Rhetorical Strategies

Rhetorical Strategies QUIZ Polysyndeton Metaphor Jargon Juxtaposition Alliteration Irony Hyperbole Understatement Personification Oxymoron Euphemism Anaphora Simile Allusion Asyndeton

Directions: Using the word bank above, identify which rhetorical strategy is used in the example below. You will use each word ONLY ONCE.

1. The sea-worm was grotesque, slimy, indifferent, cold as it crawled across the mirror.

2. Dumb and Dumber 2 was seriously funny, but Will thought it was a waste of time and money.

3. When Sarah’s goldfish died, her mother texted her “Johnny passed way today.”

4. In August 2008, 19 individuals brought a putative class action lawsuit in the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of California against Facebook and the companies that had participated in Beacon, alleging violations of various federal and state privacy laws.

5. Maddie swung on the little gate in front of the playground. It was the early afternoon of a sunshiny day with little winds playing hide-and-seek in it.

6. I'm not afraid to die, not afraid to fail, and not afraid to be alone. I'm just afraid I might have to stop talking about myself for five minutes.

7. “Oh my love’s like a red, red rose that’s newly sprung in June.”

8. Taylor told Ms. Cordell that if she assigned another timed essay, she would have a heart attack and fall over dead.

9. Sana swiftly swam through the swamp to escape the pack of hungry panthers that were chasing her.

10. When Juan woke up, his mother told him to dress warm because “it’s a bit chilly,” but when he checked his Iphone, it said it was -10 degrees outside!

11. Madeline couldn’t stop laughing when she saw Christina slip and fall in the hallway, but as she pointed and laughed, Madeline lost her footing on the slick floor and fell to the ground.

12. When Mario became obsessed with a new love interest, Cole told him “Don’t be a Romeo, you remember how that ended for him.”

13. When Mr. Streeter asked Aidan what he remembered about the robber, Aidan said “Well it was dark and cold and wet and he may have had a mask on.”

14. “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”

15. You will soon be asked to do great violence in the cause of good. Rhetorical Strategy Quiz Key

1. Asyndeton – deliberate omission of conjunctions (FANBOYS). Notice how there should be the conjunction “and” before the word “cold” to join the list. In this example, it has been deliberately deleted to emphasize the characteristics of the worm. 2. Oxymoron – serious is the opposite of funny, when they are placed directly together, they create an oxymoron (which is a more specific type of paradox) 3. Euphemism – “passed away” is a less offensive phrase for “died” 4. Jargon – these are terms specific to a group (law/lawyers) 5. Personification – technically, only people/animals can “play,” so the winds have been given human characteristics 6. Anaphora – “not afraid” is repeated at the beginning of each clause. If you put parallelism, you are right, but it is not the BEST answer. Anaphora is more specific than parallelism. 7. Simile – speaker says his love is similar to a red, red rose 8. Hyperbole – she wouldn’t actually fall over from a heart attack – this is an exaggeration. 9. Alliteration – “s” is repeated at the beginning of several words in the sentence. 10. Understatement – “it’s chilly” deemphasizes that it is actually freezing outside 11. Situational irony – this is the last thing we would expect to happen to Madeline since she was in the middle of making fun of someone for the exact same thing. 12. Allusion – Cole makes an allusion to Romeo from Romeo and Juliet (a classic literary work by Shakespeare) 13. Polysyndeton – Aidan uses more conjunctions than is grammatically necessary – a normal example would be: “It was dark, cold, and wet.” If he had used ASYNDETON, he would have said “It was dark, cold, wet.” 14. Metaphor – speaker compares world to a stage 15. Antithesis – great violence contrasts the idea of good.