Rhetorical Terms

Tropes

Figure of speech that uses language in a non-literal way. (ex. metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, iron)

Ex.

• Time is a thief

• All hands on deck

• The pen is mightier than the sword

• What a pleasant day! (said during a thunderstorm)

Trope

Analogy

• A comparison between two things, usually for explanation or clarification

• Similes and metaphors function as analogies

Simile

comparison of two unlike things using “like” or “as” for description and imagery

Metaphor

Word or phrase applied to object/action which isn’t literally applicable (one thing is another)

Ex. “Reading without understanding is like eating without digesting".”

Analogy and simile

Litotes

Uses understatement to emphasize a point by stating a negative (usually double negatives) to imply a positive

Ex.

• He's not unfamiliar with hardship.

• That wasn’t the worst idea

Litotes

Apostrophe

Speaker directly addresses an inanimate object, dead person, or someone who isn’t present.