Overview of Rhetorical Devices and Strategies

Alliteration

Repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighboring words (e.g., "She sells seashells by the seashore").

Allusion

A reference to a well-known person, event, or work of literature (e.g., "He was a real Romeo with the ladies").

Anaphora

Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences (e.g., "I have a dream... I have a dream...").

Antithesis

Juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases (e.g., "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times").

Apostrophe

Directly addressing an absent or imaginary person, or a personified abstraction (e.g., "O death, where is thy sting?").

Asyndeton

Omitting conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses (e.g., "I came, I saw, I conquered").

Chiasmus

A reversal of grammatical structures in successive clauses (e.g., "Never let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You").

Colloquialism

Informal language or slang used in speech or writing (e.g., "gonna" instead of "going to").

Concession

Acknowledging an opposing point to strengthen one's argument (e.g., "I know you're concerned about... but let me explain...").

Connotation

The implied or suggested meaning of a word beyond its literal definition (e.g., "home" vs. "house").

Denotation

The literal or primary meaning of a word, as opposed to its connotation (e.g., "home" means a place of residence).

Diacope

Repetition of a word or phrase with one or two intervening words (e.g., "Free at last, Free at last, Thank God Almighty we are free at last").

Diction

The choice of words used in writing or speech.

Epiphora

Repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive clauses (e.g., "I want pizza, you want pizza, we all want pizza").

Euphemism

Substituting a milder or less direct term for one that is harsh or blunt (e.g., "passed away" instead of "died").

Hyperbole

Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally (e.g., "I've told you a million times").

Imagery

Descriptive language that appeals to the senses (e.g., "The golden sun dipped below the horizon, casting an orange glow over the sea").

Irony

A contrast between expectation and reality.

Juxtaposition

Placing two or more ideas, characters, or concepts side by side to highlight contrasts (e.g., "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times").

Litotes

A form of understatement that uses a double negative (e.g., "Not bad" meaning "good").

Metaphor

A comparison between two unlike things without using "like" or "as" (e.g., "Time is a thief").

Metonymy

Replacing the name of something with something closely related (e.g., "The White House issued a statement").

Mood

The atmosphere or emotional tone created by the author.

Onomatopoeia

Words that imitate sounds (e.g., "buzz," "sizzle").

Oxymoron

A combination of two contradictory terms (e.g., "deafening silence").

Paradox

A statement that seems contradictory but may reveal a truth (e.g., "Less is more").

Parallelism

The use of components in a sentence that are grammatically the same or similar in structure (e.g., "I came, I saw, I conquered").

Pathos

Appealing to the audience's emotions (e.g., a sad story to evoke sympathy).

Personification

Giving human qualities to non-human things (e.g., "The wind whispered through the trees").

Rhetorical Question

A question asked for effect rather than expecting an answer (e.g., "Why bother?").

Satire

The use of humor, irony, or ridicule to criticize or mock (e.g., "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift).

Simile

A comparison between two things using "like" or "as" (e.g., "Her smile was as bright as the sun").

Synecdoche

A figure of speech where a part represents the whole (e.g., "All hands on deck").

Understatement

Deliberately making something seem less important than it is (e.g., "It's just a scratch" for a deep wound).

Ethos

Credibility or trustworthiness of the speaker or writer.

Logos

Logical appeal or reasoning.

Anadiplosis

Repetition of the last word or phrase of one sentence at the beginning of the next (e.g., "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering").

Anthimeria

The use of a word in a new grammatical form, often using a noun as a verb (e.g., "Let me Facebook you later").

Appositive

A noun or noun phrase that renames another noun right beside it (e.g., "My friend, the doctor, will help you").

Aporia

An expression of doubt or hesitation, often used to introduce an argument (e.g., "I'm not sure whether to agree with that or not").

Aristotelian Appeals

Refers to the use of ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade an audience.

Catachresis

The use of a word in a way that is not its correct or conventional use (e.g., "The voice of the wind").

Climax

Arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in order of increasing importance (e.g., "I came, I saw, I conquered").

Commoratio

Repetition of an idea using different words or phrases, often for emphasis (e.g., "I can't believe we lost the game. It was devastating. Unbelievable").

Diatribe

A bitter and abusive speech or piece of writing (e.g., a harsh critique of government corruption).

Epanalepsis

Repetition of the initial part of a sentence or clause at the end (e.g., "The king is dead, long live the king").

Epizeuxis

Repetition of a word or phrase in immediate succession for emphasis (e.g., "Never, never, never give up").

Hyperbaton

A form of inversion where the normal word order is rearranged for emphasis (e.g., "What a beautiful picture it is" becomes "How beautiful a picture it is!").

Isocolon

A succession of phrases or clauses of the same length and structure (e.g., "Veni, vidi, vici").

Litotes

A figure of speech that employs understated negation to express a strong affirmative or denial (e.g., "She's not bad looking" for "She's beautiful").

Paralellism

The use of components in a sentence that are grammatically the same or similar in structure (e.g., "I like swimming, biking, and running").

Parataxis

Placing phrases or clauses one after another without using conjunctions (e.g., "I came, I saw, I conquered").

Periphrasis

Using a longer, more descriptive phrase instead of a direct term (e.g., "The big apple" for New York City).

Prolepsis

Anticipating and answering objections in advance or referring to an event before it happens (e.g., "But what about the costs?" followed by an answer).

Rhetorical Shift

A change in tone or perspective in a piece of writing to highlight a key point or to signal a new phase in the argument.

Scesis Onomaton

The repetition of the same idea with different words to emphasize it (e.g., "We will be victorious, we will prevail, we will succeed").

Synesthesia

Mixing sensory descriptions, often blending one sense with another (e.g., "The smell of the music was sweet").

Tautology

The repetitive use of phrases or words that mean the same thing (e.g., "free gift" or "revert back").

Tricolon

A series of three parallel elements (e.g., "Veni, vidi, vici").

Zeugma

A figure of speech where a single word governs or modifies two or more words, though the use of the word may be logically appropriate for only one of them (e.g., "He stole my heart and my wallet").

Ad Hominem

A fallacy that attacks the character or circumstances of an individual making an argument rather than the argument itself.

Appeal to Authority

Using the opinion of an authority figure as evidence, often without providing supporting evidence from the authority's research or expertise.

Appeal to Ignorance

Suggesting that a claim is true simply because it has not been proven false (e.g., "No one has proven aliens don't exist, so they must be real").

Bandwagon

A fallacy that asserts something is true because many people believe it to be true (e.g., "Everyone's going to the party, so I should too").

Begging the Question

A fallacy where the argument's premise assumes the truth of the conclusion instead of supporting it (e.g., "God exists because the Bible says so, and the Bible is true because God wrote it").

Circular Reasoning

A form of reasoning where the conclusion is assumed in the premises (e.g., "The law is the law because it is the law").

False Dilemma

Presenting two options as the only possibilities when there may be other options (e.g., "You either support this law, or you are unpatriotic").

Hasty Generalization

A fallacy that involves making a broad statement based on limited or insufficient evidence (e.g., "All politicians are corrupt because the last one I heard about was").

Slippery Slope

Suggesting that one small step will lead to a chain of events with significant negative consequences (e.g., "If we allow students to redo their homework, next they'll want to retake entire courses").

Straw Man

Misrepresenting someone's argument to make it easier to attack (e.g., "You want to reduce defense spending? So, you want to leave our country defenseless?").