Rhetorical Techniques

Pun

Pun

A play on words created by using one word to suggest two different meanings, both of which seem appropriate in the context of the sentence/paragraph, even though the meanings they suggest may be different or opposite.

Figurative Language

A phrase that is used to creatively express a concept or idea without using the word’s strict meaning.

Double Entendre

A phrase with a two-sided meaning

Onomatopoeia

A word used to describe a sound

Simile

A comparison using like or as

Metaphor

A comparison without like or as

Analogy

A comparison between two things, usually to explain a concept

Conceit

An elaborate metaphor

Personification

Giving human characteristics to something nonhuman

Zeugma

A figure of speech that can be applied to two things in different senses

Allegory

A reference to another text, media, etc.

Fable

A short story usually used to convey a moral

Metonymy

a figure of speech where a word or phrase is substituted with another word or phrase that is closely associated with it

Synecdoche

A figure of speech where a part is used to represent a whole, or vice versa

Apposition

a relationship between 2 or more words/phrases that are grammatically parallel and have the same referent

Epithet

A descriptive phrase expressing a quality characteristic of the person/thing mentioned

Hyperbole

An over exaggeration

Understatement

A under-exaggeration, the opposite of a hyperbole

Litotes

ironic statement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary

Euphemism

a milder substitute for a phrase that is considered harsh/blunt

Paradox

A statement that logically cannot be possible because of its contradictory

Oxymoron

A figure of speech in which contradictory words appear in conjunction

Allusion

A piece of writing that hints to a person, place, thing, literature, or art