All Rhetorical Devices | Gifted AP Lang

Asyndeton

omitting conjunctions where they would be expected

Polysyndeton

using conjunctions between each word or phrase in a series

Expletive

word or phrase that interrupts the normal sentence structure

Understatement

deliberately downplaying an idea to ironically emphasize its significance

Litotes

denying the opposite of the word that would be used

Antithesis

placing two opposing ideas side by side to establish a relationship

Anaphora

repetition of a word at the beginning of successive phrases
Epistrophe

Anadiplosis

repetition of the last word of a phrase in the beginning of the next one

Zeugma

verb in first phrase is omitted in the following phrases but is understood to be there

Epanalepsis

Repeating the beginning word of a clause at the end

Amplification

Repeating a word or expression while adding more detail to it

Scesis Onomaton

Repeating the same idea in different words

Apophasis

Pretending to ignore an idea while actually pointing it out

Simile

Comparison using like or as

Metaphor

Comparison in a = b format

Metonymy

Larger item is used to represent something smaller within it

Personification

Giving human qualities to non-human objects

Hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration

Oxymoron

2 word paradox

Onomatopoeia

word whose pronunciation imitates the sound it describes

Alliteration

repetition of initial consonant sounds

Assonance

repetition of vowel sounds

Diacope

repetition of a word or phrase after an intervening word or phrase

Antiphrasis

one word irony established by context

Epizeuxis

repetition of one word for emphasis

Hypophora

raising a question and then answering it

Rhetorical Question

raising a question that needs no answer – answer is obvious

Procatalepsis

anticipating an objection and addressing it

Metabasis

statement of what has been said or done and what will follow

Distinctio

explicit reference to a particular meaning of a term

Parallelism

recurring syntactical structure

Metanoia

qualifies a statement by restating it in a better, milder, or stronger way

Aporia

expresses doubt about an idea in a polite manner

Analogy

compares 2 like items in order to explain an unfamiliar idea

Allusion

reference to a famous person, event, or work

Eponym

replacing a particular characteristic with the name of a famous person known for that characteristic

Antimetabole

repetition of words in reverse order

Hortative sentence

advises or calls to action

Synecdoche

Small part stands for the whole

Chiasmus

Reverse parallelism

Catachresis

Extravagant, implied metaphor using words in an unusual way

Synesthesia

Deliberately "confusing" one sense for another