Dagen rhetoric quiz

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Allusion

a direct or indirect reference to something (usually literary text) with which the reader is supposed to be familiar  

Anecdote

a brief recounting of a relevant episode. often inserted into texts as a way of develping a point or interjecting humor

apostrophe (as a figure of speech)

a figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or personified abstraction eg. liberty or love 
-an address to someone or something that cannot answer 
—> ex. a text in which someone directly talks to abe lincoln (dead) 

asyndeton (+polysyndeton)

asyndeton: purposeful omission of conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses

polysyndeton: purposeful use of excessive conjunctions in a list 
eg. they read and wrote and swam and walked and talked. 

diction + connotation/denotation

writer’s word choice —> diff words have a significant effect on meaning
ex. academic diction is plain and simple, formal


connotation: ideas & emotions associated with a word which extend beyond its dictionary definition
denotation: literal explicit meaning of a word

enumeration

figure of amplification —> means of extending thoughts to add importance where a subject is divided into parts or details and may include listing of causes, effects, problems, solutions, conditions, parts, or consequences
ex. i love her eyes, her hair, her nose, her lips, her cheeks.

analogy

comparison of one pair of variables to a parallel set of variables 
ex. america is to the world as a hippo is to a jungle 

hyperbole

wild exaggeration

metaphor

implied comparison between UNLIKE things, without using like or as
ex. my feet are popsicles

metonymy (+synecdoche)

replacement of an actual word or idea with a related word/concept 
eg. referring to a country by its capitol —> relates between washington and london have been strained

synecdoche: type of metonymy in which a whole is represented by naming one of its parts or vice versa
ex. check out my new wheels (literally a car)

simile

using words such as “like” or “as” to make a comparison between 2 different things
ex. my feet are so cold they feel like popsicles 

synesthesia

description involving a crossing of the senses
—> ex. a purplish sent filled the room (smell and sight crossover)

personification

giving human like qualities to something that is not human
ex. the old truck groaned as it inched up the hill

hypophora

writer or speaker poses a question and then promptly answers it 
ex. When the enemy struck what did america do? it did what it has always done 

Irony (verbal, dramatic, and situational)

verbal: contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant —> sarcasm

dramatic: audience knows something the character doesn’t and would be suprised to find out

situational: plot events turn out the opposite of what was expected —> meaningful and contributes to larger ideas in the work

juxtapostion

placing things side by side or close together for purposes of comparison or contrast

oxymoron

apparently contradictory things that are grouped together suggesting a paradox —> ex. wise fool, jumbo shrimp

paradox

seemingly contradictory observation or situation which is actually true