Rhetorical and Persuasive Devices

Direct Address

• The speaker clearly addresses the audience, using the pronouns “you”, “we”, or “us”

• This makes a broad address sound like a personal conversation or plea; it targets every individual, compelling them to engage and/or take action

Antithesis

• An opposition or contrast of ideas (expressed by parallelism)

• The contrast emphasizes the concept or point valued by the speaker (and, therefore, the audience); could potentially be jarring

Hypophora

• A rhetorical term for a strategy in which a speaker or writer raises a question and then immediately answers it

• Using a hypophora helps actively involve and engage the audience. By posing a thought-provoking question, the speaker captures the attention of the audience and also sparks their curiosity

Euphemism

• A harmless word or expression used in place of one that is deemed offensive or suggests something unpleasant used for amusement or to downplay inoffensive terms

• It can soften the effect of uncomfortable topics on readers, amuse them, mislead them depending on the context. It is usually used around taboo subjects to skip around it or beat around the bush

Analogy

• A type of figurative language to express a comparison between two things

• Used for further explanation or clarification

• Helps simplify a difficult concept by relating it to something familiar or concrete.

• Example: life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’ll get

Paradox

• Self-contradictory statement, which upon further examination, may contain some truth

• Underscores the text’s main message

• Allows for the audience to think more critically about the ideas//statement/speech

Anecdote

• An anecdote is a short story that is usually amusing or interesting

• A story that is about a real incident or person

• Allows the audience to have a stronger connection with the speaker

Parallelism

• Repetition of grammatical elements to create a harmonious effect

• Anaphora is a type of parallelism

• Simplifies the structure of sentences - hold audience’s attention for longer

• Emphasize the relationship between two/more ideas (comparision/contrast)

Parenthesis

• In a verbal context, parenthesis are not literal punctuation marks like these (..), but a technique used to provide additional information such as clarification or adding a side comment.

• Used to enrich the main message without disrupting the overall flow of the talking

• Deliver extra context in a way that feels natural --> audience receives additional information without losing track of the main idea

• Example “Climate change—driven largely by human activity—is an urgent global issue”

Colloquialism

• The usage of informal language in writing

• Includes proverbs, idioms, regional terms/phrases, nonstandard grammar syntax and profanities

• Can make the audience feel at ease, more included (due to the language they use to speak being used) and make the speaker appear confident

Rule of Three

• Giving examples or pieces of information in 3s when presenting or speaking

• The rule of three revolves around the observation that ideas given in threes are especially interesting, memorable and engaging to an audience

Repetition

• Using the same word or phrase over and over again in a piece of writing or speech

• Different types of repetition: anaphora, anadiplosis, epizeuxis, etc.

• Is used to emphasize a feeling, or idea, create rhythm, and develop a sense of urgency. It also leaves a greater impact of persuasion on the audience.

Emotive Language

• Specific words that are used to elicit an emotional response from the audience

• Can also be called “Loaded Language” and uses strong words (eg. most important,

• Helps the audience to create an emotional connection with the presenter/speaker or topic

• Personalizes the content a bit more to help with engagement and long term retention of the presented information.

• Persuades them to take action.