Rhetorical Test

Alliteration

Recurrence of initial consonant sounds. The
repetition can be juxtaposed (and then it is
usually limited to two words). The repeated sound or letter is an example of alliteration for example the second example has 2 m or the first has v

Example: Veni, vidi, vici. — Cesar

Facebook is a mighty movement.

Allusion

Short, informal reference to a famous
person or event.

Example: If only Leonidas and his men were here.

You think life is dicult? Tell Nelson
Mandela about it.

Amplification

Repeating a word or expression while
adding more detail to it.

Example: Suddenly, Frank was standing in front of me, right in front of me, right in front of my face.

Anadiplosis

Repeats the last word of one phrase, clause,
or sentence at or very near the beginning of
the next.

Example: It was a beautiful day. That day
became a hallmark, a hallmark of happiness in my life.

You cannot buy passion in the supermarket. In a supermarket you can

Analogy

Compares two things, which are alike in
several respects, for the purpose of
explaining or clarifying some unfamiliar or
dicult idea or object by showing how the
idea or object is similar to some familiar
one.

Example: Flying with Ryanair is like being drunk.
Afterwards you always say that it was
the last time.

People are like potatoes. They all look
the same, but when you taste them you
realize they are not.

Anaphora

Repetition of the same word or words at the
beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or
sentences, commonly in conjunction with
climax and with parallelism.

Example: The beauty of life runs away from
pessimists. The beauty of life hides from
realists. The beauty of life embraces
optimists.

No love will give up where hatred rules.
No love will ever surrender to
detestation.

Antanagoge

Placing a good point or benefit next to a
fault criticism, or problem in order to reduce
the impact or significance of the negative
point.

Example: True, he always forgets my birthday,
but he buys me presents all year round.

He's the most miserable person on
earth, but I love him.

Antimetabole

Reversing the order of repeated words or
phrases (a loosely chiastic structure, AB-BA)
to intensify the final formulation, to present
alternatives, or to show contrast.

Example: Always is never right; and never is
always wrong.

No great speaker lacks of energy.
Without energy you cannot become a
great speaker.

When the going gets tough, the tough
get going! — Anon

Antiphrasis

One word irony, established by context.

Example: Come here, Tiny, he said to the two-
meter giant.

What a cool 45 degrees!

Antithesis

Establishes a clear, contrasting relationship
between two ideas by joining them together
or juxtaposing them, often in parallel
structure.

Example: That's one small step for a man, one
giant leap for mankind. — Neil Armstrong.

I was the right fish in the wrong pond.

Aposiopesis

Stopping abruptly and leaving a statement
unfinished.

Example: We better leave this place or we'll—

You should get your act together or you
will—

Apostrophe

Addresses some absent or nonexistent
person or things if present and capable of
understanding. Its most common purpose in
prose is to display intense emotion.

Example: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that
kills the prophets and stones those sent
to her! — Luke 13:34 (NASB)

O eloquent, just, and mighty Death! —
Sir Walter Raleigh

Assonance

Similar vowel sounds repeated in successive
or proximate words containing dierent
consonants.

Examples: The crumbling thunder of seas.

On a proud round cloud in white high
night.

Asyndeton

Omitting of conjunctions between words,
phrases, or clauses.

Example: Public speaking is all about self-
confidence, message, impact.

He likes beer, white sausages, pretzels,
dumplings, sauerkraut.

Catachresis

An extravagant, implied metaphor using
words in an alien or unusual way.

Example: I will speak daggers to her. — Hamlet

To take arms against a sea of troubles...
— Hamlet

She spoke AK47-style, without pausing
at all.

Chiasmus

Figure of speech in which two or more
clauses are related to each other through a
reversal of structures in order to make a
larger point; that is, the clauses display used for structures that do not repeat the same words and phrases, but invert a
sentence's grammatical structure or ideas.

Example: What is learned unwillingly is gladly
forgotten.

I feel proud of my Alvaro every time the
little man makes others smile.

By day the frolic, and the dance by
night. — Samuel Johnson

Climax

Consists of arranging words, clauses, or
sentences in the order of increasing
importance, weight, or emphasis. A good,
better, best structure.

Example: The concerto was applauded at the
house of Baron von Schnooty, it was
praised highly at court, it was voted
best concerto of the year by the
Academy, it was considered by Mozart
the highlight of his career, and it has
become known today as the best
concerto in the world.

Conduplicatio

Resembles anadiplosis in the repetition of a
preceding word, but it repeats a key word
(not just the last word) from a preceding
phrase, clause, or sentence, at the
beginning of the next.

Example: A golden key to success in public
speaking is authenticity. We all hold
that key in our hands already.

Diacope

Repetition of a word or phrase after an
intervening word or phrase as a method of
emphasis.

Example: We can do this, believe me; we can do
this!

What do you say, team; what do you
say?

Distinctio

An explicit reference to a particular
meaning or to the various meanings of a
word, in order to remove or prevent
ambiguity.

Example: An audience falls asleep soon—that is,
after seven minutes.

Without an emotional appeal it's hard
to persuade an audience. Pathos, the
emotional appeal, is one of Aristotle's
three pillars of persuasion.

Soaps

S: Subject: The general topic or ideas in the writing 

O: Occasion: The time and place of the writing, or the event that inspired it 

A: Audience: Who the writing is intended for 

P: Purpose: The reason for the writing, or what the author wants the reader to understand

Didls

Diction: The connotation of the word choice

Imagery: Vivid descriptions or figures of speech that appeal to the senses

Details: Facts that support the tone or attitude

Language: The overall use of language, such as formal or clinical

Sentence structure: How the structure affects the reader's attitude

Enthymeme

Informally stated syllogism which omits
either one of the premises or the conclusion. One premise is unstated, and the audience fills in the gap

Example: He is a Toastmaster. He must be a great
speaker

Enumeratio

Details parts, causes, eects, or
consequences to make a point more
forcibly. Lists details or parts of a concept for emphasis or clarity.

Example: Public speaking is adrenaline, euphoria,
acknowledgment, fun, creativity,
energy, passion, ...

I like many things about her: her
passion, her enthusiasm, her drive, her
intrinsic motivation, ...

Epanalepsis

Repeats the beginning word of a clause or
sentence at the end.

Examples: The king is dead; long live the king.

Water alone dug this giant canyon; yes, just plain water.

Epistrophe

Repetition of the same word or words at the
end of successive phrases, clauses or
sentences. It is the counterpart of
anaphora.

Example: What lies behind us and what lies
before us are tiny compared to what
lies within us. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I
understood as a child, I thought as a
child. — The Apostle Paul

Epithet

Adjective or adjective phrase that qualifies a noun by naming a key characteristic of the subject, often highlighting a specific trait and can be metaphorical

Example: Untouched love
Harmful attempt
Peaceful dawn
Lazy road
Sleepy mountain

Epizeuxis

Repetition of words in immediate
succession, for vehemence or emphasis.

Example: O horror, horror, horror. — Macbeth

Never give in — never, never, never,
never... — Winston Churchill

Eponym

Substitutes for a particular attribute the
name of a famous person recognized for
that attribute.

Example: Is she smart? That girl is an Einstein.

My partner is a Mother Teresa.

Exemplum

Citing an example; using an illustrative
story, either true or fictitious. To illustrate, let's consider the following situation.

Example: A man walks down the street.
He's homeless. He carries only one bag.
...

An example: In the late 1950s the world
faced...

Hyperbole

Counterpart of understatement,
deliberately exaggerates conditions for
emphasis or eect.

Example: The bag weighed a ton.

I can give you a thousand reasons, why
you should invest more time in personal
growth.

Hypophora

Consists of raising one or more questions
and then proceeding to answer them,
usually at some length. A common usage is
to ask the question at the beginning of a
paragraph and then use that paragraph to
answer it.

Example: So, what does all this mean? It means
that....

What behavior, then, is uniquely
human? My theory is this.... — H. J.
Campbell

Metabasis

Consists of a brief statement of what has
been said and what will follow.

Examples: Now that I've explained the core of this
problem, I will continue to examine its
reasons.

Now that I have made this catalogue of
swindles and perversions, let me give
another example of the kind of writing
that they lead to. — George Orwell

Metanoia

Qualifies a statement by recalling it (or part
of it) and expressing it in a better, milder, or
stronger way.

Examples: At Toastmasters we become better
speakers. In fact, we become better
people.

He's a great friend, nay the best friend
in the world.

Metaphor

Compares two unlike things by stating that one is the other

Examples: All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely entrances; — Shakespeare, As You Like It

Metonymy

Calls a thing or concept not by its own
name but by the name of something
intimately associated with that thing or
concept.

Example: The White House (=the President of the
USA) announced today...

He's one of the most influential actors in
Hollywood (=US film industry).

Onomatopoeia

Word that phonetically imitates or suggests
the source of the sound that it describes.

Examples: Oink
Meow
Bang
Roar
Snap
Crackle
Pop

Oxymoron

Combines contradictory terms.

Example: Black milk
Dark light
Happily divorced
Kindly bold
Violent relaxation

Paradox

Contradictory or self-defeating but may reveal a deeper truth or insight upon closer examination

Example: I can resist anything except temptation.
— Oscar Wilde

Spies do not look like spies. — G. K.
Chesterton

Paralipsis

Asserts or emphasizes something by
pointedly seeming to pass over, ignore, or
deny it.

Example: If you were not my father, I would say
you were perverse. — Antigone.

I won't tell you that it's bad manners to
put your elbow on the table while
you're eating.

Parallelism

Gives two or more parts of the sentences a
similar form so as to give the whole a
definite pattern.

Example: What you see is what you get.

I appreciate profound conversations
and I despise superficial talk.

Parenthesis

A final form of hyperbaton, consists of a
word, phrase, or whole sentence inserted as
an aside in the middle of another sentence.

Example: Every time I try to think of a good
rhetorical example, I rack my brains but
- you guessed - nothing happens.

Juxtaposes

placing things side by side to highlight their differences or create contrast.