Literary & Rhetorical Devices

Hyperbole

An overstatement characterized by exaggerated language

Alliteration

Repetition of the beginning sound in a series of words

Simile

A comparison using “like” or “as”

Metaphor

A comparison of two entities with similar qualities in order to highlight those qualities for rhetorical effect

Extended metaphor

A comparison that is used throughout a passage

Personification

Giving an inanimate object human characteristics

Counterargument

In an argument, the presentation of evidence and reasoning meant to weaken or undermine an oppoenen't’s claim

Imagery

Sensory details": figurative language that helps create a visual in the reader’s mind using the five senses

Assonance

Repetition of a vowel sound

Refutation

The act of disproving a statement

Parallelism

Elements in a sentence that are grammatically similar or identical in structure, sound, or meaning

Formal Language

Language that is more professional, avoids slang, and is used for academic writing

Informal Language

Language that is more personal, often mimics speech, and may use slang, abbreviations, and exclamations of emotion

Colloquial Language

Ordinary language or common vernacular

Allusion

A figure of speech that makes casual reference to a historical or literary event, figure, or object

Connotation

The meaning that is implied by a word

Denotation

The dictionary definition of a word

Oxymoron

A figure of speech that combines two apparently contradictory elements side-by-side

Paradox

A statement that seems contradictory, but is actually true

Symbol

A device where the meaning of a greater, often abstract, concept is conveyed with a physical or concrete object being used as an example

Understatement

A figure of speech that intentionally makes a situation seem less important or serious than it is.

Onomatopoeia

A word capturing the sound it describes

Ethos

Appeal to credibility; sometimes interpreted as an appeal to moral/justice

Pathos

Appeal to emotion

Logos

Appeal to logic

Consultative Language

Language that is less formal than formal language, but more formal than informal language

Juxtaposition

Placing side by side for the contrasting effect (ex. young and old)

Rhetorical Appeals

Ethos, Pathos, Logos

_____ are referred to as register

Formal language, informal language, colloquial language, consultative language

Conceit

Extended metaphor

Apostrophe

A figure of speech in which a speaker addresses an absent person, an abstract idea, or a thing as if it were present and capable of responding.