AP Lang -- Rhetorical Devices Questions with
Verified Correct Answers
alliteration
repetition of sounds at the beginning of a word
assonance
repetition of a vowel sound
consonance
repetition of a consonant sound
cacophony
harsh discordance of sounds (e.g. jack cut crispy carrots)
euphony
pleasing sounds from a combination of words
parallelism
repetition of similar words/phrases/ideas to represent that the ideas are of equal or higher
value & importance
isocolon
parallelism relating to equal length (syllables/word count)
chiasmus
words are repeated in reverse order (e.g. the fire burned, burned the fire)
antithesis
, opposition or contrast of ideas/words in a balanced or parallel structure
climax
height of suspense; turning point in literature; sentence structured in increasing importance
anticlimax
an event/conclusion/statement that is less powerful than built up
paraprosdokian
a sentence/phrase in which the second half is surprising and causes one to rethink the first
half
anaphora
repetition of the first word/phrase in successive sentences
epistrophe
repetition of a word/phrase at the end of a phrase/sentence
epanalepsis
repetition of a word/phrase at regular intervals; a sentence starts & ends with the same word
anadiplosis
repetition of the final words of a sentence or line at the beginning of the next
commoratio
attempting to prove a point by repeating it several times in different ways
tautology
repetition of a word/phrase without specific purpose/meaning; redundancy
Verified Correct Answers
alliteration
repetition of sounds at the beginning of a word
assonance
repetition of a vowel sound
consonance
repetition of a consonant sound
cacophony
harsh discordance of sounds (e.g. jack cut crispy carrots)
euphony
pleasing sounds from a combination of words
parallelism
repetition of similar words/phrases/ideas to represent that the ideas are of equal or higher
value & importance
isocolon
parallelism relating to equal length (syllables/word count)
chiasmus
words are repeated in reverse order (e.g. the fire burned, burned the fire)
antithesis
, opposition or contrast of ideas/words in a balanced or parallel structure
climax
height of suspense; turning point in literature; sentence structured in increasing importance
anticlimax
an event/conclusion/statement that is less powerful than built up
paraprosdokian
a sentence/phrase in which the second half is surprising and causes one to rethink the first
half
anaphora
repetition of the first word/phrase in successive sentences
epistrophe
repetition of a word/phrase at the end of a phrase/sentence
epanalepsis
repetition of a word/phrase at regular intervals; a sentence starts & ends with the same word
anadiplosis
repetition of the final words of a sentence or line at the beginning of the next
commoratio
attempting to prove a point by repeating it several times in different ways
tautology
repetition of a word/phrase without specific purpose/meaning; redundancy
