Advanced Rhetorical Devices for Nerds

Rhetoric

• the science of persuasion

• the art of interpretation

• being good at arguing

• the art of persuasion

Paralanguage

• Screaming while jumping out of an airplane

• Jargon used by paramedics

• the non lexical aspects of communication

• the lexical aspects of communication

Anaphora

• A question followed by an answer

• Repetition of a word at the beginning of a sentence

• Repetition of a phrase with an intervening word

• Repetition of a phrase at the end of a sentence

Diacope

• Inversion of parts of a phrase in a sentence

• Repetition of a phrase after an intervening word or phrase in a sentence

• Repetition of the last word of one sentence as the first word of the next sentence

• Repetition of the same sound or letter

Antithesis

• Contrasting two opposing ideas in consecutive sentences

• The counterclaim to an argument

• The opposite meaning of a word in a dictionary

• One idea presented from two different perspectives

Chiasmus

• Repetition of a word or phrase with more detail added each time

• Comparison of two things by speaking of one in terms of the other

• Inversion of parts of a sentence in sequence

• Repetition of a word or phrase at the end of a sentence

Anadiplosis

• Repetition of the last word of a sentence as the first word of the next sentence

• A list without using the conjunction 'and'

• Repetition of a phrase with an intervening word or phrase

• A list of three, or a sentence with three parts or clauses

Amplification

• Plugging in your electric guitar to a loud speaker

• Increasing the power of your voice while speaking

• Repetition of a word or phrase, with the addition of more detail

• Repetition of the same letter or sound

Tricolon

• A list of three, or three parallel parts to a sentence

• The devil's weapon

• Repetition of the same word three times

• Repetition of three words, three times

Polysyndeton

• A boldly overstated or exaggerated claim or statement

• Attributes human qualities and emotions to inanimate objects of nature

• A reference, typically brief, to a person, place, thing, event, or other literary work with which the reader is presumably familia

• A list where several coordinating conjunctions are used in succession in order to achieve an artistic effect