Rhetorical Devices and Figures of Speech

Parallelism

similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses.

Antithesis

the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas, often in parallel structure.

Anastrophe

the inversion of natural word order, often with the purpose of surprising the reader, gaining attention, or emphasizing certain words.

Parenthesis

insertion of some verbal unit in a position that interrupts the normal syntactical flow of the sentence, sending the thought off on a tangent with rhetorical effect.

Asyndeton

deliberate omission of conjunctions between a series of words, phrases, or clauses.

Polysyndeton

deliberate use of many conjunctions. Its effect is to speed up or add a frenetic quality to rhythm.

Alliteration

repetition of initial or medial consonants in two or more adjacent words.

Anaphora

repetition of the same word or groups of words at the beginnings of successive phrases.

Epistrophe

repetition of the same word or groups of words at the ends of successive phrases.

Anadiplosis

repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause.

Metaphor

implied comparison between two things of unlike nature.

Simile

explicit comparison between two things of unlike nature, usually using like or as.

Synecdoche

figure of speech in which a part stands for the whole.

Personification

giving abstractions or inanimate objects human qualities.

Hyperbole

exaggerated terms for emphasis or heightened effect.

Litotes

deliberate use of understatement.

Rhetorical Question

asking a question not to elicit an answer, but to assert or deny one implicitly.

Irony

use of words in such a way as to convey a meaning opposite to their literal meaning.

Onomatopoeia

use of words whose sound echoes their sense.

Oxymoron

joining of two contradictory terms.

Paradox

a seemingly contradictory statement that contains truth.

Paronomasia

pun; use of words alike in sound but different in meaning.

Syllepsis

use of a word understood differently in relation to two or more words it modifies.

Allusion

brief, indirect reference to a person, place, thing, or idea of significance.

Apostrophe

when a speaker directly addresses someone or something not present (an idea, person, place, or object).