All The Damn Devices.

100 Rhetorical Devices to forcefully cram the night before the AP Exam. Threw a few more devices in there that I felt would be useful on the exam and to get to 100 devices.

Absolute

Absolute

a word free from limitations or qualifications

Adage

a familiar proverb or wise saying

Ad Hominem

an argument attacking an individual's character rather than his or her position on an issue

Allegory

a literary work in which characters, objects, or actions represent abstractions or ideas

Alliteration

the repetition of initial sounds in successive or neighboring words

Allusion

a reference to something literary, mythological, or historical that the author assumes the reader will recognize.

Analogy

a comparison of two different things that are similar in some way

Anaphora

the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of consecutive lines or sentences.

Anecdote

a brief narrative that focuses on a particular incident or event

Antecedent

the word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers

Antithesis

a statement in which two opposing ideas are balanced. A form of juxtaposition.

Aphorism

a concise statement that expresses succinctly a general truth or idea, often using rhyme or balance

Apostrophe

a figure of speech in which one directly addresses an absent or imaginary person, or some abstraction.

Archetype

a detail, image, or character type that occurs frequently in literature and myth and is thought to appeal in a universal way to the unconscious and to evoke a response.

Argument

a statement of the meaning or main point of a literary work

Asyndeton

the omission or absence of a conjunction between parts of a sentence.

balanced sentence

Sentences with 2 equal segments of same size and importance

cliche

Overused phrase betraying lack of original thought

compound sentence

Sentence with 2+ independent clauses expressing related ideas

concrete details

Specific descriptive details. Certain time,place,person, etc.

denotation

Literal meaning of a word, excluding implied feelings

cumulative sentence

Sentence building on the main idea stated at the beginning of the sentence.

deductive reasoning

Progressing from general ideas to specific conclusion in a line of reasoning.

syllogism

Logical structure deriving a necessary conclusion from a major premise.

chiasmus

Repetition of two clauses in which the idea is conveyed in reverse order in the second clause.

colloquialism

Informal words/phrases used in everyday conversation.

conceit

A metaphor in which two very different objects are compared. Convoluted, unconventional, and/or improbable comparison.

connotation

Meanings/associations beyond a word's dictionary definition

dialect

Language form specific to a region or social group

periodic sentence

Sentence withholding main clause until the end

inductive reasoning

Drawing conclusions from specific to general

didactic

Intended to teach with moral instruction and ulterior motive.

dilemma

offering to an opponent a choice between two equally unfavorable alternatives.

elegy

a poem of mourning

epic

a long narrative poem retelling heroic deeds.

epigraph

a short quote placed at the beginning of a writing.

epitaph

a poetic or memorable inscription often found on graves to remember the deceased.

epithet

A descriptive literary device that describes a place, a thing, or a person in such a way that it increases the prominence of it/their characteristics.

euphemism

used to replace a word of phrase that is related to a concept that might make some feel uncomfortable.

fable

a concise and brief story intended to provide a moral lesson at the end.

flashback

interrupts the flow of the plot to explain past events often connected to the present.

dissonance

the use of impolite, harsh sounding, and unusual words in poetry.

ellipsis

omission of a word or short phrase easily understood in context.

epigram

A memorable, brief, interesting, and surprising satirical statement

epiphany

a sudden realization or discovery that illuminates a new perspective or form of awareness.

eulogy

a laudatory (praise or commendation) expression in speech, or a written tribute.

exigence

an issue, problem, or situation that causes or prompts someone to speak or create a work.

expletive

starts with it, here, or there. Interrupts normal speech to lay emphasis on certain words.

fantasy

a form of literary genre in which a plot cannot occur in the real world. Completely fictitious.

Inference

process of drawing a conclusion from supporting evidence

Invective

Literary device in which one attacks or insults a person or thing through the use of abusive language and tone.

Irony

Speaking in a way as to imply the contrary of what one says, often for the purpose of diversion, mockery, or jest.

Jargon

Specific type of language used by a particular group/profession. (Specialized language)

Juxtaposition

Placement of two things closely together to emphasize similarities or differences.

Legend

Story about human events/actions that has not been proved nor documented in real history. Usually an old story about an event/person.

Lilotes

Deliberate understatement, especially when expressing a thought by denying its opposite.

Logos

to appeal to audience’s sense of reason/logic

Malapropism

Verbal blunder in which one word is replaced by another similarly sounding word that is different in meaning. Confuse one word for another similarly sounding word.

Maxim

Concise statement expression a commonly accepted truth, principle, or rule of conduct.

Metaphor

A comparison made by referring one thing to another WITHOUT “like” or “as”

Metonymy

Reference to someone/something by naming one of its attributes. Something represented by another thing that’s related to it/emblematic of it.

Motif

Literary technique that consists of a repeated element that has a symbolic significance to a literary work.

Non sequitur

Conclusion or reply that doesn’t follow logically from the previous statement.

Oxymoron

Placing two ordinary opposing terms next to each other. EX Terribly Good, Original Copy.

Parable

Simple story used to illustrate a moral spiritual lesson.

Parody

A creative effect that is created in order to imitate, comment on, critique/mock a subject often for comedic effect.

Parallelism

Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses.

Personification

Reference to non-human entities such as animals or objects as if they had human qualities or abilities.

Paradox

a statement that’s self contradictory on the surface but sill evokes a truth or lesson.

Stream of consciousness

a technique that records the thoughts and feelings of a character without regard to logical argument or narrative sequence; reflects all the forces, internal and external, affecting the character's psyche at the moment

Rhetoric

Technique that’s used by speaker for purpose of evoking a particular reaction or for persuasion.

Satire

to ridicule various aspects of popular culture or towards a person or entity in order to draw attention towards an issue and bring about change.

Solecism

element of speech/writing that is incorrect gramatically.

Pathos

Appeal to the emotions of the audience.

Parenthetical

A qualifying sentence, clause, or word inserted into a passage for explanatory purposes.

Pedantic

Someone who is too concerned with literary accuracy or factual correctness to the point of absurdity.

Polysyndeton

Repeating conjunctions in a sentence.

Philippic

bitter verbal attack/denunciation

Round character

A character in a story that has significant depth or potential for character development.

Pun

play on words to achieve a humorous effect.

sarcasm

statement that uses irony to mock someone/something in order to convey contempt.

Rhetorical Devices

specific forms of language used for the purpose of having a specific effect on the audience.

Synesthesia

Device/figure of speech where ideas, characters, or places are presented in a way that appeals to multiple senses such as hearing, taste, smell, sight, etc.

Style

the way in which the author writes/speaks in their work.

Syllepsis

A simple word that governs/modifies two or more other words.

synecdote

When a whole idea is represented by naming one of its parts.

Syntax

Set of rules that helps readers and writers make sense of writing

Tautology

Repeating ones meaning in different words often accidentally in the same or closely following sentences.

Tone

Overall mood/attitude reflected by a work.

Trilogy

Series of three dramas/works of music/or works of literature that are closely related and build off of one another to form a main theme.

Trite

An idea/remark/story that has become boring due to being conveyed to many times in society.

Understatement

An expression of lesser strength than what speaker/writer actually means or lesser strength than what is normally expected.

Venacular

Informal spoken language from a particular region, culture, or group.

Zeguma

General term describing when one part of speech governs two or more parts of a sentence.

Ethos

When an author appeals to authority to increase credibility often through citing other people, making a claim to high standing position, or by proving their good intent/morals.

Rhetorical Question

When the writer asks a question that is not intended to be answered rather as a way to create a persuasive point.

Hypophora

A rhetorical question that is immediately answered by the author.

Statistics

Data such as numbers or percentages employed in a work.

Hyperbole

A rhetorical device in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect.

epistrophe

The repetition of successive clauses at the end of sentences. Anaphora but at the end of sentences instead of the beginning.