English Language Proficiency Test › Identifying Rhetorical Devices
Since its discovery and classification as the ninth planet in our solar system in 1930, Pluto has been the subject of much controversy in the scientific community. Its small size and extreme distance from Earth have made gathering specific data about its characteristics difficult, and no real consensus exists amongst astronomers about the information that is known about Pluto. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union created an official definition for the term "planet" which listed three criteria for classification:
Because Pluto is much smaller than the other objects in its orbit, it fails to meet the third condition and has since been known as a "dwarf planet". Some scientists have gone so far as to suggest that Pluto may actually be one of the many moons of its neighboring planet, Neptune.
When Pluto was first discovered in 1930, astronomers estimated that it may be as large as earth and thus were confident that it was, in fact, a planet. As our ability to gather information about outer space continues to improve through more powerful telescopes and space probes, scientists are now able to use the new, more accurate information they receive to accurately classify objects in space. While some still argue that Pluto meets the accepted criteria to be known as a planet, for the time being, conventional scientific thinking will hold that our solar system only has eight planets.
Throughout the passage, the writer primarily relies upon the following rhetorical appeal __________________.
The authority of the International Astronomical Union which has defined the specific criteria for a body to be classified as a "planet"
An emotional appeal to readers to support the idea that Pluto should still be considered a planet
A logical argument that Pluto may, in fact, actually be a moon rather than a true planet
Pointing out the logical flaws in classifying planets primarily by size
While the author acknowledges the ongoing debate in the scientific community, the final sentence of the passage, "conventional scientific thinking will hold" indicates an acceptance of the criteria established by the International Astronomical Association and the application of its criteria to Pluto.
1 Ye who listen with credulity to the whispers of fancy, and pursue with eagerness the phantoms of hope; who expect that age will perform the promises of youth, and that the deficiencies of the present day will be supplied by the morrow, attend to the history of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia.
2 … According to the custom which has descended from age to age among the monarchs of the torrid zone, Rasselas was confined in a private palace, with the other sons and daughters of Abyssinian royalty, till the order of succession should call him to the throne.
3 The place which the wisdom or policy of antiquity had destined for the residence of the Abyssinian princes was a spacious valley in the kingdom of Amhara, surrounded on every side by mountains, of which the summits overhang the middle part. 4 The only passage by which it could be entered was a cavern that passed under a rock, \[and the\] outlet of the cavern was concealed by a thick wood, and the mouth which opened into the valley was closed with gates of iron, forged by the artificers of ancient days, so massive that no man, without the help of engines, could open or shut them.
5 From the mountains on every side rivulets descended that filled all the valley with verdure and fertility, and formed a lake in the middle, inhabited by fish of every species, and frequented by every fowl whom nature has taught to dip the wing in water. 6 This lake discharged its superfluities by a stream, which entered a dark cleft of the mountain on the northern side, and fell with dreadful noise from precipice to precipice till it was heard no more.
What literary device opens Sentence 1?
Apostrophe
Hyperbole
Metaphor
Conceit
Hubris
Sentence 1 begins with a direct address to the reader, “Ye.” This is the definition of apostrophe, a direct address to a reader. Conceits are elaborate and extended metaphors, and metaphors are comparisons that don’t employ “like” or “as” (e.g. “the queen is a ferocious lion”). Hyperbole is the use of extreme exaggeration (e.g. “this suitcase weighs a ton”). Hubris is excessive pride leading in literature to a tragic downfall.
Passage adapted from Samuel Johnson’s Rasselas: Prince of Abyssinia (1759)
This passage is adapted from Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser (1901)
The nature of these vast retail combinations, should they ever permanently disappear, will form an interesting chapter in the commercial history of our nation. Such a flowering out of a modest trade principle the world had never witnessed up to that time. They were along the line of the most effective retail organization, with hundreds of stores coordinated into one, and laid out upon the most imposing and economic basis. They were handsome, bustling, successful affairs, with a host of clerks and a swarm of patrons. Carrie passed along the busy aisles, much affected by the remarkable displays of trinkets, dress goods, shoes, stationery, jewelry. Each separate counter was a show place of dazzling interest and attraction. She could not help feeling the claim of each trinket and valuable upon her personally and yet she did not stop. There was nothing there which she could not have used—nothing which she did not long to own. The dainty slippers and stockings, the delicately frilled skirts and petticoats, the laces, ribbons, hair-combs, purses, all touched her with individual desire, and she felt keenly the fact that not any of these things were in the range of her purchase. She was a work-seeker, an outcast without employment, one whom the average employé could tell at a glance was poor and in need of a situation.
Which of the following terms best describes Carrie's reaction to the department store?
Amazement
Nostalgia
Resentment
Apathy
The writer describes the store as "vast," "bustling," and "successful." Carrie is described as being "much affected" by the goods that she sees, "each counter was show place of dazzling interest. Therefore, the best description for her reaction would be "amazed."
"During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. I know not how it was - but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit."
Adapted from "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe (1839)
Which rhetorical device does Poe use in the emboldened phrase above?
Alliteration
Onomatopoeia
Irony
Simile
The first phrase contains the words during, dull, dark, and day. Alliteration is the repetition of sounds in closely connected words.
1 All her life Miss Elizabeth Dwarris had been a sore trial to her relations. 2 A woman of means, she ruled tyrannously over a large number of impecunious cousins, using her bank-balance like the scorpions of Rehoboam to chastise them, and, like many another pious creature, for their soul’s good making all and sundry excessively miserable. 3 Nurtured in the evangelical ways current in her youth, she insisted that her connections should seek salvation according to her own lights; and, with harsh tongue and with bitter gibe, made it her constant business to persuade them of their extreme unworthiness. 4 She arranged lives as she thought fit, and ventured not only to order the costume and habits, but even the inner thought of those about her: the Last Judgment could have no terrors for any that had faced her searching examination. 5 She invited to stay with her in succession various poor ladies who presumed on a distant tie to call her Aunt Eliza, and they accepted her summons, more imperious than a royal command, with gratitude by no means unmixed with fear, bearing the servitude meekly as a cross which in the future would meet due testamentary reward.
In Sentence 4, what literary device can be seen in the phrase “the Last Judgment could have no terrors for any that had faced her searching examination”?
Hyperbole
Parallelism
Juxtaposition
Synesthesia
Verisimilitude
Here, the author exaggerates the wrath of Miss Dwarris, saying that the Last Judgment was preferable to facing her. This use of dramatic exaggeration is known as hyperbole. Parallelism is the use of clauses with identical grammatical patterns, syntax, or meter (e.g. “She expected nothing, hoped for everything, and received something”). A juxtaposition is a contrast between two things (often an unexpected and rewarding one). Verisimilitude is the appearance of reality or truth (without necessarily being actually real or true). Synaesthesia is the conflation of different sensory perceptions (e.g. a velvety sound, a bright flavor).
Passage adapted from W. Somerset Maugham’s The Merry-Go-Round (1904)
1 All her life Miss Elizabeth Dwarris had been a sore trial to her relations. 2 A woman of means, she ruled tyrannously over a large number of impecunious cousins, using her bank-balance like the scorpions of Rehoboam to chastise them, and, like many another pious creature, for their soul’s good making all and sundry excessively miserable. 3 Nurtured in the evangelical ways current in her youth, she insisted that her connections should seek salvation according to her own lights; and, with harsh tongue and with bitter gibe, made it her constant business to persuade them of their extreme unworthiness. 4 She arranged lives as she thought fit, and ventured not only to order the costume and habits, but even the inner thought of those about her: the Last Judgment could have no terrors for any that had faced her searching examination. 5 She invited to stay with her in succession various poor ladies who presumed on a distant tie to call her Aunt Eliza, and they accepted her summons, more imperious than a royal command, with gratitude by no means unmixed with fear, bearing the servitude meekly as a cross which in the future would meet due testamentary reward.
In Sentence 2, what rhetorical device does “scorpions of Rehoboam” represent?
Allusion
Alliteration
Simile
Metonymy
Parallelism
Allusion is a reference to another literary (or sometimes historical, artistic, etc.) thing, place, or event (e.g. the title of the novel Brave New World alludes to the lines “O brave new world, / That has such people in ‘t!” in Shakespeare’s The Tempest). Alliteration is the repetition of similar sounds at the beginning of multiple words (e.g. “two torn tulips”). Simile is a comparison using “like” or “as” (e.g. “the still pond is like a looking glass”). Metonymy is the substitution of one word for another word that’s commonly associated with it (e.g. using “throne” to discuss a monarchy). Parallelism is the use of clauses with identical grammatical patterns, syntax, or meter (e.g. “She expected nothing, hoped for everything, and received something”).
Passage adapted from W. Somerset Maugham’s The Merry-Go-Round (1904)
This passage is an adapted from Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington (1901)
To those of the white race who look to the incoming of those of foreign birth and strange tongue and habits for the prosperity of the South, were I permitted I would repeat what I say to my own race, “Cast down your bucket where you are.” Cast it down among the eight millions of Negroes whose habits you know, whose fidelity and love you have tested in days when to have proved treacherous meant the ruin of your firesides. Cast down your bucket among these people who have, without strikes and labour wars, tilled your fields, cleared your forests, builded your railroads and cities, and brought forth treasures from the bowels of the earth, and helped make possible this magnificent representation of the progress of the South. Casting down your bucket among my people, helping and encouraging them as you are doing on these grounds, and to education of head, hand, and heart, you will find that they will buy your surplus land, make blossom the waste places in your fields, and run your factories. While doing this, you can be sure in the future, as in the past, that you and your families will be surrounded by the most patient, faithful, law-abiding, and unresentful people that the world has seen. As we have proved our loyalty to you in the past, in nursing your children, watching by the sick-bed of your mothers and fathers, and often following them with tear-dimmed eyes to their graves, so in the future, in our humble way, we shall stand by you with a devotion that no foreigner can approach, ready to lay down our lives, if need be, in defence of yours, interlacing our industrial, commercial, civil, and religious life with yours in a way that shall make the interests of both races one. In all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress.
The speaker refers to African-Americans who have been "nursing your children" and "watching by sick-bed of your mothers" primarily to appeal to readers' __________________.
emotions
sense of justice
ability to think logically
religious beliefs
The speaker mentions to various ways in which African-Americans have served Southern society in the past. From the tenderness of nursing young children to the sadness evoked by a sick-bed, the main appeal is to the readers' emotions.
1 Ye who listen with credulity to the whispers of fancy, and pursue with eagerness the phantoms of hope; who expect that age will perform the promises of youth, and that the deficiencies of the present day will be supplied by the morrow, attend to the history of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia.
2 … According to the custom which has descended from age to age among the monarchs of the torrid zone, Rasselas was confined in a private palace, with the other sons and daughters of Abyssinian royalty, till the order of succession should call him to the throne.
3 The place which the wisdom or policy of antiquity had destined for the residence of the Abyssinian princes was a spacious valley in the kingdom of Amhara, surrounded on every side by mountains, of which the summits overhang the middle part. 4 The only passage by which it could be entered was a cavern that passed under a rock, \[and the\] outlet of the cavern was concealed by a thick wood, and the mouth which opened into the valley was closed with gates of iron, forged by the artificers of ancient days, so massive that no man, without the help of engines, could open or shut them.
5 From the mountains on every side rivulets descended that filled all the valley with verdure and fertility, and formed a lake in the middle, inhabited by fish of every species, and frequented by every fowl whom nature has taught to dip the wing in water. 6 This lake discharged its superfluities by a stream, which entered a dark cleft of the mountain on the northern side, and fell with dreadful noise from precipice to precipice till it was heard no more.
What sonic effect can be heard in Sentence 5?
Alliteration
Assonance
Onomatopoeia
Chiasmus
None of these
The recurrent use of the “f” sound at the beginning of words (“From,” “filled,” “fertility,” “formed,” “fish,” “frequented,” “fowl”) is a classic example of alliteration, the repetition of similar sounds at the beginning of multiple words. Assonance is the repetition specifically of vowel sounds, and onomatopoeia is the use of a word that mimics the sound of the thing it is describing (e.g. “pop” or “buzz”). Chiasmus is the use of a crisscross or reverse structure in a sentence or paragraph and is not a sonic effect at all.
Passage adapted from Samuel Johnson’s Rasselas: Prince of Abyssinia (1759)
"His right name was Frank X. Farrell, and I guess the X stood for 'Excuse me.' Because he never pulled a play, good or bad, on or off the field, without apologizin' for it.
'Alibi Ike' was the name Carey wished on him the first day he reported down South, O' course we all cut out the 'Alibi' part of it right away for the fear he would overhear it and bust somebody. But we called him 'Ike' right to his face and the rest of it was understood by everybody on the club except Ike himself."
Adapted from "Alibi Ike" by Ring Lardner (1915)
This passage indicates that the characters and the reader know something about "Alibi Ike" that "Alibi Ike" does not know. We know his whole nickname whereas he only knows the second half.
Which type of rhetorical device is this?
Dramatic irony
Dramatic cacophony
Anachronism
Onomatopoeia
Situational irony
When the audience/reader knows something that a character does not, this is known as dramatic irony.
For future reference, there are three types of irony:
Dramtic Irony - when the audience/reader knows something that a character does not
Situational Irony - when something different happens that what is expected
Verbal Irony - the use of words to mean something different than what is actually said (similar to sarcasm)
"During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. I know not how it was - but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit."
Adapted from "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe (1839)
The bolded phrase above could be interpreted as use which rhetorical device?
Personification
Hyperbole
Anaphora
Cliché
This phrase gives non-human objects human characteristics.
Melancholy is an adjective that describes the emotion of feeling pervasively sad.
Describing a house as melancholy gives the house an emotion. Houses cannot have emotion.