Rhetorical Choices

Allusion

Expression designed to call to mind something in passing without explicitly mentioning it; an indirect reference (assumed that the audience knows the reference)

Anecdote

Short and amusing/interesting story about a real person/incident

Inversion

Reversal of the normal order of words, typically for rhetorical effect (also found in regular formation of questions in English)

Anastrophe

Inversion of the usual order of words/clauses

Chiasmus

Words, grammatical constructions, or concepts are repeated in a modified version

Dialect

A particular form of a language that is peculiar to a specific region or social group

Code-switching

Alternating between two or more languages/varieties in conversation

Diction

Choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing

Connotation

Idea/feeling that a word invokes in addition to its primary meaning

Colloqualism

Word/phrase that is not formal or literary, typically used in ordinary/familiar conversation; use of ordinary words and phrases

Jargon

Special words/expressions used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand

Tonal shifts

A shift in tone is a change in the author's style, focus, or language that alters the meaning of a text; a shift in tone always has significance; tone shifts...

Repetition

The action of repeating something that has already been said or written

Anaphora

The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses

Epistrophe

The repetition of a word at the end of successive clauses or sentences

Diacope

Repetition of a word or phrase with one or two intervening words

Aphorism

Pithy observation that contains a general truth

Epithet

An adjective or descriptive phrase expressing a quality characteristic of the person/thing mentioned.

Ansyndeton

Omission/absence of a conjunction between parts of a sentence

Polysyndeton

Literary technique in which conjunctions are used repeatedly in quick succession, often with no commas, even when the conjunctions could be removed

Enumeration

The action of mentioning a number of things one by one

Analogy

A comparison between two things, typically for the purpose of explanation or clarification

Oxymoron

A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction

Juxtaposition

The fact of two things being seen/placed close together with contrasting effect

Antithesis

A figure of speech in which an opposition or contrast of ideas is expressed by parallelism of words that are the opposites or strongly contrasted with each other

Syntax

The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language

Parallel structure

Repetition of the same pattern of words or phrases within a sentence or passage to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance

Telegraphic sentence

A concise sentence typically containing five words or less

Cumulative sentence

An independent clause followed by a series of subordinate clauses or phrases that gather details about a person, place, event, or idea

Periodic sentence

Has the main clause or predicate at the end; used for emphasis and can be persuasive by putting reasons for something at the beginning before the final point is made; can also create suspense or interest for the reader

Litotes

Ironic understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary

Hyperbole

Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally