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Rhetorical Devices - AP English Language
N/A
20
English
11th Grade
12/14/2009

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Cards

Term
pun
Definition
a play on the meaning of words
Term
metaphor
Definition
an implied comparasion between two unlike things
Term
simile
Definition
an explicit comparison between two unlike things signaled by the use of like or as
Term
personification
Definition
attributing human qualities to an inanimate object
Term
irony
Definition
the writer takes on another voice or role that states the opposite of what is expressed. the subject or nature is out of keeping with the words, and the speaker clearly means something other than what is said
Term
hyperbole
Definition
exaggeration, deliberate for emphasis
Term
litotes
Definition
opposite of hyperbole, instensifies an idea by understatement
Term
synecdoche
Definition
a part is substituted for the whole
Term
metonymy
Definition
designation of one thing with something closely associated with it (chair, crown, press)
Term
oxymoron
Definition
contradiction, two contradictory terms used together
Term
paradox
Definition
a statement that appears to be contradictory but in fact, has some truth
Term
onomatopoeia
Definition
refers to the use of words whose sound reinforces their meaning (drip, cackle, bang, snarl, pop)
Term
rhetorical question
Definition
commonly defined as those that do not require an answer
Term
apostrophe
Definition
turning away from the audience to address someone or something not present
Term
euphemism
Definition
substituting less pungent words for harsh ones
Term
paralellism
Definition
expresses similar or related ideas in similar grammatical structure
Term
chiasmus
Definition
gramatical struture of the first clause or phrase is reversed in the second, sometimes repeating the same words (i.e. "ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country)
Term
climax
Definition
the writer arranges ideas in order of importance
Term
epanalepsis
Definition
repition at the end of a clause of the word that occurred at the beginning
Term
epistrophe
Definition
repition of the same word or group of words at the end of sucessive clauses (opposite of anaphora)
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