Name____________Period________
Rhetorical Device Quiz Key
Directions: Fill in the blanks using the word bank. Each word is only used once.
1. ____Archetype_________________ Universally understood symbol , character, plot pattern, or
theme upon which others are copied, patterned, or emulated. Often used in myths and storytelling
across cultures.
2. ____________Telegraphic Sentence_________Ex: This is what an American is.
3. _____Epistrophe________________ The repetition of the same word(s) at the end of successive
phrases, clauses, or sentences.
4. _____Kenning________________Ex: “Wound-hoe” for the word “sword”
5. ______Logos_______________ When a writer tries to persuade the audience based on statistics,
facts, and reasons. The process of reasoning.
6. ____Polysyndeton________________Ex: He ran and jumped and laughed for joy.
7. _____Conceit_______________ A fanciful poetic image, especially an elaborate or exaggerated
comparison.
8. _______Cacaphony_____________ Dissonance, harsh, awkward, or dissonant sounds used
deliberately in poetry or prose
9. ____Antithesis_______________ Examples: “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome
more.”
10. ______Conceit_____________ When a writer tries to persuade the audience to respect and believe
him or her based on a presentation of image of self through the text.
11. _____Syllogism____________Ex:All tragedies end unhappily. Hamlet is a tragedy. Therefore, Hamlet
ends unhappily.
12. ________Satire___________ A literary technique in which foolish ideas or customs are ridiculed for
the purpose of improving society
13. ______Personification____________Ex: The table was happy to be used by the family.
14. ___Paradox______________Ex: I am not as wise as the day I was born. –Thoreau
15. ______Parallelism___________ When a speaker or writer expresses ideas of equal worth with the
same grammatical form
16. _______Imperative Sentence____________Ex: Go to the store now.
17. _______________Euphony____ A succession of harmonious sounds used in poetry or prose
18. _______Asyndeton__________ The omission of conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses.
19. _____Synecdoche______________Ex: “wheels” to mean a car
20. __________Syntax_________The grammatical structure of a sentence; the arrangement of words in
a sentence.
21. ____________Tone_______ A writer’s attitude toward his or her subject.
22. ______Oxymoron_____________Examples: “wise fool” and “feather of lead.”
23. ___________Induction________ The process that moves from a given series of specifics to a
generalization.
24. ________Symbol_________ A person, place, or object that has a concrete meaning in itself and also
stands for something beyond itself, such as an idea or feeling.
25. _______Hyperbole__________Ex: I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse.
26. _______Connotation_________ The emotional response evoked by a word, in contrast to its
denotation, which is its literal meaning.
27. _____Allusion_____________ An indirect reference to a person, place, event, or literary work with
which the author believes the reader will be familiar.
28. ________Aphorism_________Ex: A penny saved is a penny earned.
29. _____Concession___________ An acknowledgment or admission.
30. ______Imagery__________ Descriptive words and phrases that a writer uses to recreate sensory
experiences.
1. Syntax
11. Induction
21. Paradox
2. Kenning
12. Telegraphic Sentence
22. Imagery
3. Euphony
13. Conceit
23. Asyndeton
4. Connotation
14. Polysyndeton
24. Parallelism
5. Archetype
15. Aphorism
25. Imperative Sentence
6. Personification
16. Epistrophe
26. Synecdoche
7. Symbol
17. Oxymoron
27. Hyperbole
8. Logos
18. Antithesis
28. Ethos
9. Satire
19. Allusion
29. Cacaphony
10. Concession
20. Syllogism
30. Tone