Rhetorical Devices

Tropes

Alterations in the usual or expected meanings of words or phrases

Pun

A play on the meaning of words

Metaphor

An implied comparison between two unlike things

Simile

An explicit comparison between two unlike things signaled by the use of like or as

Personification

Attributing human qualities to an inanimate object

Pathetic Fallacy

Attributing human qualities to a force of nature

Animism

Attributing animal qualities that are not uniquely human to an inanimate object

Verbal Irony

When you say one thing

Situational Irony

When you expect one thing but another happens

Dramatic Irony

When the audience knows something that the characters do not

Hyperbole

Extreme exaggeration deliberately used for emphasis

Litotes

Intensifies an idea by an extreme understatement

Synecdoche

When a part is substituted for all of the things in the whole class

Metonymy

The substitution of one thing for something closely associated with it (ex. "the crown" for the king)

Oxymoron

Two contradictory terms or ideas used together (ex. sweet sorrow)

Paradox

A statement that appears to be contradictory but in fact has some truth

Onomatopoeia

The use of words whose sound reinforces their meaning

Rhetorical Question

A question that does not require an answer

Apostrophe

Addressing something inanimate or inhuman as if it could hear and understand

Symbol

A thing that represents or stands for something else especially a material object representing something abstract

Conventional Symbol

A symbol that society has given a meaning that is not connected to its composition

Natural Symbol

Items which naturally contain the quality for which they stand as a symbol

Private Symbol

A symbol that has a particular meaning for an individual or small group of people

Parallelism

Expresses similar or related ideas in similar grammatical structures

Chiasmus

Grammatical structure where the first phrase is reversed in the second phrase

Climax

When a writer arranges ideas in order of least important to most important

Antithesis

The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas

Juxtaposition

When contrasting words or phrases are placed next to each other

Syntax

Sentence structure or word order

Anastrophe

When word order is reversed or rearranged

Antimetabole

When the arrangement of the ideas in the second clause is a reversal of the first

Apposition

Placing next to one noun another noun that explains it

Parenthesis

The insertion of words or phrases that are not related to the rest of the sentence

Zeugma

When a writer uses one word to modify two or more words although its use is grammatically or logically correct with only one

Asyndeton

Conjunctions are omitted producing fast-paced prose

Ellipsis

The deliberate omission of words that are readily implied by the context

Anadiplosis

Repetition of a word that ends one phrase at the beginning of the next phrase

Polyptoton

When a word is repeated in different cases numbers genders and the like

Polysyndeton

The use of many conjunctions to slow the pace of the text

Anaphora

Repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases or clauses

Epistrophe

Repetition of the same word or phrase at the ends of successive clauses

Alliteration

Repetition of the same sound at the beginning of successive words

Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds within words

Consonance

When the final consonants in several words agree but the sounds preceding them differ

Euphony

Creating a pleasing effect by combining words to produce harmonious sounds

Cacophony

Creating a harsh effect by combining words that emphasize coarse sounds

Allusion

A reference to something in history literature mythology or the Bible

Epigram

A saying or remark expressing an idea in a clever and amusing way

Euphemism

The substitution of a less negative word for a harsh or blunt one

Epithet

A term used to characterize a person or thing

Parody

An imitation of a work or author with the idea of ridiculing the person or ideas

Satire

Using extreme exaggeration irony and humor to criticize with the intent to improve human institutions

Sarcasm

Personal ridicule that is intended to hurt individuals

Analogy

Explaining something unfamiliar by associating it with something more familiar