Rhetorical Terms

Rhetorical Terms Period 5

ALLUSION Brief reference to a person, event, or place, real or fictitious or to a work of art Ex). Augustus' love of sweets was his Achilles heel Alison Takahashi

Alliteration uh-lit-uh-rey-shuhn A repetition of the same sound beginning several words in a sequence. Example: apt alliteration's artful aid

Anadiplosis Anadiplosis is the repetition of the last word of a preceding clause. The word is used at the end of a sentence and then used again at the beginning of the next sentence. For Example: “Information is not knowledge, knowledge is not wisdom, wisdom is not truth, truth is not beauty, beauty is not love, love is not music and music is the best.” –Frank Zappa

ANAPHORAuh-naf-er-uh repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of two or more successive phrases, clauses, or sentences We want freedom by any means necessary. We want justice by any means necessary. We want equality by any means necessary. —Malcolm X

Antimetabole Definition: • A repetition of words in reverse order Pronunciation: AN-tee-meh-tuh-bahl

“My only love sprung from my only hate” Antithesis Opposition, or contrast, of ideas or words in a balanced or parallel opposition. an-tith-uh-sis

Archaic Diction Definition: Words such as “thee”, and “thou” that are no longer used commonly, but were once used in (for example) Shakespeare’s time. Examples: “beseech”, “hither”, “aught”, “mark” (as in notice), “doth”, etc. Etymology: The word “archaic” comes from the Greek word arkhaismos, meaning “to copy the ancients.” The word “diction” comes from the Latin dicerewhich means “to speak.”

uh-sin-di-ton Asyndeton A stylistic scheme in which conjunctions are deliberately omitted from a series of clauses I came, and I saw, and I conquered!

Cumulative Sentence: A sentence that completes the main idea at the beginning of the sentence, and then continues to build and add on! Pronunciation: [Cu-mu-la-tive] [sen-tence]

Denotation/Connotation Snake: Denotation-any of numerous scaly, legless, sometimes venomous reptiles having a long, tapering, cylindrical body and found in most tropical and temperate regions Connotation-evil or danger Denotation is the dictionary definition of the word Connotation are the words that get associated with the denotative meanings

Heteroglossia \he-tə-rō-glä-sē-ə the existence of two or more voices within a text, esp. conflicting discourses within a linguistic activity as between the narrative voice and the characters in a novel A good example of heteroglossia would be all the different languages you use in the course of a day. You talk to your friends in one way, to your professor in another way, to your parents in a third way, to a waiter in a restaurant in a fourth way, etc.

Hortative Sentence • hor·ta·tive (hôr t -t v) adj. Hortatory • Giving strong encouragement • Hortative Sentence - Sentence that exhorts, advices, calls to action • Example - Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.

IMPERATIVE SENTENCE A sentence used to command, enjoin, implore, or entreat.

Inversion Inverted order of words in a sentence Variation of the subject-verb-object order Example: Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house go we.

Juxtaposition the placement of two things closely together to emphasize comparisons or contrast. Juhk-stuh-puh-zish-uhn Pronunciation :

Litotes An understatement, especially that in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary Lahy-toh-teez

METAPHOR “Time is money” Figure of speech that says one thing is another in order to explain by comparison met-uh-fawr

Metonyomy [mi-ton-uh-mee] Using a single feature to represent the whole Lend me your ears!

Oxymoron • ox·y·mo·ron. Noun, plural ox·y·mo·rons • A combination of contradictory or incongruous words • Something (as a concept) that is made up of contradictory or incongruous elements • Example: Cruel Kindness

Parallelism A parallel or comparison; the relation of parallels par-uh-le-liz-uhm, -luh-liz Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country. --John F. Kennedy

Periodic Sentence • peer-ee-od-iksen-tns A sentence in which the completion of the main clause is left to the end, thus creating an effect of suspense “When you have got an elephant by the hind leg, and he is trying to run away, it’s best to let him run.”

Paraleipsis A rhetorical device in which an idea is emphasized by the pretence that it is too obvious to discuss. “I’ll not mention the crimes my opponent committed.” Par-uh-lip-sis

Periphrasis • The use of an unnecessarily long or roundabout form of expression; circumlocution. • Cameron Weekley

Personification Giving lifelike or human qualities to non-living or inanimate objects or ideas Opportunity Knocking at the Door {per-sä-ne-fe-kā-shen}

Polysyndeton The use of several conjunctions in close succession, especially where some might be omitted Pol-ee-sin-di-ton “I did the dishes and vacuumed and did laundry and made dinner and ran errands so that’s why I’m exhausted!” it can increase the rhythm of prose, speed or slow its pace, convey solemnity or even ecstasy and childlike exuberance.!

Rhetorical Question Definition: Figure of speech in the form of a question posed for rhetorical effect rather than for the purpose of getting an answer Who doesn’t love a rhetorical question? rhe·tor·i·cal. adj \ri-ˈtȯr-i-kəl, -ˈtär

Synecdoche \sə-’nek-də-(,)kē\ A figure of speech by which a part is put for the whole “All Hands on Deck”

Self- Reflexive When a sentence refers to itself Example: “this sentence is self- reflexive.” “This is not a pipe.”

Tri-Colon Crescendo • A string of 3 ideas arranged in order of intensity Ex) “I came, I fought, I conquered” Alison Takahashi

Zeugma A figure of speech in which a word is used to modify two or more words giving a different meaning to each. Ex. He caught a fish and a cold. [zoog-muh]

Rhetorical Terms