Rhetorical Terms

Analogy

A comparison between two seemingly dissimilar things

“Time is money, so spend it wisely”

Personification

Attribution of a lifelike quality to an inanimate object

“The screech of the alarm clock”

Paradox

A statement or situation that seems contradictory but actually reveals a surprising, hidden, or ironic truth

“Less is more”

Alliteration

Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of adjacent words

“Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers”

Syntax

The arrangement of words into phrases, clauses, and sentences

“Sarah is a librarian”

Periodic Sentence

a sentence that places its main point at the very end

Cumulative Sentence

a sentence that places its main point in the beginning

Parallel Structure

Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses

"I have a dream…I have a dream…I have a dream”

Anaphora

Repetition of a word of phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines

Asyndeton

Omission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words

“I came, I saw, I conquered”

Polysyndeton

Coordinating conjunctions are repeated in close succession across a series of words, phrases, or clauses

“You’re going to need a bigger boat, a bigger gun, and a bigger crew”

Antimetabole

Words and/or phrases are repeated and mirrored from the first half of the sentence to the second half

“You can take the man out of the city, but not the city out of the man”

Zeugma

Use of two different words in a grammatically similar way that produces different, often incongruous meanings

“He carried a strobe light and the responsibility for the lives of his men”

Hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration used for emphasis

“Im so hungry I could eat a horse”

Juxtaposition

Placing two things or ideas side by side for the sake of comparison or contrast

“The flawless luxury vehicle contrasts with the corroded, useless piece of machinery parked in front of it”

Colloquialism

An expression or language construction appropriate for casual, informal speaking or writing

“My bad”

Epistrophe

A word of phrase is repeated at the end of successive sentences or clauses to create an emphasis

“…the government of the people, by the people…”

Jargon

Specialized language of professional, occupational, or other group; meaningless to outsiders

Legal (habeas corpus)

Euphemism

A mild or polite way or phrase used to replace one that might be too harsh, offensive, or unpleasant

Aphorism

A short and clever statement that shares a moral rule or an observation about life

“A penny saved is a penny earned”

Exigence

the urgent problem, issue, or spark that prompts someone to write or speak

Denotation

the literal, objective dictionary definition of a word, free from any emotions

Connotation

an emotional or cultural idea that a word suggests beyond its strict literal dictionary definition