Rhetorical Devices - Definitions + Examples

sorry if there's any mistakes! my brain is fried and this is mostly how i remember them. examples are mostly from other sources :)

Abstract

difficult to understand, expressing a quality apart from a literal object, dealing with a subject in its non-tangible aspects; it is opposite of concrete

Abstract example

“Empathy itself was disturbed by her blatant act of unkindness”

Allegory

an allegory is a narrative, either in verse or prose, in which character, action, and sometimes setting represent a different concept apart from the literal meaning of a story. The underlying meaning usually has a moral, social, religious, or political significance, and the characters are often personifications of abstract ideas such as charity, hope, greed, and so on.

Allegory example

Animal Farm’s use of animals to represent political figures.

Alliteration

the repetition of initial identical consonant sounds or sometimes vowel sounds in successive or closely associated syllables, especially stressed syllables.

Alliteration example

Sally sells seashells by the sea shore.

Assonance

the repetition of similar sounding vowels anywhere within a word.

Assonance example

Rain drains mainly on the plains

Allusion

a brief reference to a person, event, or place, real or fictitious, or to a work of art. Often biblical or mythological.

Allusion example

And so, much like Alice, down the rabbit hole she went.

Anadiplosis

The repetition of a word that ends one clause at the beginning of the next.

Anadiplosis example

"Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."

Analogy

a way of comparing two subjects/objects with complexity and digging deeper into what else might be similar between the two. This is done to explain a point.

Analogy example

“Finding my car keys is like finding a needle in a haystack” — it implies that both are difficult tasks.

Anaphora

a device focused on the repetition of the same phrase at the beginning of multiple lines / clauses / sentences.

Anaphora example

As I ebb’d with the ocean of life.

As I wended the shores I know,

As I walk’d where the ripples continually wash you Paumanok

Anastrophe

the intentional inversion of parts of a phrase or sentence meant to maintain a rhythm or pattern.

Anastrophe example

Think Yoda! “Wars not make one great” and “The greatest teacher, failure is.”

Antecedent

The word that a pronoun is replacing / referring to. Often an individual.

Antecedent example

“Mrs. Johnson was a kind individual. She always put others first.” She is replacing Mrs. Johnson, whose name is this literary device.

Anticipating Audience Response / Procatalepsis

Often used to address counterarguments before they are mentioned.

Anticipating Audience Response / Procatalepsis example

“I know some of you may be thinking that of course birds are real. I must sound like a lunatic”

Antithesis

balancing similar in wording yet differing/oppositional phrases against each other for contrast.

Antithesis example

“Man proposes, God disposes”

Aphorism

concise statements expressing general truths about life.

Aphorism example

“Life is short, art is long, opportunity fleeting, experimenting dangerous, reasoning difficult.”

Apostrophe

a figure of speech being addressed that is usually absent and/or abstract.

Apostrophe example

"O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" in the scene where Juliet believes she is alone.

Appositive

a phrase added on to a noun/pronoun to provide context / meaning for it.

Appositive example

My friend Emily, a stubborn critic of all things literary, thoroughly enjoyed reading essays.

Asyndeton

getting rid of conjunctions between words / phrases, used to speed up the pace of a line.

Asyndeton example

I love dogs, cats, snakes, reptiles.

Call to action

The author urging the reader to do something after reading the piece.

Call to action example

“We must all be the change. Even you, a singular individual, can change the world if you just start doing little things tomorrow.”

Chiasmus

A balanced phrase where the two clauses are switched in wording.

Chiasmus example

“Flowers are lovely, love is flowerlike.”

Coinage

using a phase that the author made up.

Coinage example

Shakespeare invented the phrase “star-crossed lovers” in Romeo and Juliet.

Colloquial expression

Informal and conversational diction.

Colloquial expression example

“Y’all ain’t the smartest ‘round here, are you?”

Compare and Contrast

pointing out the similarities and differences between two subjects.

Compare and Contrast examples

While both apples and oranges are fruits, oranges are orange and apples are often red.

Concrete

the opposite of abstract: an easy to understand, literal concept.

Concrete example

“The door was heavy and wooden.”

Diction

a deliberate choice of words and writing style.

Diction

a formal version of this would be: “I shall go to the lavatory.”

Ellipsis

the omission of a word that is not needed to understand the context.

Ellipsis example

“I love English as much as she” (without “does”)

Epistrophe

opposite of anaphora—the repetition of a word/phrase at the end of multiple lines / clauses.

Epistrophe example

“I’ll have my bond!

Speak not against my bond!

I have sworn an oath that I will have my bond.”

Euphemism

a politer, more unoffensive way of saying something so that it is more socially acceptable.

Euphemism example

“passed away” instead of “died”

Hyperbole

exaggeration to emphasize or heighten the effect of something.

Hyperbole example

the line stretched on for a thousand miles—Sallie was never going to get to the front.

Juxtaposition

placing two, often different, ideas beside each other.

Juxtaposition example

“She was the light, bright and beautiful. Meanwhile, he was darkness, evil and cruel.”

Jargon

specialized language / wording used to communicate quickly or disguise secrets within a specific field (ex: medical shorthand)

Jargon example

Think lawyer speak! mens rea, etc

Lending credence

Giving credit to the opposing side’s argument in order to come across as knowledgeable of both sides.

Lending credence example

“I do admit, while I believe apples are poisoning our bodies, there are also many beneficial parts of them that Dr. John mentioned.”

Litotes

an understatement of something by using a double negative.

Litotes example

“He was not unhelpful.” or “she did not do as badly as I expected.”

Metaphor

comparing two things without using like or as.

Metaphor example

she was a bird

Simile

comparing two things using like or as.

Simile

she was like a bird.

Tone

the type of voice that an author uses while writing their piece. it often conveys their feelings on the matter through word choice, structure, and the author’s purpose.

Tone example

In the phrase “he was a useless brat” you can see a hateful __.

Understatement

Litotes fall under this umbrella: the opposite of a hyperbole where someone undersells the impact of something.

Understatement example

“he was okay-looking” and it’s literally the most beautiful man you have laid eyes on

Repetition

repeating a word/phrase throughout the piece of writing for emphasis.

Repetition example

“She woke up in the morning so she could go to school. In order to go to school, she also ate breakfast. Then, to make sure she could go to school, she checked her temperature.”

Pun

a play on words or a double-meaning intended to be clever/funny.

Pun example

His egg-frying skills were eggcellent.

Polysyndeton

the opposite of asyndeton—the addition of conjunctions between words to create a rhythm or slow down the pace of a passage.

Polysyndeton example

I love dogs and cats and snakes and reptiles.

Parallelism

NOT to be confused with antithesis and juxtapositioning. This is when the syntax of two phrases are identical.

Parallelism example

I like fishing and swimming.

Oxymoron

a contradictory statement

Oxymoron example

she was pretty ugly

Onomatopoeia

punctuating a passage with sounds or, more subtly, the suggestion of a noise.

Onomatopoeia example

“POW! went the punching bag” or “the bees buzzed loudly”

Personification

giving a nonhuman object/concept human qualities for relatability.

Personification example

the rain poured angrily down on us.