Rhetorical Devices

Anaphora

Anaphora

Repetition of a word or words at the beginning of two or more successive verses, clauses or sentences.

Anaphora (example)

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness."

Anastrophe

inversion of the usual order of words

Anastrophe (example)

"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."

Antithesis

the presentation of two contrasting images. The ideas are balanced by word, phrase, clause or paragraph; the opposition or contrast of ideas; the direct opposite.

Antithesis (example)

"We must learn to live as brothers or perish together as fools."

Asyndeton

Conjunctions being left out

Asyndeton (example)

"I came, I saw, I conquered."

Chiasmus

reversal in the order of words in two otherwise parallel phrases

Chiasmus (example)

"Do I love you because you are beautiful, or are you beautiful because I love you?"

Juxtaposition

placing two elements side by side to present a comparison or contrast

Juxtaposition (example)

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Parallelism

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

Parallelism (example)

"When you are right, you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative"

Polysyndeton

use of a number of conjunctions in close succession

Polysyndeton (example)

"If there be cards or knives, poison or fire, or suffocating streams, I'll not endure it."

Zeugma

Two different words linked to a verb or an adjective which is strictly appropriate to only one of them.

Zeugma (example)

"She looked at the object with suspicion and a magnifying glass."

tricolon Example

"We didn't breath; we didn't wait; we hoped."

Loose Sentence

A type of sentence in which the main idea (independent clause) comes first, followed by dependent grammatical units such as phrases and clauses. Less formal than period sentences.

Periodic sentence

Sentence whose main clause is withheld until the end. these are more formal then loose sentences. May also add emphasis.

Logos

a way of persuading an audience through reasoning by offering them facts, statistics, and examples.

Pathos

When a writer appeals to the emotions of the intended audience to excite and involve them in the argument

Ethos

beliefs or character of a group

Kairos

Building a sense of urgency for your cause, timeliness and appropriateness of the argument.

Alliteration

the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.

SOAPSTone

Speaker, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Subject, Tone

Tricolon

Sentence consisting of three parts of equal importance and length, usually three independent clauses.

Analogy

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

anecdote

a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person

Testimonial

attempts to persuade the reader by using a famous person to endorse a product or idea

Bandwagon

A fallacy which assumes that because something is popular, it is therefore good, correct, or desirable.

Glittering Generalities

propaganda technique using short phrases or words to promote positive feelings or emotions

Card Stacking

propaganda technique involving the use of showing one-sided information

Plain Folks

Attempting to convince the public that one's views reflect those of the common person

Transfer Propaganda

an attempt to make the subject view a certain item in the same way as they view another item, to link the two in the subject's mind

rhetorical question

A question asked merely for rhetorical effect and not requiring an answer

Hypophora

a figure of speech in which a writer raises a question and then immediately provides an answer to that question

ad hominem

a fallacy that attacks the person rather than dealing with the real issue in dispute

Strawman Fallacy

Misrepresenting someone's argument to make it easier to attack

Black and White Fallacy

A fallacy that occurs when the audience is only given two choices.

No True Scotsman

Making what could be called an appeal to purity as a way to dismiss relevant criticisms or flaws of an argument. (Scots believe in freedom, he does not believe in freedom, therefore he is not really a Scotsman)

Moving the goal post fallacy

Changing the terms of the argument mid-argument.

Epiplexis

A persuasive tactic, in which the speaker uses a series of rhetorical questions to expose the flaws in the opponent's argument or position. In this case, the questions being asked don't require answers because they are not being used to secure a response, but rather as a mode of argument-via-questioning. It is confrontational and reproachful in tone.

Erotesis

Erotesis, also known as erotema, is a rhetorical question to which the answer is profoundly obvious, and to which there is a strongly negative or affirmative reply.

Dysphemism

substitution of a more offensive or disparaging word or phrase for one considered less offensive.

Euphamism

indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant

Declarative sentence

a sentence that makes a statement

Interrogative sentence

A sentence that asks a question

Symploce

combining anaphora and epistrophe, so that one word or phrase is repeated at the beginning and another word or phrase is repeated at the end of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences.

synechdoche (fig of speech)

where a part stands for the whole (all hands on deck)