Rhetoric and Rhetorical Devices

the effective use of language to persuade, inform, or educate

• rhetoric
• rhetorical situation
• persuasion
• conclusion

The specific occasion/event that prompted the message to be written/spoken

• exigence
• message
• writer
• context

Why the speaker is conveying a message

• purpose
• exigence
• message
• writer

Who the writer is speaking to

• audience
• purpose
• exigence
• message

The circumstances surrounding the situation

• context
• audience
• purpose
• exigence

Who is doing the writing

• writer
• context
• audience
• purpose

What the writer wants the audience to think or know

• message
• writer
• context
• audience

the context in which a writer or speaker is trying to communicate their message

• rhetorical situation
• rhetoric
• persuasion
• conclusion

statement that seems to contradict itself, but which, upon further examination, contains some kernel of truth or reason.

• Paradox
• Chiasmus
• Antithesis
• Polysyndeton

when coordinating conjunctions are used several times in close succession, particularly where conjunctions would normally not be present at all.

• Polysyndeton
• Hypophora
• Satire
• Asyndeton