Rhetorical Devices

allegory

allegory

the device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning

alliosis

presenting alternatives: "You can eat well or you can sleep well." While such a structure often results in the logical fallacy of the false dichotomy or the either/or fallacy, it can create a cleverly balanced and artistic sentence.

alliteration

repetition of a sound in multiple words: buckets of big blue berries. If we want to be super-technical, alliteration comes in two forms. Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds: many more merry men. If the first letters are the consonants that alliterate, the technique is often called head rhyme. Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds: refresh your zest for living. Often assonance can lead to outright rhymes.

allusion

a direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art

ambiguity

the multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage

anaphora

repetition of beginning clauses. For instance, Churchill declared, "We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans. We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island, whatever the cost shall be."

anecdote

a short narrative detailing particulars of an interesting episode or event

antithesis

contrary ideas expressed in a balanced sentence. It can be a contrast of opposites: "Evil men fear authority; good men cherish it." Or it can be a contrast of degree: "One small step for a man, one giant leap for all mankind."

aposiopesis

Breaking off as if unable to continue: "The fire surrounds them while – I cannot go on."

apostrophe

addressing someone or some abstraction that is not physically present: "Oh, Death, be not proud" (John Donne). "Ah, Mr. Newton, you would be pleased to see how far we have progressed in physics."

asyndeton

– using no conjunctions to create an effect of speed or simplicity: Veni. Vidi. Vici. "I came. I saw. I conquered." (As opposed to "I came, and then I saw, and then I conquered.") Been there. Done that. Bought the t-shirt.

catachresis

A completely impossible figure of speech, especially one breaking the limits of realism or grammar. For example, many figures of speech describe something biologically or physically impossible: "Joe will kittens when he hears this!" "I will sing victories for you." Or as Milton so elegantly phrased it, catachresis is all about "blind mouths."

chiasmus

A literary scheme involving a specific inversion of word order. It involves taking parallelism and deliberately turning it inside out, creating a "crisscross”pattern.

colloquial/colloquialism

the use of slang or informalities in speech or writing that gives the work a conversational, familiar tone; not generally acceptable for formal writing

connotation

the nonliteral, associative meaning of a word; the implied, suggested meaning

denotation

– the strict, literal, dictionary definition of a word, devoid of any emotion,attitude, or color

diction

the writer’s word choices, especially with regard to correctness, clarity, or effectiveness

enallage

intentionally misusing grammar to characterize a speaker or to create a memorable phrase. Boxing manager Joe Jacobs, for instance, became immortal with the phrase, "We was robbed!" Or, the editors of Punch magazine might tell their British readers, "You pays your money, and you takes your chances."

ellipsis

omitting a word implied by the previous clause: "The European soldiers killed six of the remaining villagers, the American soldiers, eight."

epanalepsis

repeating a word from the beginning of a clause at the end of the clause: "Year chases year." Or "Man's inhumanity to man." As Voltaire reminds us, "Common sense is not so common." As Shakespeare chillingly phrases it, "Blood will have blood." Under Biblical lextalionis one might demand "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life."

epistrophe

repetition of a concluding word or endings: "He's learning fast; are you earning fast?" When the epistrophe focuses on sounds rather than entire words, we normally call it rhyme.

euphemism

a more agreeable or less offensive substitute for a generally unpleasant word or concept

erotema

asking a rhetorical question to the reader: "What should honest citizens do?" (If the speaker follows the question with his or her own answer, then th device used is hypophora and not eroteme)

homily

any serious talk, speech, or lecture involving moral or spiritual advice

hyperbole

exaggeration: "His thundering shout could split rocks." Or, "Yo' mama's so fat...”

hypophora

also referred to as anthypophora or antipophora—when a speaker poses a question and then answers the question.

invective

an emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language

juxtaposition

when two words, phrases, images, or ideas are placed close together or side by-side for comparison or contrast

litotes

– a special form of understatement in which a point is affirmed by negating its opposite. EX: “He’s no fool.”

meiosis

understatement (opposite of exaggeration): "I was somewhat worried when the psychopath ran toward me with a chainsaw."

metaphor

a comparison between two unlike things that does NOT use the words like or as: the ladder of success

metaplasmus

– a type of neologism in which misspelling a word creates a rhetorical effect. To emphasize dialect, one might spell dog as "dawg." To emphasize that something is unimportant, we might add -let or -ling at the end of the word, referring to a deity as a "godlet", or a prince as a "princeling."

metonymy

using a vaguely suggestive, physical object to embody a more general idea: CROWN for royalty; the PEN is mightier than the SWORD. "If

neologism

creating a new or imaginary word.

onomatapoeia

echoic words or words that create an auditory effective similar to the sound they represent: Buzz; Click; Rattle; Clatter; Squish; Grunt.

logos

the appeal to logic, means to appeal to the audiences' sense of reason or logic.

oxymoron

Using contradiction in a manner that oddly makes sense.

point of View

the angle of considering things; in literature, it is the narrator’s position in relation to the story being told

paradox

a statement that appears to be self-contradictory or opposed to common sense but upon closer inspection contains some degree of truth

parallelism

when the writer establishes similar patterns of grammatical structure and length.

parody

– a work that closely imitates the style or content of another with specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule

pathos

appealing to a reader/audience by eliciting an emotional response from the audience

pedantic

used to describe words, phrases, or a general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish

periodic sentence

a sentence that presents its central meaning in a main clause at the end and is preceded by a dependent clause.

personification

giving human qualities to inanimate objects: "The ground thirsts for rain; the wind whispered secrets to us”

polysyndeton

using many conjunctions to achieve an overwhelming effect: "This term, I am taking biology and English and history and math and music and physics and sociology." All those ands make the student sound like she is completely overwhelmed!

pun

twists the meaning of words.

rhetoric

the specific features of texts, written or spoken, that cause them to be meaningful, urposeful, and effective for the audience

rhetorical situation

a set of persons, events, objects, and relations presenting an actual or potential need which can be completely or partially removed if discourse can so compel human decision or action as to bring about the significant modification of the need

sarcasm

bitter, caustic language that is meant to hurt or ridicule someone or something

satire

a work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions for reform or ridicule

simile

when something is like something else:

syllogism

a deductive system of formal logic that presents two premises (first called “major” and the second called “minor) that inevitably lead to a sound conclusion.

synecdoche

using a part of a physical object to represent the whole object: "Twenty eyes watched our every move" (i.e., ten people watched our every move). "A hungry stomach has no ears" (La Fontaine).

synæsthesia

Mixing one type of sensory input with another in an impossible way, such as speaking of how a color sounds, or how a smell looks: "The scent of the rose rang like a bell through the garden." "I caressed the darkness with cool fingers."

syntax

the way an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses, and sentences

tone

the author or speaker’s attitude toward the subject

zeugma

one verb using different objects. If this changes the verb's initial meaning