40 terms and examples
Terms : Hide Images
| 133375303 | allegory | a narrative in which the characters and sometime the setting represent general concepts and ideas | |
| 133375304 | alliteration | the repetition of initial consonant sounds | |
| 133375305 | allusion | an indirect reference to literature, art, history - source is not given, the reader is expected to know it | |
| 133375306 | anadiplosis | repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause | |
| 133375307 | analogy | a method to help the reader understand something unfamiliar by comparing it to something well-known | |
| 133385290 | anaphora | repetition of a word or phrase as the beginning of successive clauses | |
| 133385291 | anecdote | a brief account of some interesting incident based on a person's life which often reveals a character trait. Establishes a personal, intimate rapport with reader/audience | |
| 133385292 | antithesis | parallel structure in which two ideas are directly opposed to set up a juxtapoisition | |
| 133385293 | antonomasia | substituting a proper name with a descriptive word or phrase | |
| 133385294 | appeals | strategies for persuading audiences and advancing arguments | |
| 133385295 | apostrophe | a figure of speech by which the speaker directly addresses a person who is not physically present (through absence or death) or addresses and abstract concept | |
| 133385296 | assonance | a device by which vowel sounds are repeated | |
| 133385297 | closing by return | a technique whereby the rhetor ends a piece by alluding to a topic/issue presented at the beginning of a piece. It offers continuity, reinforcement & completion | |
| 133385298 | connotation | the associated meanings implied by a word | |
| 133385299 | denotation | the literal/dictionary meaning of the word | |
| 133385300 | enallage | substitution of one part of speech for another; an equivalent would be making a verb out of a noun, using an adverb instead of an adjective etc. | |
| 133385301 | epizeuxis | repetition of the same word for emphasis | |
| 133385302 | hyperbole | deliberate exaggeration to create a dramatic or humorous effect | |
| 133385303 | imagery | appealing to one or more of the senses by creating vivid pictures through concrete details, adjectives, and figures of speech | |
| 133385304 | inverse word order | gives variety and emphasis to writing by changing the usual subject-verb-object sentence pattern | |
| 133385305 | irony | words are used to convey the opposite meaning (verbal) to create tension (dramatic) or to alter the expected outcome (situational) | |
| 133385306 | juxtaposition | placing contradictory images, concepts, ideas, characters side by side | |
| 133385307 | malapropism | absurd or humouous misuse of a word instead of a correct one with a similar sound (may or may not be intentional) | |
| 133385308 | metaphor | directly compares two unlike things (without the use of like or as) | |
| 133385309 | metonymy | substituting the name of an attribute or feature for the name of the thing itself (as in 'they counted heads') | |
| 133385310 | onomatopoeia | using words that imitate the sound they denote | |
| 133385311 | oxymoron | conjoining contradictory terms (as in 'deafening silence') | |
| 133385312 | paradox | a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. | |
| 133385313 | parallel structure | using grammatically similar structure, often with repetition, to emphasize ideas or images | |
| 133385314 | periodic sentence | a complex sentence in which the main clause comes last and is preceded by the subordinate clause | |
| 133385315 | personification | representing an abstract quality or idea as a person or creature | |
| 133385316 | pun | a humorous play on words | |
| 133385317 | reversals | a form of parallel structure where words are repeated in reverse | |
| 133385318 | rhetorical questions | a question that doesn't invite an actual response but just makes the audience think | |
| 133385319 | sentence fragment | a sentence missing a subject or verb or complete thought; places emphasis on a few key words for dramatic or humorous effect | |
| 133385320 | simile | comparison using like or as | |
| 133385321 | symbol | something visible that by association or convention represents something else that is invisible | |
| 133385322 | synecdoche | using a part of something to represent the whole thing | |
| 133385323 | tri-colon | Sentence consisting of three parts of equal importance and length, usually three independent clauses. | |
| 133385324 | litotes | understatement; deliberately making a fact seem less important | |
| 133406160 | allegory | Dante sees three beasts blocking his path: a leopard, a she-wolf, and a lion | |
| 133406161 | alliteration | "Full fathom five thy father lies." | |
| 133406162 | allusion | Said the Lieutenant, "Well, blessed are the peacemakers, especially the fighting peacemakers! " | |
| 133406163 | anadiplosis | "The years to come seemed waste of breath, waste of breath the years behind." | |
| 133406164 | analogy | Paley compares an eyeball to a pocket watch to argue that man is designed or created | |
| 133406165 | anaphora | "I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat and a gun." | |
| 133406166 | antithesis | "Everybody doesn't like something, but nobody doesn't like Sara Lee." | |
| 133406167 | antonomasia | Calling a lover Casanova, an office worker Dilbert, Elvis Presley the King, or Bill Clinton the Comeback Kid | |
| 133406168 | apostrophe | "Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art" | |
| 133406169 | assonance | "I must confess that in my quest I felt depressed and restless." | |
| 133406170 | connotation | socialism implies egalitarianism and that people are living for society, while capitalism has been associated with 'greedy,' 'selfish,' 'self-serving,' | |
| 133406171 | enallage | When a credit agency identifies a deadbeat debtor, the nonpayer is referred to not merely as a 'bad risk' but as a 'bad.' Shifting the adjective 'bad' into a noun | |
| 133406172 | epizeuxis | "I undid the lantern cautiously--oh, so cautiously--cautiously." | |
| 133406173 | hyperbole | My toaster has never once worked properly in four years. I follow the instructions and push two slices of bread down in the slots, and seconds later they rifle upwards. Once they broke the nose of a woman I loved dearly. | |
| 133406174 | irony | "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room." | |
| 133406175 | malapropism | There's no stigmata connected with going to a shrink. | |
| 133406176 | metaphor | The streets were a furnace, the sun an executioner. | |
| 133406177 | metonymy | The suits on Wall Street walked off with most of our savings. | |
| 133406178 | oxymoron | "O miserable abundance, O beggarly riches!" | |
| 133406179 | paradox | "War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength." | |
| 133406180 | understatement | "I have to have this operation. It isn't very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain." | |
| 133406181 | tri-colon | Eye it, try it, buy it. | |
| 133406182 | synesthesia | "warm colors" "cold welcomes" | |
| 133406183 | synecdoche | "Take thy face hence." |
