Rhetorical Devices

Anaphora

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

Ex:

Be strong. Be brave. Be courageous! Give all of your energy. Give all of your time. Give everything you have to give.

Juxtaposition

The fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect for the purpose of creating meaning

Ex; In the Toyota advertisement, the Corolla is juxtaposed with a roller coaster to highlight Toyota’s desire for people to think that the Corolla is a fun car to drive.

Paradox

A statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet has some truth to it.

Ex; The more you try to impress people, the less impressed they will be.

The more you fail, the more you will succeed.

Parallelism

Using similar words, clauses, phrases, sentence structure, or other grammatical elements to emphasize similar ideas in a sentence

Ex; "We've seen the unfurling of flags, the lighting of candles, the giving of blood, the saying of prayers." -George W. Bush

Ethos

A rhetorical or written technique that appeals to an audience or reader's ethics. Authors achieve ethos in their writing by demonstrating that they are a trustworthy source of accurate information (credibility)

Ex: A police officer speaking to a group about gun safety.

Pathos

A rhetorical device used to persuade an audience by purposely evoking certain emotions to make them feel the way the author wants them to feel. Authors make deliberate word choices, use meaningful language, and use examples and stories that evoke emotion

ex; President Bush reminds the country that children also suffered because of the terrorist attacks.

Logos

A persuasive technique that aims to convince an audience by using logic and reason. 

ex;  Scientific research

Legal arguments

Graphs, charts, etc.

Antithesis

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

Ex; “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”  Neil Armstrong

Allusion

A reference to a well-known person, character, place, or event that a writer makes to deepen the reader's understanding of their work; could be a reference to literature, religion, history, or pop culture

Ex;

Irony

A literary device that is used  when a moment of dialogue or plot contradicts what the audience expects from a character or story. In other words, irony in literature happens when the opposite of what you’d expect actually occurs; three types:  verbal, situational, and dramatic

Metonomy

a figure of speech in which a word is substituted for another word that it is closely associated with

Ex; The White House signed an executive order. 

Understatement

a figure of speech where a writer or speaker deliberately minimizes the importance or seriousness of something

Ex; “‘I’ve got a nice place here,’” he said, his eyes flashing about restlessly.

Apostrophe

is a literary device that occurs when a speaker directly addresses someone or something that cannot respond

ex; “Twinkle, twinkle little star. How I wonder where you are.”

Euphemism

polite, mild phrases which substitute unpleasant ways of saying something sad or uncomfortable.

ex: She’s a curvy woman.