updated 02 January 2005
CLARIFYING RHETORICAL TERMS & DRAWING
DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN & AMONG THEM: 2003

Study the examples below (many of which are excellent), and consider whether each one is labeled appropriately.  In some cases, the example may illustrate more than one rhetorical or stylistic concept: see if you can identify another term that accurately characterizes the example.  In other cases, the example may not quite fit the qualities of the term it's intended to illustrate: see if you can come up with a more appropriate term.  Check your definitions against those in our online glossary.

*  If you spot any errors in the transcription of quotations that you sent me, please notify me via e-mail.  
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Ambiguity
--"It's Moving Day . . . At Least Your Marker Has a Grip!" (Bic Grip pen) [AJ]
--the word “note” can mean a musical tone or a short written record. [KS]

Anadiplosis
--"Snuggle, Snuggly soft." [AT]

Anaphora
--"No Other Place Like This.  No Other Magazine Like This"  (Sunset magazine) [AJ]
----“And I have said that the body is not more than the soul,/
And nothing, not God, is greater to one than one’s self is,/ And
whoever walks a furlong without sympathy walks to his own funeral drest
in his shroud,/ And I or you pocketless of a dime may purchase the pick
of the earth,/ And to glance with an eye or show a bean in its pod
confounds the learning of all times,/ And there is no trade or
employment but the young man following it may become a hero,/ And there
is no object so soft but it makes a hub for the wheel’d universe,/ And I
say to any man or woman, Let your soul stand cool and composed before a
million universes.” (Walt Whitman “Song of Myself”) [DM]

Antirrhesis
--Rush Limbaugh is no political commentator; he's a two-bit showman whose political ideas are about as impressive as his humility. [BS]  

Antonomasia
--Judge (your honor)
President of the United States (chief executive) [KS]

Apostrophe
-"What year did Ben Franklin invent electricity...?" "I invented electricity! Ben Franklin's the Debil!" (Waterboy) [SW]

Catachresis
--“I listen vainly, but with a thirsty ear.”- MacArthur, Farewell Address [JP] [GS]

Categoria
--"Man, the devil in disguise." [AT]

Cliche
--If you expect to soar with the eagles during the day, you can't hoot with the owls at night. [BS]

Decorum
"It has come to my knowledge that the grand dutchess shall be visiting the city today. We must needs be presentable for her arriaval." Versus "Hey, you need to lose the attitude man! [SW]

Dehortatio
--Get to work! "An Idle mind is the devil's workshop!" [SW]

Diacope
--"Simplify! Simplify! Simplify!" [JD]

Epithet
--hot water heater, intentional defiance, repeated again, another helping [JA]

Ethopoeia
--is to try and put yourself in someone else's shoes. [JD]

Hypotaxis
--I was very pleased with that certain telephone call yesterday, notifying me of my substantial lottery winnings, resulting in my renewed vigor for academics, no longer having the burden of requiring gainful employment. [JA]

Loose sentence
-- "We deliver for Yule". ~~USPS Christmas promotional advertisement. [JE]
-- "For surely you have a future ahead of you; your hope will not be disappointed."--Proverbs 23:18 [???]

Maxim
--"There's not enough art in our schools. No wonder people think LouisArmstrong was the first man to walk on the moon."

Periodic sentence
--"The Nighttime, Sniffling, Sneezing,Coughing, Aching, Stuffy Head, Fever So You Can Rest and Have a Good Morning Medicine. ~~Vick's Nyquil cough medicine. [JE]

(Ad Council, America for the Arts) [AJ]

Periphrasis
“Was it for this I uttered prayers,/ And sobbed and cursed and kicked the stairs,/ That now, domestic as a plate,/ I should retire at half past eight?” (Edna Millay “Grown-Up”) [DM]


RETURN TO TERMS: 2003 (A-E)
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English 5730 is taught by Dr. Richard Nordquist.
Armstrong Atlantic State University
                             
updated 02 January 2005