English: Rhetoric schemes & tropes

Antithesis

1. contrasts two ideas by placing them next to each other, almost always in parallel structure. 

• "Listen, young men, to an old man to whom old men were glad to listen when he was young." – Saint Augustine 

• “That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” – Neil Armstrong 

Asyndeton

Omitting conjunctions to amplify an effect or the importance of an idea.  An asyndetic list can be useful for the strong and direct climactic effect it has, much more emphatic than if a final conjunction were used. 

• “I came, I saw, I conquered.” – Julius Caesar 

• “On his return he received medals, honors, treasures, titles, fame.”

Polysyndeton

3. the use of more conjunctions than is normal or customary, often for dramatic effect or to add emphasis.  It creates a sense of “building up” toward a climactic outcome. 

• “We have not power, nor influence, nor money, nor authority; but a willingness to persevere, and the hope that we shall conquer soon.”

gradatio

4. Figure of repetition in which words or phrases or sentences are arranged in order of increasing intensity or importance, often in parallel construction; words or phrases arranged by degrees of increasing significance. 

• "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." – John 1:1-2 (KJV) 

• "And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a merry Christmas, and God bless all of you, all of you on the good earth." – Frank Borman, Astronaut

distinctio

5. presenting a specific meaning for a word (or reference to the various meanings of a word) in order to prevent ambiguity or confusion, thus calling the reader’s attention to the need for clarity 

• “To make methanol for twenty-five cents a gallon is impossible; by impossible I mean currently beyond our technological capacities.” 

• “Move the precipitate from the filter paper to the crucible quickly—that is, within three minutes.” 

metanoia

6. qualifies a statement or a part of a statement by rejecting it or calling it back and expressing it in a better, milder, or stronger way 

• “Most bottled water companies try to capture the mountain spring water taste; or rather, they do not so much capture it as manufacture it by adding minerals and ozone.” 

• “Some students are saddened by the plight of not getting into their “top choice” university; actually, crushed, disillusioned and irate are more apt in describing the sentiments of the majority.”

anaphora

7. the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses or lines. 

• “Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his “I Have a Dream” speech, August 28, 1963

anadiplosis

8. repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause to illustrate cause and effect 

• “Mental preparation leads to training; training builds muscle tone and coordination; muscle tone and coordination, combined with focused thinking, produce athletic excellence.” 

• “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. I sense much fear in you.” – Yoda

epistrophe

9. a counterpart to anaphora—the repetition of words or phrases coming at the end of successive phrases, clauses or sentences, rather than at the beginning 

• “Samsung’s products are acquiring more of Apple’s market share because their engineering is superior, the quality of their materials is superior, and the workmanship of their assembly is superior.” 

• “They saw no evil, they spoke no evil, and they heard no evil.” 

antanagoge

10. placing a good point or benefit next to a fault criticism, or problem, in order to reduce the impact or significance of the negative point 

• “True, he always forgets my birthday, but he buys me presents all year round.” 

• “The new anti-pollution equipment will increase the price of the product slightly, I am aware; but the effluent water from the plant will be actually cleaner than the water coming in.”

parenthesis

11. consists of a word, phrase, or whole sentence inserted as an aside in the middle of another sentence.  Parenthesis can be set off either by dashes, which are more dramatic and forceful, or by parentheses (to make your aside less stringent). 

• “As the earthy portion has its origin from earth, the watery from a different element, my breath from one source and my hot and fiery parts from another of their own elsewhere (for nothing comes from nothing, or can return to nothing), so too there must be an origin for the mind.” – Marcus Aurelius 

• “When he finally entered the arena—this is the part that angers me the most—with his arms raised as if he had already won the match, was greeted by cheers and applause and wild gesticulations from the waiting crowd.” 

rhetorical question

12. Asks a question, not for the purpose of further discussion, but to assert or deny an answer implicitly; a question whose answer is obvious or implied. 

• "Was not Abraham, our father, justified by works when he had offered Isaac, his son, upon the altar?" – James 2:20-21 (KJV) 

• “Had you rather Caesar were living and / die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live / all free men?” – Brutus from The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare 

hypophora

13. asking one or more questions and then proceeding to answer them, usually at some length, in order to demonstrate authority/credibility. 

• “Where else can this rapidly growing region look to augment its water supply?  One possibility is the deep aquifer beneath the southwestern corner of the county….”  

• “Why try? Why invest time and effort in a class that bores me to tears and for which I see no connection to my life today? Why bother? Because today is today, and tomorrow is never promised. These opportunities and these experiences have a lasting impact on who we are….” 

procatalepsis

14. directly addressing objections allowing the writer to further his or her own argument while satisfying readers at the same time, since it suggests that the writer has fully thought through his or her argument. 

• “Many experts want to classify Sanskrit as an extinct language, but I do not.” 

• “There are those who would say that the American people could never make such sacrifices. To them I say: have we forgotten WWII so soon? Let us remember the rationing of tin and milk, of copper and eggs.” 

litotes

1. a form of understatement in which a thing is affirmed by stating the negative of its opposite; often employs a double negative 

• “Those who examine themselves will not remain ignorant of their failings and shortcomings.” 

• “The presence of so many security cameras in the casino meant that Peter’s visit was not without record.”

meiosis

2. a humorous understatement using terms that make something (or someone) seem less significant than it really is 

• “The unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable.” – Oscar Wilde (about fox hunting) 

• “In a democracy at least, civil liberties are upheld. No citizen can be wantonly tortured, imprisoned, or made to sit through certain Broadway shows.” – Woody Allen 

allusion

3. Allusion: a brief reference to a famous historical or literary figure or event, or place, real or fictitious, or to a work of art; may be drawn from history, geography, literature, music or religion 

• “When we grew tired of our Lilliputian battles, we took up weapons in our own hands.” – Scott Russell Sanders, “At Play in the Paradise of Bombs” 

• “In moments such as these, I can’t help but feel a bit like Sisyphus.” 

eponym

4. a specific type of allusion, substituting the name of a person famous for some attribute in place of the attribute itself; the person can be historical, mythological, literary or Biblical 

• “This lid is stuck so tight I need a Hercules to remove it.” 

• “During freshman year, on most assignments in Honors Physics, I felt like I was the only person in the class not named Einstein.” 

paradox

5. an assertion seemingly opposed to common sense, but that may yet have some truth in it 

• “What a pity that youth must be wasted on the young.” – George Bernard Shaw 

• “I can resist anything except temptation" – Oscar Wilde

analogy

6. compares two things, which are alike in several respects, for the purpose of explaining or clarifying some unfamiliar or difficult idea or object by showing how the idea or object is similar to some familiar one 

• “For me, the writing of a personal essay is like finding my way through a forest without being quite sure what game I am chasing, what landmark I am seeking.” – Scott Russell Sanders, The Paradise of Bombs 

• “Knowledge always desires increase: it is like fire, which must first be kindled by some external agent, but which will afterwards propagate itself.” – Samuel Johnson

metaphor

7. identifying a word with something different from what the word literally denotes; a metaphor is distinguished from a simile in that it equates different things without using connecting terms such as “like” or “as” 

• “Because of the accident, the line of cars stretched for miles, a river of steel and glass and frustrated drivers.” 

• “Beside the gate were tanks, hulking dinosaurs of steel, one on each side, their long muzzles slanting down to catch trespassers in a cross-fire.” – Scott Russell Sanders, “At Play in the Paradise of Bombs”

irony

8. expression of something that is contrary to the expected or intended meaning; the words say one thing but mean another 

• “Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; / And Brutus is an honorable man.” – William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar 

• “Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.” –George Burns