Rhetorical Devices |
Alliteration: repetition
of initial or medial consonants in two or more adjacent words. Peter Piper picked a peck...
Anadiplosis: repetition of the last word of
one clause at the beginning of the following clause. Anaphora: repetition of the same word or
groups of words at the beginning of phrases, clauses, or sentences. Anastrophe: inversion of the natural or
usual word order. Antithesis: the juxtaposition of
contrasting ideas. Apophasis: asserts or emphasizes something
by seeming to pass over, ignore, or deny it. Apposition: placing, side by side, two
co-ordinate elements, the second of which serves as an explanation
of the first. Assonance: the repetition of similar vowel
sounds in two or more adjacent words. Asyndeton: deliberate omission of
conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses. Chaismus: reversal of grammatical
structures in successive phrases or clauses. Climax: arrangement of words, phrases, or
clauses in order of increasing importance. Ellipsis: deliberate omission of a word or
words, which are readily implied by the context. Epanalepsis: repetition at the end
of a clause of the word that occurred at the beginning of the
clause. Epistrophe: repetition of the same
word or group of words at the ends of successive phrases or clauses. Euphemism: the substitution of less pungent
words for harsh ones, with ironic effect. Expletive: a single word or phrase, usually
interrupting normal syntax, used to lend emphasis to the words
immediately proximate to the expletive. Hyperbole: the use of exaggeration for the
purpose of emphasis or heightened effect. Hypophora: raising questions, then
answering them. Litotes: the use of deliberate
understatement for emphasis or effect. Metaphor: implied comparison between two
things of unlike nature, yet which have something in common. Metonymy: using a closely related object as
a substitute for the object or idea in mind. Onomatopoeia: using words, that sound like
what they mean. Oxymoron: a paradox reduced to two words. Paradox: a statement that appears to be
contradictory but, in fact, has some truth. Parallelism: similarity of structure in a
pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses. Paranthesis: insertion of some
verbal unit in a position that interrupts the normal syntactical
flow of the sentence. Personification: investing abstractions or
inanimate objects with human qualities or abilities. Polysyndeton: deliberate use of many
conjunctions. Pun: word play Rhetorical Question: asking a question, not
for the purpose of eliciting an answer but for the purpose of
asserting or denying something obliquely. Simile: an explicit comparison, usually
using "like," "as," or "than" between two things of unlike nature
yet that have something in common. Synecdoche: using a part to represent a
whole. |