Rhetorical Devices

Antithesis

Juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases.

Example of Antithesis

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." (Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities)

Parallelism

Use of similar grammatical structures in a sentence or series of sentences.

Example of Parallelism

"We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills." (Winston Churchill)

Rhetorical Question

Question asked for effect, not to elicit an answer.

Example of Rhetorical Question

"What is the meaning of life?"

Anaphora

Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences.

Example of Anaphora

"I have a dream that one day..." (Martin Luther King Jr.)

Juxtaposition

Placement of two things side by side for comparison or contrast.

Example of Juxtaposition

"Beauty and ugliness, wisdom and folly, virtue and vice, coexist in this world."

Allusion

Reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art.

Example of Allusion

"He was a real Romeo with the ladies."

Hyperbole

Exaggeration for emphasis or effect.

Example of Hyperbole

"I'm so hungry I could eat a horse."

Understatement

Deliberately downplaying something to emphasize it.

Example of Understatement

"It's a bit chilly outside," when it's freezing.

Irony

Use of words to convey a meaning opposite to its literal meaning.

Example of Irony

A fire station burns down.

Personification

Giving human qualities to non-human things.

Example of Personification

"The wind whispered through the trees."

Repetition

Use of the same word or phrase multiple times.

Example of Repetition

"I have a dream..." (Martin Luther King Jr.)

Anecdote

Short, personal story used to illustrate a point.

Example of Anecdote

Sharing a personal experience to illustrate a point about perseverance.

Chiasmus

Two or more clauses are balanced against each other by reversing their structures.

Example of Chiasmus

"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." (John F. Kennedy)

Alliteration

Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.

Example of Alliteration

"She sells seashells by the seashore."

Asyndeton

Omission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words.

Example of Asyndeton

"I came, I saw, I conquered." (Julius Caesar)

Polysyndeton

Use of multiple conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words.

Example of Polysyndeton

"We have ships and men and money and time."

Oxymoron

Figure of speech that combines contradictory terms.

Example of Oxymoron

"Bitter-sweet."

Synecdoche

Figure of speech in which a part represents the whole or vice versa.

Example of Synecdoche

"All hands on deck" (hands representing people).

Zeugma

Single word modifies two or more words, but in different senses.

Example of Zeugma

"She lost her keys and her temper."

Epistrophe

Repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive clauses or sentences.

Example of Epistrophe

"And the government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." (Abraham Lincoln)