AP Rhetorical Strategies - Alliteration - Zeugma
zeugma- Use of two different words in a grammatically similar way that produces different, often incongruous, meanings.
...1. He fished for compliments and for trout. 2. She opened her door and heart to the orphan. 3. She lowered her standards by raising her glass, her courage, her eyes and his hopes.
synedoche- Figure of speech that uses a part to represent the whole.
...1.The word "sails" is often used to refer to a whole ship. 2.The word "wheels" refers to a vehicle. 3.The phrase "hired hands" can be used to refer to workmen.
Antimetabole- Repetition of words in reverse order.
1) "Eat to live, not live to eat."- Socrates 2) "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." 3) "If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with." -Billy Preston
rhetorical question- Figure of speech in the form of a question posed for rhetorical effect rather than for the purpose of getting an answer.
1) "Who knows?" 2)"Are you stupid?" 3)"Did you hear me?"
Archaic Diction- Old-fashioned or outdated choice of words.
1) Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store? 2) Thee sitting careless on a granary floor, 3) Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind.
Antithesis- Opposition, or contrast, of ideas or words in a parallel construction.
1) You are easy on the eyes, but hard on the heart. 2) Speech is silver, but silence is gold. 3) Man proposes, God disposes.
metaphor- Figure of speech that compares two things without using like or as.
1)He drowned in a sea of grief. 2)You are my sunshine. 3) It's raining men
parallelism- Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses.
1)To err is human; to forgive divine 2) Nothing ventured, nothing gained. 3) Easy come, easy go
Asyndeton- Omission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words.
1. "Call up her father. Rouse him. Make after him, Poison his delight, Proclaim him in the streets. Incense her kinsmen, And, though he in a fertile climate dwell," (Othello by William Shakespeare) 2. "Go, shepherd, and untie the wattled cotes! No longer leave thy wistful flock unfed, Nor let thy bawling fellows rack their throats, Nor the cropp'd herbage shoot another head..... Thou hast not lived, why should'st thou perish, so? Thou hadst one aim, one business, one desire; Else wert thou long since numbered with the dead......!" (The Scholar-Gipsy by Matthew Arnold) 3. "Is whispering nothing? Is leaning cheek to cheek? is meeting noses? Kissing with inside lip? stopping the career Of laughter with a sigh? (a note infallible Of breaking honesty!) horsing foot on foot?..." (The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare)
personification- Attribution of a lifelike quality to an inanimate object or an idea.
1. "I hide me away to the woods- away back into the sun-washed alleys carpeted with fallen gold and glades where the moss is green and vivid yet. The woods are getting ready to sleep- they are not yet asleep but they are disrobing and are having all sorts of little bed-time conferences and whisperings and good-nights." 2. "Loveliest of trees, the cherry now is hung with bloom along the bough And stands about the woodland ride Wearing white for Eastertide." 3. "Have you got a brook in your little heart, Where bashful flowers blow, And blushing birds go down to drink, And shadows tremble so?"
Cumulative Sentence- Sentence that completes the main idea at the beginning of the sentence and then builds and adds on.
1. "I write this at a wide desk in a pine shed as I always do these recent years, in this life I pray will last, while the summer sun closes the sky to Orion and to all the other winter stars over my roof." (Annie Dillard, An American Childhood, 1987) 2. Aruba is a vacationer's paradise with its pristine beaches, sun-drenched days, and glorious breathtaking sunsets. 3. The hotel has greatly expanded its customer base through the addition of a fitness spa, extensive advertising, and weekend specials.
periodic sentence- Sentence whose main clause is withheld until the end.
1. In spite of heavy snow and cold temperatures, the game continued. 2. With low taxes, beautiful views and a mild climate, this city is a great place to live. 3. Because of adding a pool, spa and restaurant, the hotel is experiencing an increase in guests.
Hortative Sentence- Sentence that exhorts, urges, entreats, implores, or calls to action.
1. You are talented and must persevere! 2. Just try at least once! 3. Carry on, you are doing well!
Alliteration- Repetition of the same sound beginning several words or syllables in sequence.
1.) How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? 2.) She sells sea shells by the sea shore. 3.) Garry's giraffe gobbled gooseberryies greedily, getting good at grabbing goodies.
Allusion- Brief reference to a person, event, or place (real or fictitious) or to a work of art.
1.) I was surprised his nose was not growing like Pinocchio's. 2.) The Killer wore a mark of Cain as he stalked his brother. 3.) It has rained so long, it seems as though it has rained for 40 days and nights.
Anaphora- Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines.
1.) My life is my purpose. My life is my goal. My life is my inspiration. 2.) "This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England, This nurse, this teeming womb of royal kings [. . .] This land of such dear souls, this dear dear land," 3.)"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair."
oxymoron- Paradoxical juxtaposition of words that seem to contradict one another.
1.Awfully pretty. 2. The silence whistles. 3.Virtul reality.
inversion- Inverted order of words in a sentence (variation of the subject-verb-object order).
1.Blind, old, and lonely, when his country's pride, The priest, the slave, and the liberticide, Trampled and mocked with many a loathed rite 2.Here by the rose-tree they planted once of Love in Jeopardy an Italian bronze. 3.To me alone there came a thought of grief: A timely utterance gave that thought relief, And I again am strong: The cataracts blow their trumpets from the steep
juxtaposition- Placement of two things closely together to emphasize similarities or differences.
1.My son is a little giant in my eyes. 2.Paul and john's personalities are like oil and water. 3.The room was filled with a deafening silence.
Imperative Sentence- Sentence used to command or enjoin.
1.Think Small 2.We're going into the attic now, folks. Keep your accessories with you at all times 3.Go ahead, make my day