Rhetorical Term Examples

Analogy

Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get

Simile/metaphor

She swam like a fish
She is a storm

Litotes

If its pouring outside and you say, "The weather isn't that bad"

Apostrophe

Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder where you are

Synecdoche

A boy is admitted into the hospital and the nurse says "he's in good hands".

Metonymy

Last night me and my friends went for a scoop (scoop = ice cream)

Euphemism

When someone throws up, people say the "got sick" because talking about throw up makes them uncomfortable

Understatment

The black death was a slightly difficult time in Europe

Antonomasia

Voldemort is known as "the dark lord"

Chiasmus

Life is full of beauty and beauty can be found in life

Analepsis

When Harry watches Voldemort's memory, he flashes back but the new information moves the plot along

Parallelism

The boy is walking and the girl is running

Antithesis

Not that I loved Caesar less but I loved Rome more

Anadiplosis

When I give, I give myself

Polyptoton

I curled my naturally curly hair as I did not like the curls my mother gave me

Anaphora

We will show kindness, we will show compassion, we will show understanding

Assonance

She lent me her key to see her diary

Consonance

She saw seashells somewhere south of the seashore

Anastrophe

The greatest teacher, failure is

Apposition

My brother's car, a sporty red convertible with buckled seats, is the envy of my friends

Zeugma

That day, she lost her shoe and her heart

Asyndeton

I came, I saw, I conquered

Polysyndeton

She was sweet and kind and charming and smart

Aphorism

To be great is to be misunderstood

Ambiguity

The cake was something (good or bad?)

Connotation

Jack is a sharp student (not literally)

Denotation

Your a wizard Harry (actually a literal wizard)

Mood

How the reader feels

Tone

How the author feels

Parable

Boy who cried wolf

Oxymoron

She ordered jumbo shrimp

Paradox

The enemy of my enemy is my friend

Syntax

The boy skipped happily ---> Happily, the boy skipped

Syllepsis

She exercises to keep healthy and I to lose weight

Epistrophe

The government is for the people, by the people, and with the people