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AP Language Rhetorical Devices Flashcards

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14514800834HyperboleExaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.0
14514801515Understatementthe presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is.1
14514802234LitotesA form of understatement that involves making an affirmative point by denying its opposite2
14514802235Antithesisthe presentation of two contrasting images Ex.3
14514803809HypophoraConsists of raising one or more questions and then proceeding to answer them, usually at some length.4
14514804554Rhetorical QuestionA question asked merely for rhetorical effect and not requiring an answer5
14514805644Procatelpsis6
14514806553Distincto7
14514806554SimileA comparison of two unlike things using like or as8
14514807185MetaphorA comparison without using like or as9
14514807186AnalogyA comparison of two different things that are similar in some way10
14514807817AllusionA reference to another work of literature, person, or event11
14514808357Eponym12
14514808847Sententia13
14514808848Exemplum14
14514809681Climaxthe most intense, exciting, or important point of something; a culmination or apex.15
14514810966Parallelism/Chiasmus16
14514812560Anadiplosis/ConduplicatioWhen words are repeated at the end of a statement and then again at the beginning of the following statement17
14514813712MetabasisA brief statement of what has been said and what will follow18
14514814201ParenthesisAn insertion of material that interrupts the typical flow of a sentence.19
14514814202ApostropheA figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love.20
14514815247Enumeratio21
14514815662Antanagogeplaces a criticism and compliment together to lessen the impact22
14514816944EpithetA descriptive name or phrase used to characterize someone or something23
14514818967Asyndeton/PolysyndetonA rhetorical term for a writing style that omits conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses (the opposite of polysyndeton).24
14514819589Zeugmause of two different words in a grammatically similar way that produces different, often incongruous, meanings25
14514820519Synecdoche26
14514821156Hyperbatonseparation of words which belong together, often to emphasize the first of the separated words or to create a certain image.27
14514821157AporiaExpression of doubt (often feigned) by which a speaker appears uncertain as to what he should think, say, or do.28
14514823707Anaphora/Epistrophe/Symploce29
14514825074Amplificationinvolves repeating a word or expression while adding more detail to it, in order to emphasize what might otherwise be passed over30
14514825075PersonificationA figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes31
14514825633ParataxisThe placing of clauses or phrases one after another, without words to indicate coordination or subordination, as in Tell me, how are you32

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