Rhetorical Devices

Question 1

Perspective

Answer 1

A character’s view of the events in the story.

Question 2

Aphorism

Answer 2

A concise statement designed to make a point or illustrate a commonly held belief. The writings of Benjamin Franklin contain many aphorisms, such as “Early to bed and early to rise/Make a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”

Question 3

Contradiction

Answer 3

A direct opposition between things compared; inconsistency.

Question 4

Anecdote

Answer 4

Brief story/Tale told by a character in a piece of literature.

Question 5

Apostrophe

Answer 5

A figure of speech in which a person, thing, or abstract quality is addressed as if present; for example, the invocation to the muses usually found in epic poetry.

Question 6

Oxymoron

Answer 6

A figure of speech that combines two apparently contradictory elements, as in “jumbo shrimp” or “deafening silence.”

Question 7

Allusion

Answer 7

—A figure of speech which makes brief, even casual reference to a historical or literary figure, event, or object to create a resonance in the reader or to apply a symbolic meaning to the character or object of which the allusion consists. For example, in John Steinbeck’s
Of Mice and Men, the surname of the protagonist, George Milton, is an allusion to John Milton, author of Paradise Lost, since by the end of the novel, George has lost the dream of having a little ranch of his own to share with his friend Lennie.

Question 8

Syllogism

Answer 8

A form of deduction. An extremely subtle, sophisticated, or deceptive argument

Question 9

Satire

Answer 9

A literary style used to make fun of or ridicule an idea or human vice or weakness.

Question 10

Bildungsroman

Answer 10

A novel or story whose theme is the moral or psychological growth of the main character.

Question 11

Devices

Answer 11

A particular word pattern or combination of words used in a literary work to evoke a desired effect or arouse a desired reaction in the reader

Question 12

Foil

Answer 12

A person or thing that makes another seem better by contrast.

Question 13

Epistolary

Answer 13

A piece of literature contained in or carried on by letters.

Question 14

Epitaph

Answer 14

A piece of writing in praise of a deceased person

Question 15

Parody

Answer 15

A satirical imitation of a work of art for purpose of ridiculing its style or subject.

Question 16

Delayed sentence

Answer 16

A sentence that withholds its main idea until the end. For example: Just as he bent to tie his shoe, a car hit him.

Question 17

Sarcasm

Answer 17

A sharp caustic remark. A form of verbal irony in which apparent praise is actually bitterly or harshly critical. For example, a coach saying to a player who misses the ball, “Nice catch.”

Question 18

Expletive

Answer 18

A single word or short phrase intended to emphasize surrounding words. Commonly, expletives are set off by commas. Examples: in fact, of course, after all, certainly

Question 19

Irony

Answer 19

A situation or statement characterized by significant difference between what is expected or understood and what actually happens or is meant. Irony is frequently humorous, and can be sarcastic when using words to imply the opposite of what they normally mean

Question 20

Eulogy

Answer 20

A speech or writing in praise of a person or thing; an oration in honor of a deceased person

Question 21

Paradox

Answer 21

A statement that seems contradictory, but is actually true.

Question 22

Epiphany

Answer 22

A sudden or intuitive insight or perception into the reality or essential meaning of something usually brought on by a simple or common occurrence or experience

Question 23

Onomatopoeia

Answer 23

A word capturing or approximating the sound of what it describes, such as buzz or hiss.

Question 24

Diction

Answer 24

An author’s choice of words to convey a tone or effect

Question 25

Utopia

Answer 25

An imaginary place of ideal perfection. The opposite of a dystopia. —An imaginary place where people live dehumanized, often fearful lives.

Question 26

Hyperbole

Answer 26

An overstatement characterized by exaggerated language

Question 27

Deus ex machina

Answer 27

As in Greek theater, use of an artificial device or contrived solution to solve a difficult situation, usually introduced suddenly and unexpectedly.

Question 28

Antagonist

Answer 28

Character or force in a literary work that opposes the main character, or protagonist

Question 29

Analogy

Answer 29

Comparison of two things that are alike in some respects. Metaphors and similes are both types of analogy

Question 30

Inductive

Answer 30

Conclusion or type of reasoning whereby observation or information about a part of a class is applied to the class as a whole. Contrast with deductive.

Question 31

Nostalgia

Answer 31

Desire to return in thought or fact to a former time

Question 32

Chiasmus

Answer 32

Figure of speech by which the order of the terms in the first of parallel clauses is reversed in the second. “Has the Church failed mankind, or has mankind failed the Church?”-- T. S. Eliot,

Question 33

Thesis

Answer 33

Focus statement of an essay; premise statement upon which the point of view or discussion in the essay is based. Antithesis—The juxtaposition of sharply contrasting ideas in balanced or parallel words or phrases.

Question 34

Zitote

Answer 34

Form of understatement in which the negative of the contrary is used to achieve emphasis and intensity. For example, "She is not a bad cook." Or "No man ever followed his genius until it misled him." Thoreau

Question 35

Doppelgänger

Answer 35

Ghostly counterpart of a living person or an alter ego

Question 36

Zeugma

Answer 36

Grammatically correct linkage of one subject with two or more verbs or a verb with two or more direct objects. The linking shows a relationship between ideas more clearly.

Question 37

Ethos

Answer 37

In dramatic literature, the moral element that determines a character's actions, rather than thought or emotion.

Question 38

Propaganda

Answer 38

Information or rumor deliberately spread to help or harm a person, group, or institution

Question 39

Didactic

Answer 39

Intended for teaching or to teach a moral lesson

Question 40

Formal Language

Answer 40

Language that is lofty, dignified, or impersonal

Question 41

Allegory

Answer 41

Narrative form in which characters and actions have meanings outside themselves; characters are usually personifications of abstract qualities

Question 42

Abstract

Answer 42

Not related to the concrete properties of an object; pertaining to ideas, concepts, or qualities, as opposed to physical attributes

Question 43

In media res

Answer 43

Opening a story in the middle of the action, requiring filling in past details by exposition or flashback

Question 44

Colloquial

Answer 44

Ordinary language; the vernacular. For example, depending on where in the United States you live, a sandwich is called a sub, a grinder, or a hero.

Question 45

Isocolon

Answer 45

Parallel structure in which the parallel elements are similar not only in grammatical structure, but also in length. For example, "An envious heart makes a treacherous ear" (Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston).

Question 46

Aesthetic

Answer 46

Pertaining to the value of art for its own sake or for form

Question 47

Juxtaposition

Answer 47

Placing of two items side by side to create a certain effect, reveal an attitude, or accomplish some other purpose

Question 48

Elegy

Answer 48

Poem or prose lamenting the death of a particular person. Perhaps the most famous elegy is Thomas Grey's poem, "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard."

Question 49

Antihero

Answer 49

Protagonist of a literary work who does not embody the traditional qualities of a hero (e.g., honor, bravery, kindness, intelligence); for example, the protagonists created by Byron in Don Juan and Childe Harold, and the characters of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

Question 50

Catharsis

Answer 50

Purification or cleansing of the spirit through the emotions of pity and terror as a witness to a tragedy.

Question 51

Epigraph

Answer 51

Quote set at the beginning of a literary work or at its divisions to set the tone or suggest a theme.

Question 52

Motif

Answer 52

Recurrent device, formula, or situation that often serves as a signal for the appearance of a character or event

Question 53

Parallelism

Answer 53

Recurrent syntactical similarity where several parts of a sentence or several sentences are expressed alike to show that the ideas in the parts or sentences equal in importance. It also adds balance, rhythm, and clarity to the sentence. For example, "I have always searched for, but never found the perfect painting for that wall."

Question 54

Anaphora

Answer 54

regular repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases or clauses. For example, "We shall fight in the trenches. We shall fight on the oceans. We shall fight in the sky."

Question 55

Anadiplosis

Answer 55

Repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the next clause. For example, "The crime was common, common be the pain." (Alexander Pope)

Question 56

Appeals to: authority, emotion, logic

Answer 56

Rhetorical arguments in which the speaker: either claims to be an expert or relies on information provided by experts (appeal to authority), attempts to affect the listener's personal feelings (appeal to emotion), or attempts to persuade the listener through use of deductive reasoning (appeal to logic).

Question 57

Imagery

Answer 57

Sensory details in a work; the use of figurative language to evoke a feeling, call to mind an idea, or describe an object. Imagery involves any or all of the five senses

Question 58

Euphemism

Answer 58

Substitution of a milder or less direct expression for one that is harsh or blunt. For example, using "passed away" for "dead."

Question 59

Protagonist

Answer 59

The chief character in a work of literature

Question 60

Denotation

Answer 60

The dictionary definition of a word; the direct and specific meaning

Question 61

Mood

Answer 61

The feeling or ambience resulting from the tone of a piece as well as the writer/narrator's attitude and point of view. The effect is created through descriptions of feelings or objects that establish a particular feeling such as gloom, fear, or hope

Question 62

Realism

Answer 62

The literary practice of attempting to describe life and nature without idealization and with attention to detail

Question 63

Prose

Answer 63

The ordinary of form of written language without metrical structure, as distinguished from poetry or verse

Question 64

Audience

Answer 64

The person(s) reached by a piece of writing.

Question 65

Asyndeton

Answer 65

The practice of omitting conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses. In a list, it gives a more extemporaneous effect and suggests the list may be incomplete. For example, "He was brave, fearless, afraid of nothing."

Question 66

Deductive

Answer 66

The reasoning process by which a conclusion is drawn from set of premises and contains no more facts than these premises

Question 67

Assonance

Answer 67

The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds, usually in successive or proximate words.

Question 68

Alliteration

Answer 68

The repetition of initial consonant sounds or any vowel sounds within a formal grouping, such as a poetic line or stanza, or in close proximity in prose

Question 69

Consonance

Answer 69

The repetition of two or more consonants with a change in the intervening vowels, such as pitter-patter, splish-splash, and click-clack.

Question 70

Invective

Answer 70

The use of angry and insulting language in satirical writing

Question 71

Point of View

Answer 71

The view the reader gets of the action and characters in a story

Question 72

Persona

Answer 72

The voice or figure of the author who tells and structures the story and who may or may not share of the values of the actual author.

Question 73

Syntax

Answer 73

The way words are put together to form phrases, clauses, and sentences. It is sentence structure and how it influences the way a reader perceives a piece of writing.

Question 74

Canon (canonical)

Answer 74

The works of an author that have been accepted as authentic

Question 75

Foreshadow

Answer 75

To hint at or present things to come in a story or play

Question 76

Begging the question

Answer 76

To sidestep or evade the real problem.

Question 77

Personification.

Answer 77

Treating an abstraction or nonhuman object as if it were a person by giving it human qualities.

Question 78

Anachronism

Answer 78

Use of historically inaccurate details in a text; for example, depicting a 19th-century character using a computer. Some authors employ anachronisms for humorous effect, and some genres, such as science fiction or fantasy, make extensive use of anachronism

Question 79

Ambiguity

Answer 79

Use of language in which multiple meanings are possible. Ambiguity can be unintentional through insufficient focus on the part of the writer; in good writing, ambiguity is frequently intentional in the form of multiple connotative meanings, or situations in which either the connotative or the denotative meaning can be valid in a reading.

Question 80

Connotation.

Answer 80

What is implied by a word. For example, the words sweet, gay, and awesome have connotations that are quite different from their actual definitions

Question 81

Transition Words

Answer 81

Words and devices that bring unity and coherence to a piece of writing. Examples: however, in addition, and on the other hand.