Literary Terms/Rhetorical Devices

Question 1

appeal to an audience’s sense of reason and logic

The speaker or writer intends to make the audience think clearly about the sensible and/ or obvious answer to a problem

Answer 1

Logos

Question 2

appeal to an audience’s emotions

The speaker or writer attempts to make the audience feel: sorrow, shame, sympathy, embarrassment, anger, excitement, and/ or fear

Answer 2

Pathos

Question 3

the overall appeal of the speaker or writer himself or herself; it is important that this person have impressive credentials, a notable knowledge of the subject, and/ or appear to be a credible and moral person

Answer 3

Ethos

Question 4

repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words

Answer 4

Alliteration

Question 5

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers

Answer 5

Alliteration

Question 6

repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses or lines

Answer 6

Anaphora

Question 7

Mad world! Mad kings! Mad composition!

Answer 7

Anaphora

Question 8

a sudden turn from the general audience to address a specific group or person, either absent or present, real or imagined

Answer 8

Apostrophe

Question 9

Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory?

Answer 9

Apostrophe

Question 10

exaggeration for emphasis or for rhetorical effect

Answer 10

Hyperbole

Question 11

I died laughing

Answer 11

Hyperbole

Question 12

(verbal) expression in which words mean something contary to what is actually said

Answer 12

Verbal Irony

Question 13

Looking at your wallet full of nothing but a few pennies, and exclaiming, “Lunch is on me, guys- I am rich!”

Answer 13

Verbal Irony

Question 14

giving human characteristics to non-human objects

Answer 14

Personification

Question 15

The pen danced across the author’s page

Answer 15

Personification

Question 16

a question that is posed for emphasis, not requiring an answer

Answer 16

Rhetorical Question

Question 17

Art thou mad? Is not the truth the truth?

Answer 17

Rhetorical Question

Question 18

deliberately de-emphasizing something in order to downplay its importance

Answer 18

Understatement

Question 19

Gregor waking up in Kafka’s Metamorphosis as a “horrible vermin” and thinking, “What’s happened to me?”

Answer 19

Understatement

Question 20

a figure of speech which makes an implicit, implied or hidden comparison between two things that are unrelated but share some common characteristics

Answer 20

Metaphor

Question 21

a figure of speech that makes a direct comparison between two different things with the help of the words “like” or “as”

Answer 21

Simile

Question 22

a word, which imitates the natural sounds of a thing

Answer 22

onamotopeia

Question 23

“Dumb gorgeous people should not be allowed to use literature when competing in the pick-up pool. It’s like bald people wearing hats.”

Answer 23

Analogy

Question 24

A is to B as C is to D

Answer 24

Analogy

Question 25

a seemingly self-contradictory statement that, on closer examination, proves worthy of belief; someone or something that is full of contradictions and inconsistencies

Answer 25

Paradox

Question 26

What came first, the chicken or the egg?

Answer 26

Paradox

Question 27

repetition of the same pattern of words or phrases within a sentence or passage to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance.

Answer 27

Parallel Structure

Question 28

Joe likes singing, walking and diving. This is correct example. An incorrect version of this sentence would read: Joe likes singing, walking and to dive

Answer 28

Parallel Structure

Question 29

the assignment of “life-like” qualities to something that’s not alive

Answer 29

Personification

Question 30

the brook sang a sweet tune

Answer 30

Personification

Question 31

The use of objects or images to represent or stand for something else

Answer 31

Symbolism

Question 32

The old shoes represented his practical nature

Answer 32

Symbolism