Literary Trope Flashcards
(24 cards)
It’s a language that departs from what speakers or writers ordinarily use in order to achieve a special meaning of effect.
Figurative Language
Two primary categories of figurative language:
tropes and schemes
A literary device that uses figurative language to create an artistic image by altering the usual meaning of words.
literary trope
A rhetorical term for coyness—pretending not to want something one actually desires.
accismus
A figure of speech used to encourage people to do something for their benefit.
adhortatio
A word or phrase repeated within a sentence, but with a different meaning each time it appears.
antanaclasis
Putting a positive spin on something acknowledged to be negative or difficult.
antanagoge
Saying the opposite of what is actually meant in such a way that the true intention is obvious
antiphrasis
Using a word in a context that differs from its proper application, often creating a mixed metaphor
catachresis
The direct description of another person’s faults; exposing the negative acts or vices of one’s adversary
categoria
Approving and commending a virtue, especially in the hearers
comprobatio
The use of a corrective extension to a statement
correctio
A dissuasive statement, usually in the form of advice to one’s audience; discouraging them from taking inept actions; typically starts with “never” or “do not”
dehortatio
Eliminating ambiguous meaning of a word or phrase by explicitly specifying explanation of such word(s)
distinctio
Mentioning a balancing or opposing fact to prevent the argument from being one-sided; qualifying statement using “not only … but also” clauses
dirimens copulatio
A derogatory or unpleasant term used instead of a pleasant or neutral one; opposite of euphemism
dysphemism
A verbal depiction of someone’s body, often from head to toe
effictio
Stirring others by one’s own vehement feeling (sometimes by means of a rhetorical question, and often for the sake of exciting anger)
Exuscitatio
Raises a question and then immediately answers it
Hypophora
A pair of contrasting words or phrases used to express totality or completeness
Merism
Expressing a wish, often ardently
Optatio
The use of a longer phrasing in place of a possible shorter form of expression; a roundabout or indirect manner of writing or speaking
Periphrasis (Circumlocution)
A series of three parallel words, phrases, or clauses
Tricolon
Using one word to modify two other words, in two different ways; using one word to link two thoughts
Zeugma (Syllepsis)
