Rhetorical Terms
1. Allusion – indirect reference, brief reference to a person, event or place
EXAMPLE: Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah…
2. Anaphora – repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phases
EXAMPLE: Every child must be taught these principles. Every citizen must uphold them. Every immigrant, by embracing these ideals, makes our country more, not less, American.
3. Antithesis – a device in which contrasting ideas are expressed in a grammatically balanced statement
EXAMPLE: “I call not upon a few, but upon all” (Paine 246)
4. Apophasis – a rhetorical device wherein the speaker or writer brings up a subject by either denying it, or denying that it should be brought up, the raising of an issue by claiming not to mention it
EXAMPLE: We won’t even talk about his criminal record…
5. Apostrophe – a figure of speech in which the writer addresses an absent person, an abstract idea, or a thing
EXAMPLE: “Make me, O Lord, thy spinning wheel complete” (Taylor “Huswifery”)
6. Assumed Agreement – a speaker presumes agreement on the part of the audience members, thereby removing the option to contest his/her opinion
EXAMPLE: I know I can depend on you.
7. Extended Metaphor – a protracted metaphor or conceit which makes a series of parallel comparisons
EXAMPLE: Edward Taylor’s use of the spinning wheel in “Huswifery”
8. Flattering Diction – Using excessive, untrue, or insincere praise in an attempt to ingratiate oneself with the audience, and therefore make them more likely to accept your opinion
EXAMPLE: What a perceptive and intelligent group we have here today!
9. Hyperbole – an extravagant exaggeration of fact, used whether for serious or comic effect
EXAMPLE: He is older than the hills
10. Hypophora – a figure of speech in which a writer raises a question, and then immediately provides an answer to that question
EXAMPLE: Why is it better to love than to be loved? It is surer.
11. Metonymy – one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated
EXAMPLE: Detroit is still hard at work on an SUV that runs on alternative fuel.
12. Oxymoron – a in which two opposite ideas are joined to create an effect, paradoxical juxtaposition of words that seem to contradict each other
EXAMPLE: But this peaceful revolution…
13. Parallel Structure/Parallelism – similar grammatical forms to express ideas of equal importance
EXAMPLE: Running is fun, jumping is better; skipping is best.
14. Personification – attribution of lifelike quality to inanimate object or idea
EXAMPLE: …with history the final judge of our deeds
15. Rhetorical Question – a question posed for effect rather than for the purpose of getting an answer
EXAMPLE: Will you join in that historic effort?
16. Synecdoche – a figure of speech that uses a part to represent a whole
EXAMPLE: In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course