Rhetorical Devices 1
RD 2
RD3
RD4
RD5
100

An indirect reference to something (usually a literary text) with which the reader is supposed to be familiar.

What is an allusion?

100

The opposite of literal language.

What is figurative language?

100

“My feet are so cold they feel like popsicles" is an example of this literary device.

What is simile?

100

When an author gives hints about what will come later in a story.

What is foreshadowing?

100

“Sally sells sea shells by the sea shore”

What is alliteration?

200

"Vertically challenged" in place of "short".

What is euphemism?

200

Placing opposing things side by side for the purposes of comparison.

What is juxtaposition?

200

When the audience of a drama, play, movie, etc. knows something that the character doesn't and would be surprised to find out.

What is dramatic irony?

200

Word or words that create a picture in the reader's mind.

What is imagery?

200

Snap, Rustle, BOOM!

What is onomatopoeia?  

300

An appeal to credibility.

What is ethos?

300

Question not asked for information but for effect.

What is rhetorical question?

300

When apparently contradictory terms are grouped together and suggest a paradox – “wise fool,” “eloquent silence,” “jumbo shrimp.”

What is oxymoron?

300

A seemingly contradictory situation which is actually true.“You can't get a job without experience, and you can't get experience without getting a job.”

What is paradox?

300

An appeal to emotions.

What is pathos?

400

"A purplish scent filled the room" is an example of this literary device.

What is synesthesia?

400

Sentence construction which places equal grammatical constructions near each other, or repeats identical grammatical patterns.

What is parallelism? 

400

“I came, I saw, I conquered.”

What is anaphora?

400

An exaggerated imitation of a serious work for humorous purposes. It borrows words or phrases from an original, and pokes fun at it.

What is a parody?

400

A writer's attitude toward his subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language and organization.

What is tone?

500

"Relations between London and Washington have been strained" is an example of this rhetorical device.

What is metonymy?

500

When the whole is represented by one of its parts.

What is synecdoche? 

500

"I ran and jumped and laughed and danced."

What is polysyndeton? 

500

"Reduce, reuse, recycle" (not alliteration)

What is asyndeton? 

500

Accepting at least part or all of an opposing viewpoint.

What is a concession?