DAGEN RHETORICAL DEVICES 9/24

Allusion

A direct or indirect reference to something (usually a literary text, although it can be other things commonly known) with which the reader is supposed to be familiar.

Ambiguity

Multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence or passage.

Anecdote

A brief recounting of a relevant episode. ___ are often inserted into texts as a way of developing a point or interjecting humor.

Apostrophe

A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or personified abstraction such as liberty or love. It is an address to someone or something that cannot answer. The effect is to give vent to or display intense emotion.

Asyndeton

The purposeful omission of conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses.

Polysyndeton

The purposeful excessive use of conjunctions in a list.

Diction

A writer's word choice, particularly as an element of writing style. Different types of words have significant effects on meaning.

Connotations

The ideas and emotions associated with a word, which extend beyond its denotation(s) or dictionary definition.

Denotation

The literal, explicit meaning of a word, regardless of its connotations.

Didactic

A term used to describe text that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking.

Aphorism

A terse statement which expresses a general truth or moral principle. An ___ can be a memorable summation of an author's point.

Enumeratio

A figure of amplification in which a subject is divided into constituent parts or details, and may include a listing of causes, effects, problems, solutions, conditions, parts or consequences.

Euphemism

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

Figurative Language

Writing that is not meant to be taken literally; it is imaginative and vivid.

Analogy

A comparison of one pair of variables to a parallel set of variables. An ___ can explain something unfamiliar by associating it with or pointing out its similarity to something more familiar.

Hyperbole

Wild exaggeration.

Metaphor

An implied comparison between UNLIKE things, without using like or as.

Metonymy

The replacement of an actual word or idea with a related word or concept.

Synecdoche

A kind of metonymy in which a whole is represented by naming one of its parts or vice versa.

Simile

Using words such as 'like' or 'as' to make a comparison between two different things.

Synesthesia

A description involving a 'crossing of the senses.'

Personification

Giving human-like qualities to something that is not human.

Hypophora

The raising of and responding to one's own question(s).

Verbal Irony

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

Dramatic Irony

Occurs when the audience knows something the character doesn't know.

Situational Irony

Plot events turn out the opposite of what was expected.

Juxtaposition

Placing things side by side for the purposes of comparison or contrast.

Mood

The atmosphere created by the literature and accomplished largely through diction. Setting, tone, plot, and syntax will also contribute to ___.

Oxymoron

Apparently contradictory things are grouped together, suggesting a paradox.

Paradox

A seemingly contradictory observation or situation which is actually true.