Rhetorical Terms: Figures of Speech

Match the definition to the term: Alliteration

• The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words.

• The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs.

• A purposeful exaggeration or overstatement. In Greek, it literally means to overshoot.

• When the name of one object replaces another object that is closely associated with it.

Match the sentence that shows the term in use: Alliteration

• I’m full strength like a Cyclops‘s eye drops,

  I got support like high-tops.

  - Ugly Duckling, Left Behind.

• “The pen is mightier than the sword”

• “To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves for whatever period is required…” -John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address

• Nothing hugs like Huggies.

  - slogan for Huggies Supreme Diapers

Why do writers use alliteration?

• To help people see unique connections between two ideas. The reference can help the audience better understand a subject

• This style of writing is usually used in speeches to remind the listeners what is meant in their speech and to grab the attention by using the repetition of the words. Then in between each line of repetition, a strong phrase is used to elevate the feeling until they reach the climax of the speech.

• To allow writers and speakers to refer to complicated concepts or large groups of people with a single word. It also helps to create a quick mental image by using everything that the new word evokes.

• It can help connect ideas, make sentences memorable or sound musical. When overused, it can also be cloying or irritating.

Match the word to the definition: Allusion

• The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs.

• A direct or indirect reference to something historical, literary, religious, or mythical. The author usually uses references that will be understood by his or her audience, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art.

• A figure of speech in which two fundamentally unlike things are explicitly compared, usually in a phrase introduced by like or as.

• A figure of speech which expresses either more, or less, than it literally denotes: when a whole is used as the part or a part of a thing is put for the whole

Why to writers use allusion?

• to remind the listeners what is meant in their speech and to grab the attention by using the repetition of the words. Then in between each line of repetition used, a strong phrase is used to elevate the feeling until they reach the climax of the speech.

• Connecting vowel sounds creates internal rhyme. It makes the words flow together, and can help make phrases more memorable. It’s very popular among rappers and lyricists, and you’ll be more likely to find it in poetry rather than prose. You can find it in pretty much any (good) song. And, as noted, it will make you sound smooth. This technique is also known as a “slant rhyme.”

• To create emphasis or also make something sound funny. They are commonly used in prose as well as poetry. However, although valued in creative writing, this technique is avoided in formal writing or business writing.

• To help people see unique connections between two ideas. The reference can help the audience better understand a subject.

What is an example of allusion?

• “We cannot only have a plan for Wall Street…We must also help Main Street.”

• “Four score and seven years ago…”

  -Abraham Lincoln

• “My rep grows like the nose of Pinocchio,

  Just because I’ve mastered the art of braggadocio.” -Akrobatik

• “I speak as briefly as possible because too much harm has already been done with irresponsible words of bitterness and selfish political opportunism. I speak as simply as possible because the issue is too great to be obscured by eloquence. I speak simply and briefly in the hope that my words will be taken to heart.

  I speak as a Republican, I speak as a woman. I speak as a United States Senator. I speak as an American.”Senator Margaret Chase, addressing Congress to speak against McCarthyism, June 1, 1950

Match the word to the definition: Anaphora

• When an author gives objects, concepts or animals human characteristics, emotions or abilities.

• The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs.

• A figure of speech which expresses either more, or less, than it literally denotes: when a whole is used as the part or a part of a thing is put for the whole

• Compares two things, but it does not use the word like or as.

Why do writers use anaphora

• To make non-human objects and ideas more relatable, since it is easier for humans to relate to another person. It can also make objects or ideas seem more vivid.

• To refer to complicated concepts or large groups of people with a single word. It also helps to create a quick mental image by using everything that the the word evokes.

• : Connecting vowel sounds creates internal rhyme. It makes the words flow together, and can help make phrases more memorable. It’s very popular amongst rappers and lyricists, and you’ll be more likely to find it in poetry rather than prose. You can find it in pretty much any (good) song. And, as noted, it will make you sound smooth. This technique is also known as a “slant rhyme.”

• This style of writing is usually used in speeches to remind the listeners what is meant in their speech and to grab the attention by using the repetition of the words. Then in between each line of repetition used, a strong phrase is used to elevate the feeling until they reach the climax of the speech.

What is an example of Anaphora?

• “Coming from the deep black like the Loch Ness,

  now bring apocalypse like the Heart of Darkness.” - Talib Kweli

• We shall go on to the end,

  we shall fight in France,

  we shall fight on the seas and oceans,

  we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air,

  we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be,

  we shall fight on the beaches,

  we shall fight on the landing grounds,

  we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,

  we shall fight in the hills;

  we shall never surrender.

  --delivered in the midst of World War II by Winston Churchill in the House of Commons, June 4, 1940

• “Houston, we’ve had a problem.”

  -Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell.

• 'Here once the embattled farmers stood,

  And fired the shot heard round the world.' ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Match the definition to the word: Assonance

• The repetition of vowel sounds in words that are close together.

• A direct or indirect reference to something historical, literary, religious, or mythical. The author usually uses references that will be understood by his or her audience, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art.

• Resemblance in words, phrases, or clauses

• Compares two things, but it does not use the word like or as.