Rhetorical Devices

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Alliteration

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Occurs when a series of words in a row (or close together) have the same first consonant sound

EX: “My father brought to conversations a cavernous capacity for caring that dismayed strangers.” The Centaur by John Updike

“....in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed…” from “I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King Jr. 

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Allusion

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Brief reference to a person, event, or place (real or fictitious) or to a work of art in order to enrich a reader’s understanding

EX: Common types: biblical, literary, historical, mythological

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Analogy

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The comparison of two things, which are alike in several respects, for the purpose of explaining or clarifying some unfamiliar or difficult idea or object by showing how the idea or object is similar to some familiar one

EX: “The least fracture now will be like a name engraved with the point of a pin on the tender rind of a young oak; the wound would enlarge with the tree, and posterity read it in full grown characters” -- shows that present actions will have an effect on future generations

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Anaphora

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The approximate or exact repetition at or near the beginnings of successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or paragraphs

EX: “I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi…will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children…the content of their character. I have a dream today!”

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Anecdote

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 A brief story used to illustrate a point or a claim.

EX: “Little Johnny gets off the school bus and slumps his way home. He is exhausted after spending 7.5 hours in school, but he knows that he still has homework this evening. On top of that, he has baseball practice and violin practice; he doesn’t know how he’ll get it all done. Maybe not sleep tonight?” (brief story to introduce topic of why homework should be not be given)

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Antithesis

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Opposition, or contrast of ideas or words in a parallel construction; (literal meaning--opposite); a rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect

EX: (King) “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly” (par. 4 - “I Have a Dream”); “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (par. 4 - “I Have a Dream”)

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Aphorism

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A short, proverbial saying of a universal truth -- usually offered in parallel structure and therefore easily committed to memory

EX: Absence makes the heart grow fonder

The early bird catches the worm

Ignorance is bliss

Out of sight, out of mind

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Connotation

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Commonly understood cultural or emotional association that some word or phrase carries, in addition to its explicit or literal meaning, which is its denotation

EX: EXAMPLE:

Fabulous carries a stronger positive emotional association than Good does, although the two or synonymous

Abhorred carries a stronger negative association than Dislike does, although the two are synonymous

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Denotation

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The literal or primary meaning of a word; dictionary definition

EX: Fabulous: amazingly good; wonderful.

Good: pleasing and welcome.

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Diction

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The choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing

EX: Formal writing/speaking -- formal diction, i.e. words should be used correctly, grammar should be correct, varied sentence structure

Casual writing/speaking -- informal diction, i.e. slang, idioms, abbreviations, no formal grammar