Rhetorical device
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In rhetoric, a rhetorical device or resource of language is a technique that an author or speaker uses to evoke an emotional response in the audience (the reader(s) or listener(s)). These emotional responses are central to the meaning of the work or speech, and should also get the audience's attention.
[edit] Partial list
This list contains both rhetorical devices per se, as well as other tools of spoken and written language that may be prominently used for rhetorical purposes. See also the Glossary of rhetorical terms.
- Alliteration, a sound of a letter that is usually repeated excessively in a sentence.
- Anacoluthon, an abrupt change in sentence structure
- Analogy
- Anaphora,emphasizing words by repeating them at the beginnings of neighboring clauses (see Cataphora)
- Antithesis, use of contrasting words or phrases.
- Aposiopesis, suddenly breaking off in speech, as in "Why, you little —"
- Cataphora, emphasizing words by repeating them at the ends of neighboring clauses (see Anaphora)
- Chiastic structure, in which attention is drawn to a main idea or complete thought
- Diction, the choice of words based on their connotation and precise meaning
- Epithet, a descriptive word or phrase that has become a fixed formula
- Egotistical Megalomania, a sense of importance brought to an obviously ridiculous level; a transparent arrogance for comedic effect
- Hyperbole, exaggeration
- Imagery, also known as sensory detail
- Metaphor, the use of a word or phrase to stand for another word or phrase on the basis of some similarity between the two, as in "He mined the archives for leads", where 'mined' means searched-for and produced in the context of ore and is applied to the domain of information.
- Metonymy, the use of a word or phrase to stand for another word or phrase on the basis of the association between the two, as in "The crown declined to comment" where 'crown' is used in place of, e.g., the king.
- Parade of horribles
- Parallelism, two pieces of a sentence with similar sentence structure divided by a comma
- Personification, giving human qualities to an inanimate object
- Polysyndeton, (opposite asyndeton), the use of several conjunctions in close succession, especially where some might be omitted, as in "he ran and jumped and laughed for joy"
- Rhetorical organization, a division of a work into components, either explicitly or subtly, used for rhetorical purposes
- Rhetorical question, a question to which an answer is not expected in response
- Simile, comparing using the words "like" or "as"
- Synecdoche, in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa, as in "New York won by six runs" (meaning "New York's baseball team won by six runs")
- Symbolism, in which a (usually recurrent) object or character represents an idea
- Syntax, also known as sentence structure, used as a rhetorical device
