Rhetorical Device Vocabulary 2

Point of View - The method of narration used in a story; who is telling the story

Characterization - The way an author builds and develops characters within a text

Synonym - A word that has the same or similar meaning as another word

Antonym - A word that has the opposite meaning of another word

Hyperbole - An obvious, intended exaggeration

Oxymoron - The combination of two words of opposite meaning for dramatic, comedic, or provocative effect

Simile - Comparison using “like” or “as”

Situational Irony - A state of affairs, an event, or an explanation that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects

Crescendo - When words, phrases, or clauses, are arranged in order of increasing importance

Personification - A type of metaphor in which non-human objects or ideas are given human qualities

Antithesis - A figure of speech in which an opposition or contrast of ideas is expressed by parallelism of words that are the opposites of, or strongly contrasted with, each other

Synecdoche - A figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or a whole is made to represent the sum of its part

Epimone - The repetition of a phrase, question, or plea for emphasis - to dwell on an important point

Aphorism - A short, often commonly know saying that expresses a truth in a memorable way

Zeugma - A figure of speech in which a word applies to two others in different senses or to two others of which it semantically suits only one

Repetition - A repeated word of phase, used for emphasis. There are two common types:

• Anaphora - Repetition at the beginning of a line

• Epistrophe - Repetition at the end of a line

Polysyndeton - a stylistic device in which several coordinating conjunctions are used in succession in order to achieve an artistic effect

Anadiplosis - A form of repetition in which the last word of one clause or sentence is repeated as the first word of the following clause or sentence

Asyndeton - The omission or absence of conjunction between parts of a sentence