English 11th

Rhetorical Devices

Pathos

Emotional appeal or the power to evoke compassion

Ethos

Ethical appeal used to persuade an audience based on the speaker or writer’s credibility, authority, and character

Logos

Logical appeal to an audience’s sense of logic, reason, and rationality

Anaphora

A word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of successive sentences, clauses or lines

Diction

Selecting specific words to express ideas, shape tone, and create a mood (Choice of Words)

Repetition

The act of saying, doing, or writing something again. (word, sound, phrase, or full idea)

Parallelism

The use of matching grammatical structures, phrases, or clauses in a sentence or series of sentences to balance ideas of equal importance.

Antithesis

Places two opposing or contrasting ideas side by side using balanced, parallel grammatical structures. (Pairs contrasting terms or clauses.)

Rhetorical Question

A question asked to make a point or create an effect rather than to get an answer

Metaphor

Directly compares two unrelated things by stating that one thing is actually another, without using the words “like” or “as”

Imagery

Descriptive language that appeals to the 5 senses to create a vivid mental picture

Allusion

An indirect or brief reference to a person, place, thing, event, or another work of literature without explaining it directly

Anecdote

A short, interesting, or funny story about a real person or event used to make a point or grab attention

Juxtaposition

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

Chiasmus

A rhetorical balance where the second half of an expression mirrors the first part backward.

Euphemism

A mild, indirect, or polite word or expression used to replace one word that is considered too harsh, blunt, unpleasant, or taboo

Personificaiton

Gives human traits, emotions, or actions to non-human things

Symbolism

The art or practice of using an object, person, situation, or word to represent a deeper abstract idea beyond its literal meaning

Satire

Uses humor, irony, and exaggeration to criticize foolishness, corruption, or vices in people and/or society

Irony

A sharp contrast between expectation and reality, or between what is said and what is actually meant.

Tricolon

Uses a series of three parallel words, phrases, or clauses in a row. Three items build a satisfying rhythm that feels balanced & finished

Paradox

A statement that appears to be self contradictory or opposed to common sense but upon clear inspection contains some degree of truth of validity.