Rhetorical Devices Exam with Complete
Solutions
Apostrophe - Answer-a figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary
person or a personified abstraction
Apostrophe (example) - Answer-"Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are.
Up above the word so high, like a diamond in the sky."
Asyndeton - Answer-The omission of conjunctions
Asyndeton (example) - Answer-"I came, I saw, I conquered."
Cacophony - Answer-Harsh or discordant sounds
Cacophony (example) - Answer-"I would not see thy cruel nails, pluck out his poor old
eyes; nor thy fierce sister in him anointed flesh stick boarish fangs."
Catalogue - Answer-longs list
Catalogue (example) - Answer-Wheezing cough, grumbling of a late night teenager,
flicking of the lighter, meow, unanswered telephone resonating."
Chiasmus - Answer-reversal in the order of words in two otherwise parallel phrases
Chiasmus (example) - Answer-"Do I love you because you are beautiful, or are you
beautiful because I love you?"
Cliché - Answer-a worn-out idea or overused expression
Cliché (example) - Answer-"Home is where the heart is."
Colloquialism - Answer-A word or phrase (including slang) used in everyday
conversation and informal writing but that is often inappropriate in formal writing
Colloquialism (example) - Answer-"You don't know about me without you have read a
book by the name of 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer', but that ain't no matter."
Conceit - Answer-a fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or
surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects
Conceit (example) - Answer-"I have been studying how I may compare this prison
where I live unto the world."
, Didactic - Answer-Intended to instruct
Didactic (example) - Answer-"Easy Writer" by Andrea Lunsford
Epistrophe - Answer-Repetition of a word or words at the end of two or more successive
versus, clauses or sentences
Epistrophe (example) - Answer-"Hourly joys be still upon you!
Juno sings her blessings upon you."
Epizeuxis - Answer-a figure by which a word or phrase is repeated with emphasis
Epizeuxis (example) - Answer-"words, words, words"
Euphemism - Answer-an inoffensive expression that is substituted for one that is
considered offensive
Euphemism (example) - Answer-passed away/died
Hyperbole - Answer-a figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong
emotion, make a point, or evoke humor
Hyperbole (example) - Answer-"I had to wait in the station for 10 days-an eternity."
Inversion - Answer-reversing the customary order of elements in a sentence or phrase.
Inversion (example) - Answer-"'What a lovely day', thought I and around I turned, to
watch the flowers."
Irony - Answer-a contrast between what is expected and what actually exists or
happens
Irony (example) - Answer-Romeo finds Juliet 'dead' and kills himself, causing Juliet to
kill herself when she finds Romeo.
Jargon - Answer-The special language of a profession or group
Jargon (example) - Answer-Ahead in the count- doing well, ahead of peers
Code eleven- officer is on the scene
Juxtaposition - Answer-placing two elements side by side to present a comparison or
contrast
Alliteration - Answer-The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two
or more words. consonance/ assonance
Solutions
Apostrophe - Answer-a figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary
person or a personified abstraction
Apostrophe (example) - Answer-"Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are.
Up above the word so high, like a diamond in the sky."
Asyndeton - Answer-The omission of conjunctions
Asyndeton (example) - Answer-"I came, I saw, I conquered."
Cacophony - Answer-Harsh or discordant sounds
Cacophony (example) - Answer-"I would not see thy cruel nails, pluck out his poor old
eyes; nor thy fierce sister in him anointed flesh stick boarish fangs."
Catalogue - Answer-longs list
Catalogue (example) - Answer-Wheezing cough, grumbling of a late night teenager,
flicking of the lighter, meow, unanswered telephone resonating."
Chiasmus - Answer-reversal in the order of words in two otherwise parallel phrases
Chiasmus (example) - Answer-"Do I love you because you are beautiful, or are you
beautiful because I love you?"
Cliché - Answer-a worn-out idea or overused expression
Cliché (example) - Answer-"Home is where the heart is."
Colloquialism - Answer-A word or phrase (including slang) used in everyday
conversation and informal writing but that is often inappropriate in formal writing
Colloquialism (example) - Answer-"You don't know about me without you have read a
book by the name of 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer', but that ain't no matter."
Conceit - Answer-a fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or
surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects
Conceit (example) - Answer-"I have been studying how I may compare this prison
where I live unto the world."
, Didactic - Answer-Intended to instruct
Didactic (example) - Answer-"Easy Writer" by Andrea Lunsford
Epistrophe - Answer-Repetition of a word or words at the end of two or more successive
versus, clauses or sentences
Epistrophe (example) - Answer-"Hourly joys be still upon you!
Juno sings her blessings upon you."
Epizeuxis - Answer-a figure by which a word or phrase is repeated with emphasis
Epizeuxis (example) - Answer-"words, words, words"
Euphemism - Answer-an inoffensive expression that is substituted for one that is
considered offensive
Euphemism (example) - Answer-passed away/died
Hyperbole - Answer-a figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong
emotion, make a point, or evoke humor
Hyperbole (example) - Answer-"I had to wait in the station for 10 days-an eternity."
Inversion - Answer-reversing the customary order of elements in a sentence or phrase.
Inversion (example) - Answer-"'What a lovely day', thought I and around I turned, to
watch the flowers."
Irony - Answer-a contrast between what is expected and what actually exists or
happens
Irony (example) - Answer-Romeo finds Juliet 'dead' and kills himself, causing Juliet to
kill herself when she finds Romeo.
Jargon - Answer-The special language of a profession or group
Jargon (example) - Answer-Ahead in the count- doing well, ahead of peers
Code eleven- officer is on the scene
Juxtaposition - Answer-placing two elements side by side to present a comparison or
contrast
Alliteration - Answer-The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two
or more words. consonance/ assonance
