Rhetorical Devices/Rhetorical Strategies

Litotes (understatement)

Litotes (understatement)

a phrase that uses negation to create an affirmative understatement. For example, “That wasn't half bad” uses negative phrasing to indicate that something was actually very good.

Synecdoche

a figure of speech in which, most often, a part of something is used to refer to its whole. For example, "The captain commands one hundred sails" uses "sails" to refer to ships—ships being the thing of which a sail is a part.

Metonymy

a figure of speech in which a word is replaced with another word closely associated with the original concept, such as “love” with “heart.”

Paradox

a self-contradictory statement or argument. For example, "less is more" suggests that simplicity can lead to greater impact.

Allusion

Often references a famous work of art or literature, or to something from your own life. For example, you might say, "I obviously am no expert at love.”

Euphemism

a word or phrase that softens an uncomfortable topic. It uses figurative language to refer to a situation without having to confront it. For example, if someone was recently fired, they might say they are between jobs, a common euphemism for being unemployed.

Anadiplosis

a figure of speech in which a word or group of words located at the end of one clause or sentence is repeated at or near the beginning of the following clause or sentence. This line from the novelist Henry James is an example: "Our doubt is our passion, and our passion is our task."

Chiasmus

a figure of speech in which the grammar of one phrase is inverted in the following phrase, such that two key concepts from the original phrase reappear in the second phrase in inverted order. The sentence "She has all my love; my heart belongs to her," is an example.

Parallelism

A figure of speech in which two or more elements of a sentence (or series of sentences) have the same grammatical structure. This creates a rhythm and balance, enhancing the clarity and persuasiveness of the writing. An example is: "I came, I saw, I conquered."

Juxtaposition

placing two contrasting ideals or characters side-by-side to highlight each other, often used in literature to create a stronger effect by emphasizing the contrasts between them; examples include describing a character's innocence against a corrupt environment, or contrasting a luxurious lifestyle with extreme poverty.

Antithesis

a literary device that positions opposite ideas parallel to each other. Think heroes and villains, hot and cold, bitter and sweet

Asyndeton

the deliberate omission or absence of words like “and,” “but,” and “or” from a series of clauses or sentences. This has various effects such as speeding up the rhythm, changing the tone, and adding emphasis.

Polysyndeton

repetition of conjunctions in close succession (as in we have ships and men and money).

Anaphora

a figure of speech in which words repeat at the beginning of successive clauses, phrases, or sentences; for example, "We shall not fail. We shall not falter. We shall not yield."

Idiom

an expression in the usage of a language that is peculiar to itself either in having a meaning that cannot be derived from the conjoined meanings of its elements (such as up in the air for “undecided”) or in its grammatically atypical use of words (such as give way).

Verbal Irony

When the literal meaning of what someone says is different from—and often opposite to—what they actually mean. When there's a hurricane raging outside and someone remarks "what lovely weather we're having," this is an example of…

Situational Irony

when the outcome of a situation is contrary to or different from what is expected. For example, situations like a police station being robbed or a soccer-player kicking the ball into his own goal while trying to block.

Dramatic Irony

When the audience knows something that the characters don't. In Romeo and Juliet, the audience knows that Juliet is only in a deep sleep due to a potion, but Romeo believes she is dead, leading him to take his own life.