Tropes and Schemes

Flashcards covering key vocabulary concepts related to tropes and schemes in rhetoric.

Anthimeria

Using a different part of speech to act as another, such as a verb for a noun.

Aporia

Talking about not being able to talk about something.

Apostrophe

Addressing a person not present or a personified abstraction.

Catachresis

A completely impossible figure of speech.

Erotema

Asking a rhetorical question to provoke thought.

Euphemism

Substituting less pungent words for harsh ones.

Irony

A figure of speech where the intended meaning is opposite of the literal meaning.

Meiosis

Understatement; the opposite of exaggeration.

Litotes

A form of meiosis that uses a negative statement to affirm a positive.

Metaphor

An implied comparison between two unlike things.

Metonymy

Using a physical object to embody a more general idea.

Onomatopoeia

Words that sound like what they mean.

Oxymoron

A figure of speech consisting of two apparently contradictory terms.

Paradox

A statement that appears self-contradictory but contains a basis of truth.

Personification

Giving human qualities to inanimate objects.

Pun

A twist on the meaning of words, often creating humor.

Simile

An explicit comparison between two unlike things using 'like' or 'as'.

Synæsthesia

Mixing one type of sensory input with another.

Synecdoche

Using a part of an object to represent the whole object.

Zeugma

Using one verb with two or more different objects.

Alliteration

Repetition of a sound in multiple words.

Anaphora

Repetition of beginning clauses.

Antithesis

Contrary ideas expressed in a balanced sentence.

Chiasmus

Two balanced parts with elements reversed.

Climax

Arrangement in order of increasing importance.

Ellipsis

Omitting a word implied by the previous clause.

Epistrophe

Repetition of a concluding word.

Anadiplosis

Repeating the last word of a clause at the beginning of the next clause.

Asyndeton

Using no conjunctions to create speed or simplicity.

Tmesis

Intentionally breaking a word into two parts for emphasis.

Polysyndeton

Using many conjunctions to achieve an effect.