Rhetorical Devices #1 Flashcards
The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning
Allegory
The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonants in two or more neighboring words
Alliteration
A direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art
Allusion
The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage
Ambiguity
A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them
Analogy
One of the devices of repetition, in which the same expression (word or words) is repeated at the beginning of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences
Anaphora
A short narrative detailing particulars of an interesting episode or event
Anecdote
The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun
Antecedent
Figure of balance in which two contrasting ideas are intentionally juxtaposed, usually through parallel structure; a contrasting of opposing ideas in adjacent phrases, clauses, or sentences
Antithesis
A terse statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth or a moral principle
Aphorism
A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love
Apostrophe
Consists of omitting conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses. This can give the effect of unpremeditated multiplicity, of an extemporaneous rather than a labored account
Asyndeton
The emotional mood created by the entirety of a literary work, established partly by the setting and partly by the author’s choice of objects that are described
Atmosphere
A figure of speech in which two successive phrases or clauses are parallel in syntax, but reverse the order of the analogous words
Chiasmus
A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb
Clause
