Literary Devices
"Bambi's mother now grazes in the pastures of forever" is an example of this literary device that uses a safer word or phrase instead of something that some might find inappropriate or unappealing.
What is euphemism?
A failure of logical reasoning.
What is a (logical) fallacy?
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?
Calling a piece of real estate "the promised land" is an example of this referential literary device.
What is an allusion?
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?
An appeal to emotion.
What is pathos?
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?
Sentences that implore, urge, entreat or call to action.
What is a hortative sentence?
The sentence "Mordred was bitten by the dog," rather than "The dog bit Mordred," is an example of this form of voice where something happens to someone.
What is passive voice?
An appeal to reason.
What is logos?
A term that signifies a relational comparison of or similarity between two objects or ideas.
What is an analogy?
"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?
The opposition of ideas or words in a parallel construction.
What is an antithesis?
"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?
When the order of a sentence is inverted (to deviate from Subject - Verb- Object order).
What is an inversion?
This occurs when the author of an essay alters his or her diction, syntax, or both to underline a critical point or shift in their argument.
What is a rhetorical shift?
"The thunder grumbled all night as rain slapped the windows" is an example of an argumentative tactic that makes something in an argument seem more approachable or potentially agreeable.
What is personification?