Rhetorical Devices Flashcards

Rhetorical Devices Overview

• Anecdote: A short story used to illustrate a point or inject humor.
• Allusion: References to historical or literary figures/events that enhance understanding.
• Analogy: Draws comparisons between similar aspects of two different things; includes metaphors and similes.
• Thesis (Claim): Central argument of an essay that guides the writer's point of view.
• Metaphor/Extended Metaphor: Direct comparison between unlike things; extended metaphors unfold throughout a text.

Persuasive Appeals

• Pathos: Engages emotional responses from the audience to persuade them.
• Logos: Utilizes logical arguments and reason to convince an audience.
• Ethos: Establishes credibility, authority, or ethics to gain audience trust.

Descriptive Techniques

• Imagery: Incorporates sensory details to create vivid pictures, engaging any of the five senses.
• Connotation: Implied meanings and emotional associations related to words.
• Alliteration: Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words for emphasis.

Figurative Language

• Simile: Compares two different things using "like" or "as."
• Hyperbole: Deliberate exaggerations for emphasis or effect.
• Personification: Attributes human traits to non-human entities or abstract concepts.
• Synecdoche: Uses a part to represent the whole or vice versa.

Rhetorical Structures

• Parallelism: Similar grammatical structure across parts of a sentence for rhythm and clarity.
• Rhetorical Question: A question posed for effect, not requiring an answer.
• Repetition: Emphasizes key ideas through repeating phrases or words.
• Anaphora: Repeats a word/phrase at the beginning of successive clauses for emphasis.
• Epistrophe: Repeats a word/phrase at the end of successive clauses to create rhythm.

Additional Elements

• Onomatopoeia: Words that mimic sounds related to their meaning.
• Author's Purpose: The intent behind writing, such as to inform, persuade, express, or entertain.
• Tone: The writer's attitude towards the subject, audience, or character conveyed through diction.
• Mood: The overall feeling or atmosphere evoked in the reader by the text.
• Theme: Recurring ideas or unifying concepts within a literary work.
• Restatement: Rephrasing of ideas for clarity and emphasis.
• Diction: The specific word choices made by a writer or speaker.
• Syntax: The arrangement of words to form well-constructed sentences.
• Metonymy: Refers to something by using a related term to suggest it, such as "the crown" for monarchy.

Test your knowledge of rhetorical devices with these flashcards. Each card provides a term along with its definition, helping you to understand and remember key concepts. Ideal for students studying literature and rhetoric.