Writing Tools

Question 1

Allusion

Answer 1

Reference to a famous person

Question 2

Direct address

Answer 2

Whenever someone is called by name in a sentence

Question 3

Imperative sentences

Answer 3

Request, commanding the understood you

Ex: “eat this joe”

Question 4

Assonance

Answer 4

Repetition of vowels

Ex: on a proud* round* cloud* (o,o,o)

Question 5

Motif

Answer 5

A repeated object in a novel

Question 6

Denotation

Answer 6

Primary meaning of a word

Question 7

Connotation

Answer 7

The meaning in slang

Question 8

Anadiplosis

Answer 8

The repetition of the last word (or phrase) from the previous line, clause, or sentence at the beginning of the next.
Ex: The love of wicked men converts to fear,
That fear to hate, and hate turns…

Question 9

antithesis

Answer 9

contrasting two differing things in a parallel, balanced way.
Examples: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” “To err is human; to forgive divine.”

Question 10

chiasmus

Answer 10

similar to antithesis except the parallelism features a reverse
order of words in the second part of the sentence.
Examples: That’s one small step for a man, for mankind has taken a giant leap, “Fair is foul and foul is fair.” –Macbeth, “He labors without complaining, and without bragging rests.”

Question 11

epanalepsis

Answer 11

repeating the same word twice in a phrase or sentence
for dramatic effect. Examples: “Blood hath brought blood; blows have answered blows.” “The theory sounds all wrong, but if the machine works, we cannot worry about theory.” “Food, I must have food!”

Question 12

anaphora

Answer 12

repetition of the same word or words at the beginning of
successive phrases, clauses, or sentences. Examples: “To think on death is a misery; to think on life is a vanity.” “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven; blessed are they that mourn…”

Question 13

epistrophe

Answer 13

similar to anaphora except the repeated word(s) are at
the end of each phrase, clause, or sentence. Examples: “And all the night he did nothing but weep Philoclea, sign Philoclea, and cry out, Philoclea.” “What do I earn for my work?-nothing; how much pride can a man have with that? -nothing.

Question 14

polysyndeton

Answer 14

repetition of the same conjunction in a group of words.
Examples: “…and smothered in mud and lamed by stones and cut by
flints, and stung…”

Question 15

asyndeton

Answer 15

no conjunctions used to separate lists of word(s).

Examples: She wept, staggered, fell. They spent the day working, searching, thinking, understanding.

Question 16

synedoche

Answer 16

a part represents the whole. Examples: I wish I had some

wheels. Give me a hand. “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Question 17

epithet

Answer 17

creative use of adjectives to emphasize nouns. Examples: life-giving words, oily personality, sneering contempt, untroubled sleep.

Question 18

apostrophe

Answer 18

direct address to someone or something that cannot answer. Examples: “Jefferson! This nation needs your wisdom.” “Come on, car, start up, you can do it.”

Question 19

Expletive

Answer 19

an interrupting word or phrase, set off by commas, to emphasize the words before and/or after it. Examples: He was, as usual, invited. Of course, it rained yesterday. Sid won again, naturally.

Question 20

hyperbole

Answer 20

deliberate exaggeration for effect. Examples: I am

starving to death. I’ve told you a thousand times.

Question 21

understatement

Answer 21

a deliberate expression that something is less
important than it really is. Examples: “War is not good for children and other living things.” Being struck by lightning will get your attention.

Question 22

amplification

Answer 22

repeating a word or expression and adding rich detail.
She went to New York, cruel, dirty, fascinating New York. What we
need are jobs-jobs with dignity and security.

Question 23

paradox

Answer 23

assertion that seems contrary to good sense, but contains

truth. Examples: We are all born to die. “What a pity youth must be wasted on the young.” –Shaw.

Question 24

eponym

Answer 24

attributes a famous person’s characteristic to another.

Examples: My uncle is such a Scrooge. Joe is a regular Ulysses with his world travels.

Question 25

procatalepsis

Answer 25

anticipating objectives to an argument by stating them.

Examples: Many will say that this bill lacks consistency. It could be argued that television is harmless.

Question 26

analogy

Answer 26

comparison of two unlike things that do have elements in
common. Where simile and metaphor are more artistic, analogies seek a clearer, more practical explanation of a complex thing that is compared to a very familiar thing. Example: For answers successfully arrived at are solutions to difficulties previously discussed, and one cannot untie a knot if he is ignorant of it. –Aristotle

Question 27

tone

Answer 27

the attitude an author reflects in his written work. For example,
Mark Twain uses a humorous tone in “Buck Fanshaw’s Funeral.” A successful tone creates a matching mood inside each reader.

Question 28

symbol

Answer 28

object, person, or thing that represents an idea, feeling, or
another abstract concept. For example, a storm could represent the turbulent mind of those who are struggling against it, or a clear day might represent innocence

Question 29

Metabasis

Answer 29

A change from one subject to another

“You have heard how the proposed plan will fail; now consider how an alternative might succeed.”

Question 30

Zeugma

Answer 30

A figure of speech in which a word applies to two others in different senses

Question 31

Metanoia

Answer 31

Saying something again but better

Question 32

epizeuxis

Answer 32

A repetition of words for emphasis

I love scotch. Scotchy, scotch, scotch. Here it goes down, down into my belly.

Question 33

hyperbaton

Answer 33

An inversion of the normal order of words

Question 34

Paranthesis

Answer 34

Using parenthesis to give more info

Question 35

Oxymoron

Answer 35

Noun
A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction (e.g., faith unfaithful kept him falsely true).