Rhetorical Devices Test

alliteration

The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in neighboring words.

allusion

A direct or indirect reference to something commonly known, such as an event or work of art.

analogy

A similarity or comparison between two different things.

antithesis

The opposition or contrast of ideas; the direct opposite.

aphorism

A terse statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth or moral principle.

apostrophe

A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or personified abstraction.

connotation

The non-literal, associative meaning of a word; the implied or suggested meaning.

denotation

The strict, literal definition of a word, devoid of emotion or attitude.

euphemism

A more agreeable or less offensive substitute for an unpleasant word or concept.

homily

A serious talk or lecture involving moral or spiritual advice.

hyperbole

A figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement.

imagery

Sensory details or figurative language used to describe or evoke emotion.

irony/ironic

The contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant.

metaphor

A figure of speech using implied comparison between seemingly unlike things.

mood

The prevailing atmosphere or emotional aura of a work.

onomatopoeia

A figure of speech where natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of words.

oxymoron

A figure of speech where apparently contradictory terms are grouped to suggest a paradox.

paradox

A statement that appears self-contradictory but contains some degree of truth.

parallelism

The grammatical or rhetorical framing of words or phrases to give structural similarity.

anaphora

A sub-type of parallelism involving repetition at the beginning of successive lines or sentences.

parody

A work that imitates another style or content for comic effect or ridicule.

personification

A figure of speech in which human attributes are given to concepts, animals, or objects.

point of view

The perspective from which a story is told; can be first or third person.

repetition

The duplication of any element of language such as sounds, words, or phrases.

rhetoric

The principles governing the art of writing effectively and persuasively.

rhetorical modes

The variety and conventions of the major kinds of writing.

sarcasm

Bitter, caustic language intended to hurt or ridicule.

satire

A work that targets human vices or social conventions for reform or ridicule.

symbol/symbolism

Anything that represents itself and stands for something else, often abstract.

synecdoche

A figure of speech where a part is used to represent the whole or vice versa.

syntax

The way an author joins words into phrases, clauses, and sentences.

theme

The central idea or message of a work.

thesis

The sentence or group of sentences that expresses the author’s opinion or position.

tone

The author’s attitude toward the material, the audience, or both.

understatement

The ironic minimalizing of fact to present something as less significant than it is.

natural symbols

objects and occurrences from nature to symbolize ideas commonly associated with them (dawn  symbolizing hope or a new beginning, a rose symbolizing love, a tree symbolizing knowledge).

conventional symbols

those that have been invested with meaning by a group (religious symbols such as a cross  or Star of David; national symbols, such as a flag or an eagle; or group symbols, such as a skull and crossbones for  pirates or the scale of justice for lawyers)

literary symbols

sometimes also conventional in the sense that they are found in a variety of works and are more  generally recognized. However, a work’s symbols may be more complicated, as is the jungle in Heart of Darkness.  On the AP exam, try to determine what abstraction an object is a symbol for and to what extent it is successful in  representing that abstraction.