Literary and Rhetorical Terms

A personal attack on the character or other traits of one's opponent.

Repetition of a vowel sound within two or more words in close proximity.

The omission of a word or words necessary for complete construction but understood in context.

Sensory details used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions.

What term pokes fun at serious issues for reform or ridicule?

A work that imitates the style of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule

A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb.

A balancing of two opposite or contrasting words, phrases, or clauses.

The emotional mood created by the entirety of a literary work.

Paradox (Choose the correct answer)

A syntactical device in which one word modifies two or more words in a sentence is a...

The repetition of words at the beginning of successive clauses.

A quotation or aphorism at the beginning of a literary work that is suggestive of the theme.

Language describing ideas and qualities rather than observable or specific things.

What is an example of aphorism?

An emotionally violent verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language.

What is stream of consciousness?

Generally, anything that represents, stands for, something else.

The multiple meanings of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage.

A more agreeable or less unpleasant substitute for a generally unpleasant word or concept.

Any serious talk, speech, or lecture involving moral and spiritual advice.

Commas used (with no conjunction) to separate a series of words.

A figure of speech in which an author juxtaposes apparently contradictory terms.

What is this term?

Is Thomas Paine's Common Sense an example of a polemic?

A natural aptitude for using words and ideas in a quick and inventive way to create humor.

Which contains an example of antimetabole?

Choose the correct example of polysyndeton.

Beginning a narrative in the middle of the action.

The non-literal, associative meaning of a word; the implied, suggested meaning.

Refers to the resemblance a work bears to reality.

The use of slang or informalities in speech or writing.

A sudden drop from the dignified or important in thought or expression to the commonplace.

Construction in which both halves of the sentence are about the same length and importance.

Choose one of the rhetorical modes.

What is an example of metonymy?

An adjective that describes words, phrases, or tone that is scholarly, academic, or bookish

Inflated language; the use of high-sounding language for a trivial subject.

A sensation produced in one sense when stimulus is applied to another is...

The fictional voice (or mask) that a writer adopts to tell a story.

The technique of assigning human emotion to a concept, animal, or inanimate object.

What is an example of hyperbole?

The relative speed or slowness with which a story is told or and idea is conveyed.

The placement of elements, characters, scenes, objects, for purposes of comparison and contrast

A metaphor developed at length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work.

Find a correct example of inductive reasoning.

What is a correct example of parallelism?

Reversing the normal word order of a sentence.

Which example contains an antecedent?

What is expository writing?