Poetic/Rhetorical Devices Vocab

Allegory

a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

Adnomination

using words with the same root in the same sentence

Alliteration

repetition of consonant sounds across successive, stressed syllables at the beginnings of words

Assonance

repetition of vowel sounds

Anacoluthon

any intentional grammatical interruption meant to confuse and/or show a stream of consciousness

Anaphora

repetition of words and/or phrases at the beginning of successive sentences

Apophasis

bringing up a subject by denying that it should be brought up

Asyndeton

intentionally leaving out conjunctions in sentences, meant to throw off the reader or increase intensity

Synecdoche

when a tangible part is used to describe a whole ("wheels" for car)

Chiasmus

rhetorical device where words/grammatical constructions/concepts are repeated in reverse order but in the same form

Litotes

ironic understatement to remain a safe distance from the subject ("I don't hate it")

Hypophora

when an author asks a question, then answers it themself

Metonymy

the use of a linked word that replaces the original word ("helping hands" for volunteer)

Zeugma

placement of 2 nouns with different meanings in similar positions within a sentence

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