Rhetorical Devices

allusion

reference to a famous historical, biblical, mythological, or literary figure or event

qualifiers

words or phrases that limit the scope of a claim

pathos

persuasion through appeals to the audience’s emotions

alliteration

Repetition of initial consonant letters (or sounds) in two or more different words across successive sentences

logos

persuasion by means of logic or reasoning

diction

word choice

argument

a spoken, written, or visual text that expresses a point of view; the central point a text is making; a reason given with the aim of persuading others

claim

a statement that asserts a belief or truth

mediated audience

an audience that is not physically present but is affected by the speaker’s message

ethos

persuasion through convincing the audience of one’s moral character

exigence

what prompts a speaker to speak at this particular point in time

metaphor

a comparison between two objects WITHOUT using the words “like” or “as”

hyperbole

intentional and extreme exaggeration

parallelism

making two words, phrases, or clauses equal in part of speech pr grammatical structure

simile

a comparison between two items using “like” or “as”

purpose

what the speaker wants the audience to feel while listening; what he/she wants the audience to do after listening

immediate audience

the audience that is physically present when a speech is delivered

genre

type of text

analysis

identifying the features of a text and explaining how the author uses these to develop the meaning or to achieve a particular effect

tone

an writer’s attitude towards his/her subject

personification

a figure of speech in which an animal, object, force of nature, or idea is given human characteristics

imagery

word pictures designed to appeal to the senses

rhetorical question

a question that is asked merely for effect with no obvious answer expected

anecdote

short and amusing or interesting account depicting a real incident or person used to support a speaker’s argument

expletive

Figure of emphasis in which a sing word or short phrase, usually interrupting normal speech, is used to lend emphasis to the words on either side of the figure (ex. of course, I hope, I suppose)