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Argument
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Figurative Language
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100
In an argument or an essay, this rhetorical strategy is often asked not to elicit an answer, but to get the audience thinking about the argument.
What is rhetorical question?
100
A statement that appears to be self-contradictory or opposed to common sense but actually reveals a truth. Example: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
What is paradox?
100
Theme is often represented, especially in speech, through the repetition of a key phrase. Example: Martin Luther King, Jr. "I have a dream...."
What is anaphora?
100
A deliberate exaggeration or overstatement, which can often produce irony.
What is hyperbole?
100
The position of two things side by side in order to emphasis a point.
What is juxtaposition?
200
This rhetorical strategy is a form of deductive reasoning in which the concluding sentence is based on the major and minor premise of the argument. Example: All mammals are warm-blooded. All horses are mammals. Thus, all horses are warm-blooded.
What is syllogism?
200
The author groups apparently contridictory terms to suggest a paradox.
What is oxymoron?
200
This type of writing is aimed at teaching the audience a lesson or instructive in nature, especially involving morals and ethics.
What is didactic?
200
A direct or indirect reference to something presumably well known like a book, historical event, person, etc. Example: To Kill a Mockingbird "Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself."
What is allusion?
200
A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or personified abstraction. Example: Death, be not proud, though some have called thee.
What is apostrophe (apostrophic sentence)?
300
This satirical strategy is used in argument to persuade the audience to recognize a fault by expressing a contridiction between what is said and what is meant.
What is irony?
300
This rhetorical strategy uses a term or a phrase that represents a greater societal meaning. Example: The American Dream
What is connotation?
300
An original thought that defines the writer's belief, argument, or lesson. Example: Oscar Wilde "To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most poeple exist, that is all."
What is aphorism?
300
A similarity or comparison between two different things or a relationship between them through an extended piece of writing (often referred to as an extended metaphor). Example: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mississippi River = freedom Shore = societal oppression
What is analogy?
300
This device is used to symbolically represent an abstract idea in addition to the literal meaning. Example: The Crucible: Salem Witch Trial, argument against McCarthyism
What is allegory?
400
This type of argument uses informal language, slang, or conversational text.
What is colloquial?
400
A short account of an interesting event that relates to the topic.
What is anecdote?
400
A brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement that often represents the message the author is attempting to send to the audience by preceding the written text. Example: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn "Notice: Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted."
What is epigraph?
400
A figure of speech in which the thing or concept is not called by its own name, but instead by a name that represents/closely associated with the thing or concept as a whole. Examples: Hollywood: American Movie Cinema Westminster: British Parliament
What is metonymy?
400
A more agreeable or less offensive way of saying something. Example: Earthly remains instead of corpse or the stiff
What is euphemism?
500
This is a rhetorical strategy used to argue against a widely accepted idea in a controversial way, usually regarding philosophy, politics, science or religion. Bill O'Reilly, John Steinbeck, Donald Trump, or Jack London would be famous American examples of this type of persuader.
What is polemic?
500
A figure of speech in which the spoken words can have two meanings. The first meaning is usually straight forward (literal), the second meaning is usually inappropriate (sexual, ironic, risque). Example: Romeo and Juliet Are Romeo and Mercutio really only talking about swords?
What is double entendre?
500
This is the emotional aspect of the written piece. This is the writer's position on the topic addressed in the written piece.
What is tone and attitude?
500
Something concrete that represents something more abstract. Example: To Kill a Mockingbird Mockingbird = innocence
What is symbolism?
500
This addresses opposing ideas in order to emphasize a point. Example: Aslan is to the White Witch, what Thoreau was to Edgar Allan Poe
What is antithesis?