devices and fallacies

abstract (d)

terms refer to ideas, feelings, qualities, or characteristics that are unable to be perceived by the senses.

abstract (ex)

The runner felt a sense of triumph after winning the marathon.

concrete (d)

terms refer to people, places, or things that can be perceived by the senses.

concrete (e)

The boy ate a sandwich after climbing a mountain. 

allegory (d)

A work of literature or art in which the characters are explained or depicted through ideas related to morals, religion, or politics.

allegory (e)

George Orwell’s popular allegorical novel, Animal Farm, represents communism in Russia in the early to mid 1900’s.

allusion (d)

 a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance. It does not describe in detail the person or thing to which it refers.

allusion (e)

The lush park looks like the Garden of Eden.

Alliteration (d)

The repetition of consonant sounds, but usually the first letters in two or more neighboring words or syllables.

alliteration (e)

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers

anadiplosis (d)

The inversion of the first and last word in a phrase or clause so that the last word of the first clause becomes the first word in the second clause

anadiplosis (e)

Waste not any time; time is of the essence.

Anaphora (d)

The deliberate repetition of the first part of the sentence,phrase, or paragraph in order to achieve an artistic effect

anaphora (e)

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness. . .”

anastrophe (d)

A rhetorical term for the inversion of conventional word order (adj.)

anastrophe (e)

Angry she was. Right you are. (The way Yoda speaks.)

antimetabole (d)

A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first but with the words in reverse grammatical order (A-B, B-A).

antimetabole (e)

It’s not how old you are, but how you are old.

antithesis (d)

A person or thing that is the direct opposite of someone or something else.

antithesis (e)

love and hate

aphorism (d)

A brief observation that contains a general truth, expresses an opinion and provides a statement of wisdom. 

aphorism (e)

Today is the first day of the rest of your life

ethos

credibility

logos

logic

pathos

emotional

appositive (d)

A noun (word, phrase, or clause) or noun phrase that renames another noun besides it. 

appositive (e)

The insect, a large cockroach, is crawling across the kitchen table.

assonance (d)

The repetition of vowel sounds in words that are close to each other but start with different consonants.

assonance (e)

 The men sell wedding bells.

asyndeton (d)

The intentional omission of a conjunction to create a mood or change in pace. It generally speeds up the rhythm of a passage. 

asyndeton (e)

Jim turned around, and whispered “I think it’s behind me”.

Connotation (d)

An idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning.

connotation (e)

Liberal and conservative as political labels.

denotation (d)

The literal, dictionary definition of a word, often contrasted with “connotation”

denotation (e)

The denotation of “dove” is “a type of pigeon, a wild and domesticated bird having a heavy body and short legs”

diction (d)

The choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing

diction (e)

Wordsworth campaigned against exaggerated poetic diction

epanalepsis (d)

The repetition of the same word or phrase, often repeating the beginning of the clause at the end of the clause and intervening words setting off the repetition.

epanalepsis (e)

 “Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind.” (JFK, Speech to UN General Assembly)

epistrophe (d)

The repetition of the same word or phrase at the end of successive clauses or sentences.

epistrophe (e)

“Who is here so base that would be a bondman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so vile that will not love his country? If any, speak; for him have I offended….” (Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare)

euphemism (d)

The substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt.

euphemism (e)

Saying he “passed away” instead of he died.

extended metaphor (d)

A comparison between two unlike things (a metaphor) that continues throughout a paragraph or lines in a poem; it is often more than a sentence long and sometimes a whole paragraph.

extended metaphor (e)

“But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?

It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!

Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,

Who is already sick and pale with grief.”

                      (Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 2 scene 2)

Romeo is comparing Juliet’s beauty to the sun, throughout 4 lines.

hyperbole (d)

An exaggerated claim or statement for the sake of emphasis. 

hyperbole (e)

It has been forever since I have last seen my best friend.  

imagery (d)

The use of figurative language that uses the senses to create an image or picture in the reader’s mind.

imagery (e)

: I walked off into the distance, the sun bathing the desert in a fiery red glow as it set below the hills.     

dramatic irony (d)

 inherent in speeches or a situation of a drama and is  understood by the audience but not grasped by the characters in the play.

dramatic irony (e)

Viewers knowing that Senator Palpatine is the Sith Lord in Star Wars, but the Jedi don’t.

situational irony (d)

actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended, so that the outcome is contrary to what was expected.

situational irony (e)

A student cheats on a test in order to receive a high grade. The student gets caught cheating and receives a zero. 

verbal irony (d)

intended meaning of a statement differs from the meaning that the words appear to express. Basically sarcasm.

verbal irony (e)

“As pleasant as surgery.”

juxtaposition (d)

Placing two opposite things close together for comparing and contrasting

juxtaposition (e)

Light and dark mentioned together in Macbeth

litotes (d)

Employs an understatement by using double negatives (?) or, in other words, a positive statement is expressed by negating its opposite expressions

litotes (e)

you aren’t bad at soccer

metaphor (d)

A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable; a mental comparison between two objects to describe something

metaphor (e)

 After hearing about his dog’s death, the young boy was swallowed into a sea of despair and his heart was ripped in two.

metonymy (e)

“washington” for the us gov, “hollywood” for move industry

mood (d)

A feeling, emotional state, or disposition of mind in the tone of a literary work. The atmosphere of the piece. The feeling the reader experiences.

-the emotional situation of a piece that can be defined by tone, setting, theme and diction 

mood (e)

The  sun rose over the smiling mountains giving a hug to all of Earth’s beautiful creations. (happy)

motif (d)

Is any element, subject, idea or concept that is constantly present through the entire body of literature. A motif refers to the repetition of a specific theme dominating the literary work.

motif (e)

green light in gatsby

oxymoron (d)

A figure of speech in which two opposite, or contradictory, terms/ideas are joined to create an effect.

oxymoron (e)

Jumbo shrimp; horrendously pretty

paradox (d)

a statement that appears to be self-contradictory or silly but may include a latent truth. It is also used to illustrate an opinion or statement contrary to accepted traditional ideas. often used to make a reader think over an idea in an innovative way.

paradox (e)

Jack killed Uncle Bart with kindness.

parallelism (d)

the use of components in a sentence that are grammatically the same or similar in their construction, sound, meaning or meter

parallelism (e)

like father, like son. easy come, easy go. Work some, play some.

parenthesis (d)

an explanatory or qualifying word, clause, or sentence inserted into a passage using rounded brackets (usually disrupts the flow of the passage)

parenthesis (e)

a complete clause, according to my English teacher, contains both a subject and a predicate (verb). 

passive voice (d)

The subject of the sentence isn’t doing the “doing”/ the subject is acted upon

passive voice (e)

He was eaten by the bear. (Active: The bear ate him.)

personification (d)

The attribution of human nature or character to animals, inanimate objects, or abstract notions. 

personification (e)

The moon glared down at me from the night sky.

polysyndeton (d)

The use of many conjunctions in a brief amount of time to create a certain effect.

polysyndeton (e)

“In years gone by, there were in every community men and women who spoke the language of duty and morality and loyalty and obligation.” -William F. Buckley

rhetorical question (d)

A question asked with no answer expected. Asked for effect or to lay emphasis on a point being discussed/make an assertion. It may be self-evident and used for style as a persuasive device.

rhetorical question (e)

 Who knows? Why not?

satire (d)

A use of humor, irony, or sarcasm to criticize one’s stupidity, ignorance, foolishness, etc.; ridicule 

satire (e)

weekend update abt politics

simile (d)

 A comparison between an aspect or the whole of a thing or concept, and another thing or concept, based on some likeness or similarity, to further describe or explain the primary subject of the comparison.; often if not always uses "as" paired with an adjective, or "like", to connect the two parts of the comparison, with the primary subject of the comparison being stated first.

simile (e)

The plum was as deeply shaded as the grove from which it was picked.

symbol (d)

a thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract

symbol (e)

dove for peace, black for evil or death

synecdoche (d)

A figure of speech in which a part is made to represent a whole, or vice versa (a form of metonymy)

synecdoche (e)

get ur butt over here!

theme (d)

Noun. a main idea or an underlying meaning of a literary work which may be stated directly or indirectly.

theme (e)

Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is that the chasing of the American dream leads to destruction.  

tone (d)

The writer’s attitude toward a character, place, situation, or topic.

tone (e)

“I’m late for work? Great, just what I needed.” (sarcastic)

tricolon crescendo (d)

a series of three words, phrases or clauses that are parallel in structure, length, and/or rhythm. They’re in order of least significant to most

tricolon crescendo (e)

: “vini, vidi, vici” meaning “I came, I saw, I conquered”

understatement (d)

Stating less than the truth, showing a lower magnitude of something. Used intentionally to make a situation seem less serious.

understatement (e)

: “It was windy in New Orleans during hurricane Katrina.”

zeugma (d)

The use of a word to modify or govern two or more words although its use may be grammatically or logically correct with only one.

zeugma (e)

She broke his car and his heart