Rhetorical Devices and Literary Terms

These flashcards cover key terminology related to rhetoric and literary devices, providing definitions and examples.

Periphrasis

The substitution of an attributive word or phrase for a proper name, or the use of a proper name to suggest a personality characteristic.

persona

The character that a writer or speaker conveys to the audience.

purpose

The goal a writer or speaker hopes to achieve with the text, such as to clarify, inform, convince, and/or persuade.

recursive

Referring to the moving back and forth from invention to revision in the writing process.

refutation

The part of a speech in which the speaker anticipates objections and counters them.

repetition

The repeated use of sounds, words, phrases, or clauses to emphasize meaning or achieve effect.

rhetoric

The art of analyzing language choices that make a text meaningful, purposeful, and effective.