Rhetorical Technique

Imagery

Detailed descriptions that appeal to the five senses and affect the audience’s mood

Personifiication

Giving human characteristics to non-human entities

Anthropomorphism

Attributing human form or personality to non-human entities

Paradox

Contradictory statement that reveals a truth

Oxymoron

Figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction

Allusion

Reference to literature, geography, history, etc

Anecdote

A short, amusing or interesting story about an incident or person (usually longer than an allusion)

Simile

Comparing two unalike objects using “like”, “as”, or “than”

Metaphor

Comparing two unlike objects not using like/as

Analogy

Comparison between two similar things, typically on the basis of their structure and for the purpose of explanation or clarification

Verbal irony

Expressing the opposite of what you really mean

Situational irony

Expecting one thing to happen, but the opposite happens instead

Dramatic irony

When the audience knows something that the characters do not

Jargon

Special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand

Colloquialism

Word or phrase that is not formal or literary, typically one used in ordinary or familiar conversation

Understatement

Intentionally understates something to make it seem less important than it actually is

Euphemism

Mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing

Hyperbole

Intentional exaggeration

Apostrophe

Addressing of a usually absent person or a usually personified thing rhetorically

Parallel Structure

Use of the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance

Antithesis

Rhetorical contrast of ideas by means of parallel arrangements of words, clauses, or sentences

Antimetabole

Repetition of words in successive clauses, but in transposed grammatical order

Zuegma

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

Anaphora

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

Epistrophe

Repetition of word/phrase at the end of successive phrases, clauses, or lines

Polysyndeton

Deliberate use of multiple conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words

Asyndeton

Deliberate omission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words

Alliteration

Repetition of the same sound beginning several words/syllables in sequence

Juxtaposition

Putting two objects/ideas next to one another to draw the contrast

Subjective reasoning

Biased, based on your own opinions/preconceived notions/prejudices

Objective reasoning

Based upon pure facts

Polemic

Spoken or written attack about someone or a topic

Inductive reasoning

Starting from the specific and moving to the general

Deductive reasoning

Starting from the general and moving to the specific

Qualitative evidence

Evidence that reflect the feelings, thoughts, and understandings of people

Quantitative evidence

Evidence that can be measured, cited, counted, and repeated

Satire

Use of ridicule to criticize people in the hopes of changing society

Caricature

Exaggeration of someone or something’s original form, usually of one specific part

Pun

Play on the meaning or sound(s) of a word

Invective

Name-calling or harsh attack for shock effect

Diction

Author’s word choice

Syntax

Author’s sentence structure

Denotation

Dictionary definition of a particular term

Connotation

Implied meaning of a word, what the word makes you think of