80-100 rhetorical device

For APEL Rhetorical Device Quizzes

sententia

a figure of argument in which a wise, witty, or pithy maxim or aphorism is used to sum up the preceding material. E.g.: "So, I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. 'Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.'"

**solecism**

nonstandard grammatical usage; a violation of grammatical rules

**style**

the writer’s characteristic manner of employing language.

**subject complement**

the word (with any accompanying phrases) or clauses that follows a linking verb and complements, or completes the subject of the sentence by either (1) renaming it or (2) describing it.

**subordinate clause**

this word group contains both a subject and a verb, but unlike the independent clause, the subordinate clause cannot stand alone; it does not express a complete thought.

**syllepsis**

a construction in which one word is used in two different senses. *After he* __*threw*__ *the ball, he* __*threw*__ *a fit.*

**syllogism**

a deductive system of __formal logic__ that presents two premises (the first one called “major” and the second, “minor”) that inevitably lead to a sound conclusion. *All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore, Socrates is mortal.*

**symbolism**

any object, person, place, or action that has both a meaning in itself and that stands for something larger than itself.  

__**symploce**__

combining anaphora and epistrophe, so that one word or phrase is repeated at the beginning and another word or phrase is repeated at the end of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences: ***To think*** *clearly and rationally should be a major goal for* ***man****; but* ***to think*** *clearly and rationally is always the greatest difficulty faced by* ***man****.*

**syntax**

The way an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses, and sentences.

__**synecdoche**__

using one part of an object to represent the entire object. *For example, referring to a car simply as “wheels.”*

**thesis**

the sentence or group of sentences that directly expresses the author’s opinion, purpose, meaning, or position.

**tone**

the writer’s or speaker’s attitude towards a subject, character, or audience, and it is conveyed through the author’s choice of words and detail.

**trope**

an artful variation from expected modes of expression of thought and ideas; a figure of speech involving a “turn” or change of sense—a use of the word in a sense other than its proper or literal one.

**tautology**

needless repetition which adds no meaning or understanding (redundancy) *widow woman*  or  *free gift*

**undertone**

an attitude that may lie under the ostensible tone of the piece.

**understatement**

is the opposite of hyperbole.  It is a kind of irony that deliberately represents something as  being much less than it really is: *I could probably manage to survive on a salary of two million dollars per year.*

**unreliable narrator**

an untrustworthy or naïve commentator on events and characters in a story.

**vernacular**

the everyday speech of a particular country or region, often involving nonstandard usage.

**volta**

a turn in the piece, or a shift in tone/voice/narrative/topic that indicates the author’s idea.  *Pyle discusses first the destruction of the machines, and then shifts to the personal effects of the soldiers.*  

**zeugma**

a trope, one word (usually a noun or main verb) governs two other words not related in meaning.

*I was running low on faith and gasoline/ You held your breath and the door for me.*

non sequitur

non sequitur- an illogical inference that does not follow logically from the premises (literally, “does not follow”)