like cats (not I like dogs and also cats)
parody
a humorous imitation (ex- puffs!)
pedantic
(often about a person) usually overly attentive to small details/ very overly detailed
personification
applying qualities of personhood to an inanimate object
point of view
the perspective from which a story is told
first person narrator
narration told from the perspective of the main character
stream of consciousness
captures the rawness of the inner thought process
omniscient
the story is told from a perspective that is outside of the story, but they still know the insides of the characters’ heads
limited omniscient
third person narration through the eyes of the main character
rhetoric
language designed to motivate, persuade, or inform - basically, to have an impact on the reader.
petrarchan conceit
a hyperbolic comparison - usually made by poets. She’s like a tomb, she’s like an ocean, she’s like the sun
polysyndeton
more conjunctions than needed for emphasis (neither rain nor snow nor shine)
protagonist
their fate matters most - the main character and the one fighting for good
reductio ad absurdum
a mode of argumentation that seeks to establish a contention by deriving an absurdity from its denial (an anti-Equal Rights advocate claiming that anyone in favor of an Equal Right Amendment must be in favor of killing babies)
regionalism
works that describe/represent a certain region or culture
