Rhetorical Terms

Allusion

Indirect reference, brief reference to a person, event or place.

EXAMPLE: Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah…

Anaphora

Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases.

EXAMPLE: Every child must be taught these principles. Every citizen must uphold them. Every immigrant, by embracing these ideals, makes our country more, not less, American.

Antithesis

A device in which contrasting ideas are expressed in a grammatically balanced statement.

EXAMPLE: “I call not upon a few, but upon all” (Paine 246)

Apophasis

A rhetorical device wherein the speaker raises an issue by claiming not to mention it.

EXAMPLE: We won’t even talk about his criminal record…

Apostrophe

A figure of speech in which the writer addresses an absent person, an abstract idea, or a thing.

EXAMPLE: “Make me, O Lord, thy spinning wheel complete” (Taylor “Huswifery”)

Assumed Agreement

A speaker presumes agreement on the part of the audience, removing the option to contest the opinion.

EXAMPLE: I know I can depend on you.

Extended Metaphor

A protracted metaphor making a series of parallel comparisons.

EXAMPLE: Edward Taylor’s use of the spinning wheel in “Huswifery”

Flattering Diction

Using excessive praise in an attempt to ingratiate oneself with the audience.

EXAMPLE: What a perceptive and intelligent group we have here today!

Hyperbole

An extravagant exaggeration of fact, used for serious or comic effect.

EXAMPLE: He is older than the hills

Hypophora

A figure of speech in which a writer raises a question and immediately provides an answer.

EXAMPLE: Why is it better to love than to be loved? It is surer.

Metonymy

One word or phrase substituted for another with which it is closely associated.

EXAMPLE: Detroit is still hard at work on an SUV that runs on alternative fuel.

Oxymoron

 a in which two opposite ideas are joined to create an effect, paradoxical juxtaposition of words that seem to contradict each other

EXAMPLE: But this peaceful revolution…

Parallel Structure/Parallelism

Similar grammatical forms to express ideas of equal importance.

EXAMPLE:  Running is fun, jumping is better; skipping is best.

Personification

Attribution of lifelike qualities to inanimate objects or ideas.

EXAMPLE: …with history the final judge of our deeds

Rhetorical Question

A question posed for effect rather than for the purpose of getting an answer.

EXAMPLE: Will you join in that historic effort?

Synecdoche

A figure of speech that uses a part to represent a whole.

EXAMPLE: In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course