Rhetorical Terms

A reference to a well-known person, place, or thing from literature, history, etc. Example: Eden

• Alliteration

• Apostrophe

• Aphorism

• Allusion

Comparison of two similar but different things, usually to clarify an action or a relationship, such as comparing the work of a heart to that of a pump. A comparison to a directly parallel case.

• Allegory

• Analogy

• Anecdote

• Anaphora

Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row. This is a deliberate form of repetition and helps make the writer’s point more coherent.

• Alliteration

• Asyndeton

• Anaphora

• Cacophony

The presentation of two contrasting images or ideas. The ideas are balanced by word, phrase, clause, or paragraphs. “To be or not to be…” “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country…”

• Alliteration

• Cacophony

• Anthesis

• Argumentation

Usually in poetry but sometimes in prose; the device of calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person or to a place, thing, or personified abstraction.

• Anecdote

• Allusion

• Apostrophe

• Abstract

Writing that attempts to prove the validity of a point of view or an idea by presenting reasoned arguments.

• Argumentation

• Anaphora

• Antithesis

• Cacophony

Repetition of vowel sounds between different consonants, such as in neigh/fade

• Alliteration

• Assonance

• Cacophony

• Anaphora

Commas used (with no conjunction) to separate a series of words. The parts are emphasized equally when the conjunction is omitted; in addition, the use of commas with no intervening conjunction speeds up the flow of the sentence.

• Alliteration

• Asyndeton

• Colloquialism

• Anaphora

A short, often witty statement of a principle or a truth about life. “Early bird gets the worm”

• Aphorism

• Anecdote

• Allusion

• Allegory

harsh, awkward, or dissonant sounds used deliberately in poetry or prose.

• Alliteration

• Assonance

• Cacophony

• Anaphora