Flashcards: Rhetorical techniques

Metonymy (/mᵻˈtɒnᵻmi/ mi-TONN-ə-mee) is a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is called not by its own name but rather by a metonym, the name of something associated in meaning with that thing or concept.

A kenning (Modern Icelandic pronunciation: [cʰɛnːiŋk]; derived from Old Norse) is a type of circumlocution, in the form of a compound that employs figurative language in place of a more concrete single-word noun.

An oxymoron (usual plural oxymorons, less commonly the Greek-style oxymora) is a figure of speech that juxtaposes elements that appear to be contradictory, but which contain a concealed point.

Diairesis (Ancient Greek: διαίρεσις diaíresis, "division") is a form of classification used in ancient (especially Platonic) logic that serves to systematize concepts and come to definitions.

To hear something through the grapevine is to learn of something informally and unofficially by means of gossip or rumor.

Irony (from Ancient Greek εἰρωνεία (eirōneía), meaning "dissimulation, feigned ignorance"), in its broadest sense, is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or event in which what appears, on the surface, to be the case, differs radically from what is actually the case.

A metaphor is a figure of speech that refers, for rhetorical effect, to one thing by mentioning another thing.

Apophasis (Greek ἀπόφασις from ἀπόφημι apophemi, "to say no") is a rhetorical device wherein the speaker or writer brings up a subject by either denying it, or denying that it should be brought up.

Apologia (from Greek ἀπολογία, "speaking in defense") is a formal defense of a position or action.

An open loop is a rhetorical device to instill curiosity by creating anticipation for what will come next.

In literature and writing, stylistic elements are the use of any of a variety of techniques to give an auxiliary meaning, idea, or feeling to the literal or written.

Ethopoeia (ee-tho-po-EE-ya)is the ancient Greek term for the creation of a character.

Aphorismus (from the Greek: ἀφορισμός, aphorismós, "a marking off", also "rejection, banishment") is a figure of speech that calls into question if a word is properly used ("How can you call yourself a man?").