Rhetorical Strategies

The comparison of a familiar idea, concept, or thing with an unfamiliar one, in order to explain or clarify the unfamiliar.  They are often used to explain complex or abstract concepts or topics.

• Analogy

• Anecdote

• Allusion

• Anaphora

A short, interesting, usually true story that is designed to make an important point.  Anecdotes allow writers to add a human element to their writing and connect with the reader.  They can support opinions, support claims, inform, entertain, or persuade.

• Analogy

• Appendectomy

• Alliteration

• Anecdote

A brief, informally-made reference to a well-known person, place, event, or text.  It is used to help readers see a broader picture, to evoke a positive or negative feeling or to apply a symbolic meaning to the thing being referenced.  They are often Biblical, literary, or historical.

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• Allusion

• Hyperbole

• Analogy

An exaggeration used to emphasize a point.  It is used to make a point strongly, to draw the reader’s attention back to the writer or to demonstrate the difference between two things.

• Hyperbole

• Understatement

• Figurative Language

• Metaphor

A comparison of two unlike things.  It is used to get the reader to see a new side of something or to highlight an aspect of something that is similar to something familiar.

• Allusion

• Metabole

• Metaphor

• Rhetoric

Example:  “But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.  One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.”

• Parallel Structure (Repetition)

• Example

• Quotes

• Results of Research

• “Do I look like I was born yesterday?”

• Metaphor

• Analogy

• Yes.

• Rhetorical Question

A statement that is universally accepted or known to be true. Usually it is utilized by the writer/speaker to create a point of commonality, create interest/shock, or to appeal to the audience’s logic. 

• Fact

• Opinion

• Falshoods

• Factoid

Example: “The United States is a nation which values freedom above all else, yet it is the most incarcerated nation in the world.” 

• Facts

• Statistics

• Quote

• Metaphor

Example: “According to the National Institute of Mental Health, around 1 in 5 adults living in the U.S. will experience mental illness in their lifetime.”

• Example

• Hyperbole

• Anecdote

• Statistic