Rhetorical Devices PDF

Allegory: A story within a story. It has a “surface story” and another story hidden underneath Alliteration: Words that begin with the same sound are placed close together Allusion: A Reference to somet...

Allegory: A story within a story. It has a “surface story” and another story hidden underneath Alliteration: Words that begin with the same sound are placed close together Allusion: A Reference to something else. It’s when a writer mentions some other work, or refers to an earlier part of the current work. I didn’t have any bus fare, but fortunately some good samaritan helped me out! Bombast: A forceful and confident style that is intended to be very powerful and impressive, but may not have much real meaning or effect. Anaphora: When a certain word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of clauses or sentences that follow each other. Anecdote: A very short story that is significant to the topic at hand; usually adding personal knowledge or experience to the topic. Tone: Refers to the “feel” of a piece of writing. It is closer to the meaning of “style” or “voice” in writing, possibly referring to any or all of the stylistic qualities of the writing, possibly referring to any or all of the stylistic qualities of the writing, such as formality, dialect, and atmosphere.  Circumlocution: Means “talking around” or “talking in circles.” It’s when you want to discuss something, but don’t want to make any direct reference to it, so you create a way to get around the subject. Argument: A work of persuasion. You use it to convince others to agree with your claim or viewpoint when they have doubts or disagree. Reductio ad absurdum: A rhetorical technique where you show that the other person’s reasoning is invalid when taken to its logical conclusion. Apostrophe: The address by the author of a person who is not present. A speech or address to a person who is not present or to a personified object. Analogy: A literary technique in which two unrelated objects are compared for their shared qualities. Aphorism: A short statement of a general truth, insight, or good advice. It’s roughly similar to a “saying.” Often uses metaphors or creative imagery to get their general point across. Malapropism: Incorrect words used in place of correct words; these can be unintentional or intentional, but both cases have a comedic effect.  Ambiguity: An idea or situation that can be understood in more than one way. It’s often viewed in a negative light, since we value clarity in writing and ambiguity is the opposite of clarity. Understatement: When a writer presents a situation or thing as if it is less important or serious than it is in reality. It describes something with less strength than would be expected. Connotation: A feeling or idea that a word has, in addition to its literal or main meaning (the denotation) Compare/Contrast: Is to think about how two things are alike and different. Colloquial: Often used by authors as a way to convey personality and authenticity to characters. Denotation: A word’s or thing’s literal or main definition, describing its dictionary definition rather than its associated emotion. Diction: Refers to word choice and phrasing in any written or spoken text. Didactic: A literary movement encompassing written works that both instruct and entertain.  Epithet: A special nickname that replaces the name of a person and often describes them in some way. Ellipsis: A written symbol that appears as a sequence of dots, usually three (...), indicating that parts of a word or sentence have been omitted. Euphemism: Polite, mild phrases which substitute unpleasant ways of saying something sad or uncomfortable. Epiphany: An ‘Aha!’ moment; a life-changing realization which changes the rest of the story. Flashback: ​ A narrative device that interrupts the chronological flow of a story to present events that occurred earlier. ​ A device that moves an audience from the present moment in a chronological narrative to a scene in the past. Foreshadowing: Gives the audience hints or signs about the future. It suggests what is to come through imagery, language, and/or symbolism. It does not directly give away the outcome, but rather, suggests it. Hyperbole: A figure of speech in which an author or speaker purposely and obviously exaggerates to an extreme.  Imagery: Language used by poets, novelists and other writers to create images in the mind of the reader. Irony: When there are two contradicting meanings of the same situation, event, image, sentence, phrase, or story. Metaphor: A common figure of speech that makes a comparison by directly relating one thing to another unrated thing, Unlike similes, do not use the words such as ‘like’ or ‘as’ to make comparisons. Mood: The emotional atmosphere or feeling that a work of literature creates for the reader. Metonymy: A figure of speech that replaces words with related or associated words. Onomatopoeia: Refers to words whose pronunciations imitate the sounds they describe. Paradox: A statement that contradicts itself, or that must be both true and untrue at the same time. Oxymoron: A figure of speech that puts together opposite elements. The combination of these contradicting elements serves to reveal a paradox, confuse, or give the reader a laugh.  Parable: A short story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. It comes from a Greek Word meaning ‘comparison.’ Parallelism: When phrases in a sentence have similar or the same grammatical structure. Personification: A kind of metaphor in which you describe an inanimate object, abstract thing, or non-human animal in human terms. It is used to create more interesting and engaging scenes or characters. Anadiplosis: A device in which the last word or phrase of one clause, sentence or line is repeated at the beginning of the next. Pun: A joke based on the interplay of homophones–words with the same pronunciation but different meanings. It can also play with words that sound similar, but not exactly the same. Invective: The literary device in which one attacks or insults a person or thing through the use of abusive language and tone. Point of View: The perspective from which the character or narrator telling the story can see (his or her perspective).  Repetition: The repeating of a word or phrase. Rhetorical question: A question asked to create a dramatic effect or to make a point rather than to get an answer. Satire: A literary term where you use ‘like’ or ‘as’ to compare two different things and show a common quality between them. Syntax: The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language. It is concerned with the structure of language, including the rules and principles that govern how words are combined to create meaning. Symbol: Any image or thing that stands for something else. Juxtaposition: The placement of two or more things side by side, often in order to bring out their differences. Idiom: A phrase that conveys a figurative meaning different from the words used. Expletive: Figure of emphasis in which a single word or short phrase, usually interrupting normal speech, is used to lend emphasis to the words on either side of the expletive.  Asyndeton: Skipping one or more conjunctions (and, or, but, for, nor, so, yet) which are usually used in a series of phrases. Polysyndeton: A literary device that uses multiple repetitions of the same conjunction (and, but, if, etc), most commonly the word ‘and.’ Begging the Question: Occurs when an argument’s premises assume the truth of the conclusion, instead of supporting it. Context: The background, environment, setting, framework, or surrounding of events or occurrences. Counterargument: Acknowledging standpoints that go against your argument and then re-affirming your argument. Inductive Reasoning: Specific facts and draws conclusion, which may be right or wrong, This is a type of reasoning that assumes that given premises strongly lead to a certain conclusion, but there is not enough evidence to make the conclusion definite. Deductive reasoning: A way of building an argument from general premises to a concussion.  Genre: A category of literature identified by form, content, and style. Implication: The conclusion that can be drawn from something although it is not explicitly stated. Concession: A literary device used in argumentative writing, where one acknowledges appoint made by one’s opponent. Ad hominem: Refers to the logical fallacy (error) of arguing that someone is incorrect because they are unattractive, immoral, weird, or any other bad thing you could say about them as a person. Ad populum: Any argumentative emotional appeal purporting to establish a conclusion. Digression: A stylistic device authors employ to create a temporary departure from the main subject of the narrative, to focus on apparently unrelated topics, explaining background details. Cause and Effect: A logical system that organizes evidence to show how something happened. Periodic Sentence Structure: Structuring a sentence or paragraph so that the main point or idea is not revealed until the end.  Antecedent: An earlier clause, phrase, or word to which a pronoun, noun, or another word refers. Jargon: The specific type of language used by a particular group or profession. Chiasmus: Refers to a grammatical structure that inverts a previous phrase. Slant Rhyme: Structures with words that share similar sounds but aren’t exactly perfect rhymes. Thesis: Is the sentence that introduces the main argument or point of view of a composition (formal essay, nonfiction piece, or narrative). Appeal to Authority: Also known as an appeal to false or unqualified authority, plays on people’s feelings of respect or familiarity towards famous people to bypass critical thinking. Pedantic: Someone who is concerned with precision, formalism, accuracy, and minute details in order to make an arrogant and ostentatious show of learning. Audience: The person for whom a writer writes, or composer composes.  Red herring: Misleads/distracts from real issues. Elegiac: Mournful/sorrowful tone. Occasion: Circumstances for text written.