Literary Devices
The repetition of a word of phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, lines or clauses.
What is anaphora?
Associations that readers have with words beyond their dictionary definitions.
What is connotation?
This clause contains a noun and a verb, but is an incomplete thought or sentence and relies on the rest of the sentence to make sense.
What is a dependent clause?
An appeal to credibility
What is ethos?
The use of words to express something other than and often the opposite of the literal meaning.
What is irony?
A figure of speech that compares two things without using "like" or "so."
What is a metaphor?
A figure of speech in the form of a question, not meant to be answered.
What is a rhetorical question?
The omission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses and words.
What is asyndeton?
It is the "T" is SPACE CAT.
What is tone?
An extreme exaggeration that bolsters an argument.
What is a hyperbole?
"Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers" is an example of this literary device.
What is alliteration?
A sentence which implores, urges, entreats or calls to action.
What is a hortative sentence?
The opposition of ideas or words in a parallel construction.
What is antithesis?
It is the "E" in SPACE CAT.
What is exigence?
"The stars were dancing in the heavens that night" is an example of this literary device.
What is an personification?
"The bubbly heaviness of the treasure chest" is an example of this literary device used to call attention to a particular point in an argument.
What is an oxymoron?
An acknowledgment that an opposing argument may be true or reasonable.
What is a concession?
"We will fight them on the beaches, and fight them in the hills, and fight them in the forests, and in the villages of the dell" is an example of this pattern of language that creates a rhythm of repetition. This is very likely on the AP exam. College Board loves to ask questions about this.
What is parallelism?
This is an aggressive argument that does not concede to the merit of other opinions.
What is a polemic?
A minor figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole. For example, "All hands on deck."
What is a synecdoche?
A reference to a person, event, place or other work of art outside of the text.
What is an allusion?
This argumentative tactic seeks to create a mental discontinuity. For example, "Be careful how you pace yourself--by walking too quickly, you get there more slowly."
What is a paradox?
The repetition on words in reverse order.
What is an antimetabole?
A denial of the validity of an opposing argument, usually following a concession.
What is refutation?
The family trip was so hectic that by the end Lola had lost her patience and her car keys.
This is an example of which style element?
What is zeugma?