Just Like Some Greek Terms.

Anamnesis- “A remembering.” You remind your reader of former success or catastrophe to emphasize your point.

It was a cool spring morning as we readied the ship to set sail for Venice, last year we made this voyage successfully. Again the ship is in prime condition as well as its crew, and again a fair wind blows in our favor.

Parachresis- Your bring another’s words into your own context, with new emphasis or context.

Out of breath I stood at the finish line. I had given the race every drop of energy in my body and pushed myself past what I thought my limit was. Still I had only come in fifth place. As I looked around at the dejected faces of the others who had come so close to victory, or perhaps not so close, I felt a tinge of pride. I had not left anything on the track today and as General Patton once said, “If a man does his best, what else is there?”

Paradiorthosis- You quote famous words with your own twist and without identifying them.

We looked around in amazement at the number of extremely obese people surrounding us. “Can you believe this?” I asked. John turned and snickered, “Well you know what they say about America, land of the free, home of the whopper!”

Paroemia- You apply proverbs to a new situation.

“How could he turn me down? That was an offer of a lifetime,” Richard fumed. “I offer him a way out of all his debt and he practically spits in my face!” I looked up calmly at my angry friend, “Well you can bring a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.”

Asyndeton- “Without joining.” You rush a series of clauses together without conjunctions, as if tumbled together by emotional haste.

As the dust settled it was clear that the Spartans had claimed victory. The Trojan army lay dead in the sand. The Spartans celebrated their victory on top of the Trojan walls. They came, they saw, they conquered.