Rhetorical Devices

Alliteration

The repetition of initial consonant in nearby words

Allusion

A reference to a historical, classical, or literary person or event

Analogy

Using a parallel, better understood, situation in order to explain an argument or concept

Anaphora

Beginning successive clauses with the same two or more words.

Anecdote

A story or narrative included to communicate a point

Climax

A type of parallelism/balance where words, phrases or clauses are arranged in ascending order of importance or emotional force to make the sentence climactic.

Chiasmus

A cross arrangement in two successive groups of words. The second group of words is an inversion of the first.

Hyperbole

Exaggeration of a term or situation for effect.

Imagery

The use of descriptive language in order to appeal to one or more of the five senses (sight, smell, taste, touch, sound).

Interruption

An interjection into a clause; usually indicated by a hyphen, often to add additional context or information.

Verbal Irony

A statement which implies one meaning but, because of use and phrasing, actually suggests the opposite.

Juxtaposition

The comparison of two, seemingly different objects, in order to highlight an aspect of one.

Epistrophe

Repetition of words at the end of successive clauses or phrases.

Litotes

Understating the significance or importance of an event, person, place, etc. for effect.

Metaphor

A comparison without using ‘like’ or ‘as’

Metonymy

A figure of speech that replaces the name of a thing with the name of something else with which it is closely associated.

Oxymoron

Two opposite words used as one phrase

Paradox

A statement which contradicts itself.

Parenthetical Remark

A remark, or statement, enclosed by parentheses – ( ) used to explain or qualify something

Parallel Structure

When sections of a sentence are equal in value and for a grammatical and conceptual parallel to one another.

Personification

Giving human characteristics to non-human objects

Quotations

A direct reference to what a person says or information from another text.

Reference to Authority

A reference to a professional in a relevant field; the profession includes initials after their name (ie. A doctor, lawyer, professor).

Rhetorical Question

A question, which does not require an answer.

Simile

A comparison using like or as.

Synecdoche

A figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole or the whole for a part