Rhetorical Devices and Literary Techniques for Analyzing Texts

Ethos

Appeal to credibility or shared values

Logos

Appeal to logic (data, statistics, personal experience)

Pathos

Appeal to emotion

Linguistic Irony

Saying the opposite of what's meant

Situational Irony

An outcome opposite of what's expected (ex: run over by an ambulance)

Dramatic Irony

Audience knows something characters don't

Denotation

Dictionary definition of a word

Connotation

Associations or feelings implied by a word and context

Colloquial Language

Informal, spoken-like communication (opposite of academic language)

Didactic Language

Language meant to teach, especially about morality or spirituality

Allusion

Reference to literature, history, or another text

Ambiguity

Word/phrase/sentence with multiple meanings or interpretations

Analogy

Extended comparison of two or more things

Anecdote

Short narrative of an interesting or meaningful incident

Antithesis

Contrasting ideas expressed in parallel structure

Diction

Word choice

Imagery

Descriptive language that provokes the senses

Juxtaposition

Placing two or more things side by side for comparison

Pacing

Speed or flow of writing

Paradox

Statement that seems self-contradictory but is actually true

Parallelism

Repetition of phrases or sentences using the same structure

Rhetorical Question

A question asked by the author not meant to be answered