What's! That!! Type!!!
Identify the type of aposiopesis used in the following excerpt from Shakespeare's King Lear:
"I will have revenges on you both
That all the world shall— I will do such things—
What they are yet, I know not; but they shall be
The terrors of the earth!"
What is emotive?
The definition of aposiopesis.
What is a rhetorical device where a sentence is purposefully cut off or left incomplete to create various effects on the reader/listener?
This famous and very misquoted revelation from a certain sci-fi film is an example of aposiopesis.
What is "no, I am your father?"
"Speak of the devil...."
...and he may appear.
Identify the type of aposiopesis used in the following excerpt from The Matrix:
"'You know, I know this steak doesn't exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years, you know what I realize? Ignorance is...'"
What is audience-respecting?
The punctuations most often used to denote an aposiopesis.
What are ellipses (...) and em dashes (—)?
This book, a cornerstone of American literature, is known for having many aposiopesis.
What is The Great Gatsby?
"Curiosity killed the cat..."
...but satisfaction brought it back.
Identify the type of aposiopesis used in the following excerpt from Inferno from Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy:
“'Still it behoveth us to win the fight,'
Began he; 'else . . . Such offered us herself . . .
O how I long that some one here arrive!'”
What is emphatic?
The five different types of aposiopesis.
What are emotive, emphatic, audience-respecting, transitio-aposiopesis, and calculated?
This author is one of the earliest and most famous users of aposiopesis.
Who is William Shakespeare?
"Winning isn't everything..."
...it's the only thing.
Identify the type of aposiopesis used in the following excerpt from Virgil's The Aeneid:
"'You, whom I—! But it is better to settle the agitated waves.'"
What is calculated?
The meaning of the Classical Greek word that aposiopesis is derived from.
What is "becoming silent?"
This one aposiopesis phrase is repeated both verbally and instrumentally all throughout a certain musical about Brothers Grimm characters realizing that their actions have consequences.
What is "I wish..."?
"Jack of all trades, master of none..."
...though often better than a master of one.
Identify the type of aposiopesis used in the following excerpt from F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby:
"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.… And then one fine morning—
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."
What is transitio-aposiopesis?
This is the opposite of aposiopesis.
What is prosiopesis?
This song by David Bowie contains an aposiopesis at the end of its bridge.
What is "Space Oddity?"
"Carpe diem (sieze the day)..."
...quam minimum credula postero (put very little trust in tomorrow).