Rhetorical Techiques

Imagery

Imagery

Detailed descriptions that appeal to the five senses that affect the audience’s mood

-visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile 

EX: The lake was left with millions of ripples after the gusts of wind blew across it. 

Personification (verb - personify)

Giving human characteristics to non-human entities

EX: The trees danced in the wind. 

Anthropomorphism

Attributing human form or personality to non-human entities, usually animals (but not always) 

EX: “Tortoise and the Hare”

Disney movies, fairy tales, and fables 

Paradox

A contradictory statement that reveals a truth

EX: If I know one thing, it is that I know nothing. 

Truth is honey, which is bitter.

“I must be cruel only to be kind” (Hamlet III.iv.181).

Oxymoron

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

EX: jumbo shrimp

Wise fool (also a paradox!) 

Biggie Smalls

Icy Hot

Allusion (verb - allude)

a reference to literature, geography, history, personal, etc.

EX: Like Odysseus, I must overcome many obstacles.

“Mildred ran from the parlor like a native fleeing an eruption of Vesuvius.” - Fahrenheit 451 

Donuts are my kryptonite. 

She’s walking around looking like Ironman in those big red boots. 

Anecdote

a short, amusing or interesting story about an incident or person (usually longer than an allusion)

EX: “This one time…”

Simile

comparing two unlike objects using like/as 

(and sometimes than)

EX: Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.

It’s colder than an igloo!

Metaphor

comparing two unlike objects not using like/as 

EX: The lion is the king of the jungle.

Eyes are the window to the soul.

Analogy (adj - analogous)

a comparison between two things, typically on the basis of their structure and for the purpose of explanation or clarification

EX: In Mean Girls, Cady frequently relates “girl world” to the animal world → both are similarly structured in that the strongest survive and make it to the top

Verbal irony

Expressing the opposite of what you actually mean

EX: “Good job!” after your friend trips.

Situational irony

Expecting one thing to happen, but the opposite happens instead 

EX: A guy chasing you into an alley only to give you your wallet back that you dropped.

Dramatic irony

When the audience knows something the characters do not

EX: Superhero movies 

In Romeo and Juliet, the audience knows that Romeo does not receive the letter that says Juliet is not dead but only asleep.

Jargon

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

EX: medical or legal terminology, typically found in academic journals

Colloquialism (adj - colloquial)

a word or phrase that is not formal or literary, typically one used in ordinary or familiar conversation

EX: “Wicked” in New England

“That party was lit.”

“Oh, she bad.” 

“That’s suss.”

Understatement (verb - understate)

intentionally makes something seem less important than it actually is

EX: “It’s just a flesh wound!” - Monty Python

I only got held back three times.

Euphemism

a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing

EX: She passed away yesterday.

I was let go from my job last month. 

He went away for two years because of his tax issues.

Hyperbole (verb - exaggerate)

Intentional exaggeration

EX: Oh my gosh, my mom was so embarrassing. I thought I was going to die.

I have ten million things to do today!

Apostrophe

the addressing of a usually absent person or a usually personified thing rhetorically

EX: (Looking at a recently broken computer screen) “Why must you do this to me?!”

Parallel structure

using the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance; can happen at the word, phrase, or clause level

EX: I like running, skating, and baking.

Whenever I go to the beach, I play in the ocean, walk on the boardwalk, and hang out with my friends. 

Antithesis

the rhetorical contrast of ideas by means of parallel arrangements of words, clauses, or sentences

EX: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” - Neil Armstrong

Speech is silver, but silence is gold.

Antimetabole

the repetition of words in successive clauses, but in transposed grammatical order

EX: I know what I like, and I like what I know.

Zeugma

use of two different words in a grammatically similar way that produces different, often incongruous, meanings (a literal use and a metaphorical use)

EX: I ate my snacks and my feelings.

“Yes, my teeth and ambitions are bared – be prepared!” - Scar from The Lion King

Anaphora

repetition of word/phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines

EX: “Every breath you take / Every move you make / Every bond you break / Every step you take / I’ll be watching you” - The Police - “Every Breath You Take”

“I came. I saw. I conquered.” - Caesar 

“I wish I was a little bit taller, I wish I was a baller, I wish I had a girl who looked good I would call her” – “I Wish” – Skee-lo

Epistrophe

the repetition of a word at the end of successive clauses or sentences (it’s kind of the opposite of anaphora)

EX: “Shel Turtlestein was many things, but above all he was my friend. When I didn’t get a date with Fiona Gunderson, Shel was there. When I didn’t get to play the part of Tevye, Shel was there. And when a raccoon broke into my room, unfortunately, Shel was there.”

Polysyndeton

the deliberate use of multiple conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words

EX: I’ll take an orange soda or a ginger ale or a Diet Coke or a Sprite.

Asyndeton

the deliberate omission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words

EX: “The air was thick, warm, heavy, sluggish.” - “Heart of Darkness” - Joseph Conrad

“He was a bag of bones, a floppy doll, a broken stick, a maniac.” - On the Road - Jack Kerouac (also anaphora!)

Alliteration

repetition of the same sound beginning several words/syllables in sequence

EX: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

She sells sea shells down by the sea shore.

Juxtaposition (verb - juxtapose)

putting two objects/ideas next to one another to draw the contrast

EX: A billboard advertising a Church next to a strip club.

A pro wrestler holding a small baby.

Subjective reasoning

biased, based on your own opinions/preconceived notions/prejudices

EX: Ronald Reagan is one of the greatest leaders the US has ever had.

Jalapenos should be eaten at least once a day.

*Can be VERY effective, depending on audience (think of presidential rallies that aren’t fact-checked)

Objective reasoning

based upon reason, logic, facts, can be measured

EX: Mountain climbing without a rope is a bad idea. 

You should not eat poison ivy.

Polemic

a spoken or written attack about someone or a topic (synonyms: diatribe, rants)

EX: Broccoli is a disgusting vegetable whose existence is the bane of all children’s lives. Those who believe it is a delicious and healthy food are wrong. It is a foul, appalling thing that should be banned from being sold or grown under any circumstances. Only when we rid the world of broccoli will we truly remove the threat of repulsive dinners.

Inductive reasoning

starting from the specific and moving to the general

EX: Lucy is a monkey. She likes to eat bananas. Thus, all monkeys like bananas. 

I cough when I eat peanuts, so I must be allergic to nuts. 

Deductive reasoning

Starting from the general and moving to the specific

EX: All planets in the solar system revolve around the sun. Earth is a planet. Earth revolves around the sun.

EX: Fruits are healthy. An orange is a fruit. Therefore oranges are healthy.

Qualitative evidence

evidence that reflects the feelings, thoughts, and understandings of people

EX: focus groups, traditions, testimony, diaries, etc.

Quantitative evidence

Evidence that can be measured, cited, counted, and repeated; evidence based on numbers

EX: surveys, polls, measurements, etc.

Satire (verb - satirize)

the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices in the hopes of changing actions, beliefs, attitudes, etc.

EX: The Office, The Daily Show,

Modern Family

Caricature

An exaggeration of someone or something’s original form, usually exaggerating one specific part

Pun

A play on the meaning or sound(s) of a word

EX: A sign at rehab says, “Stay off the grass.”

A bear steps on a bear trap in the woods and exclaims, “How unBEARable!”

Invective (verb - insult)

Any use of name-calling or harsh attack for shock effect

EX: You foolish rapscallion!

“Crooked Hillary”

"I cannot but conclude the bulk of your natives to be the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth." - Gulliver’s Travels - Jonathan Swift