Author: theonlinescholarinstitute
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What is Bomphiologia?
Bomphiologia is a rhetorical device that refers to excessive boasting, bragging, or self-praise, often exaggerated to the point of being humorous or absurd. It’s commonly found in epic poetry, satire, or comic speeches where a character tries to make themselves seem larger-than-life. ✅ Definition: A figure of speech involving boastful or pompous exaggeration, usually to…
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What is Auxesis?
Auxesis is a rhetorical device that involves the use of words or phrases arranged in a way that gradually increases intensity, importance, or magnitude. It can create a sense of growth, exaggeration, or climax, often for dramatic or persuasive effect. ✅ Definition: A form of amplification in which something is described as greater, larger, or…
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What is an Asterismos?
Asterismos is a literary and rhetorical device where a speaker or writer begins a statement with a word or phrase meant to grab attention. It doesn’t necessarily add meaning to the sentence itself but functions to focus the listener or reader. ✅ Definition: An introductory word or phrase used to draw attention before the main…
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What is a Transferred Epithet?
📌 Transferred Epithet Definition:A transferred epithet is a figure of speech in which an adjective or descriptive phrase is shifted from the word it logically describes to another word in the sentence. It gives a fresh, sometimes surprising effect, often adding emotional or poetic depth. ✅ Example: It’s like borrowing an adjective from its rightful…
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What is Toponymy?
📌 Toponymy Definition:Toponymy is the study or use of place names in literature, often to evoke a sense of location, history, or cultural significance. In literary terms, it can also refer to the naming of places within a narrative to enrich setting or thematic meaning. ✅ Example: 💡 Toponymy helps anchor a narrative in a…
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What is Synchysis?
📌 Synchysis Definition:Synchysis is a literary device in which words are deliberately scrambled or arranged in an unusual order, often in an ABAB pattern, to create a poetic effect, emphasize relationships between words, or draw attention to the meaning. It is sometimes called interlocked word order. ✅ Example: Here, the usual word order is rearranged…
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What is Metalepsis?
📌 Metalepsis Definition:Metalepsis is a rhetorical or literary device in which a figurative expression is used in a chain of references, often through multiple layers of meaning, so that understanding it requires knowledge of the original context. It can also be described as a reference through another reference. ✅ Example: 💡 Metalepsis often compresses complex…
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What is Hypozeuxis?
📌 Hypozeuxis Definition:Hypozeuxis is a rhetorical device in which each clause or sentence has its own independent subject and verb, rather than sharing them across clauses. It emphasizes separation and balance in the structure of sentences, often making ideas feel more deliberate or weighty. ✅ Example: Each clause stands independently with its own subject and…
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What is Hysteron Proteron?
📌 Hysteron Proteron Definition:Hysteron proteron is a rhetorical device (and a type of hyperbaton) in which the natural or logical order of ideas is reversed, often placing the more important or striking idea first for emphasis. The term literally means “the latter put before.” ✅ Example: 👉 It’s often used in poetry and dramatic speech…
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What is Epanodos?
📌 Epanodos Definition:Epanodos is a rhetorical or literary device in which a writer or speaker repeats the same idea or words in reverse order within a sentence or passage. It is often used for emphasis, clarification, or stylistic balance. It can resemble chiasmus, but it is usually more explanatory or elaborative rather than purely artistic.…