Rhetorical Devices
What are they and why are they
used?
Rhetorical Devices
What is a rhetorical device?
A technique an author uses to evoke an
emotional response
 Why do authors use rhetorical devices?
Emphasis, association, clarification, focus,
organization, transition, arrangement,
decoration, variety.
In other words, works would be much more
boring without them.

Rhetorical Devices
Notice the difference.
 "We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on
the landing-grounds, we shall fight in the fields
and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills."
Winston Churchill

Without rhetorical devices, this might be
summarized as “We will fight everywhere.”
 What impact do the descriptions give you?

Rhetorical Devices
"That's one small step for man, one giant
leap for mankind." Neil Armstrong
 Think about these famous lines: Would it
be more effective to say, “We took a big
step”?

Rhetorical Devices
Rhetorical devices add “spark” and
interest to writing.
 They also function on different levels

 Individual
Sounds Level
 Word Level
 Sentence/Phrase Level
 All Others
Individual Sounds Level

Alliteration: The same consonant sound
repeated at the beginning of several
words or syllables in close proximity

Mary sat musing on the lamp-flame at the
table" from The Death of the Hired Man
by Robert Frost
Individual Sound Level
Assonance: The same or similar vowel
sounds repeated in words within close
proximity
 Slow things are beautiful:
The closing of the day,
The pause of the wave
That curves downward to spray

 From
Elizabeth Coatsworth “Swift Things Are
Beautiful”
Individual Sounds Level
Assonance
 But he grew old,
 This knight so bold,
 And o'er his heart a shadow
 Fell as he found
 No spot of ground
 That looked like Eldorado.

 From
“Eldorado” by Edgar Allan Poe
Individual Level Sounds
Onomatopoeia: The sound of the word
imitates the sound of the object itself
 Baa Baa Black Sheep
 To the tintinnabulation that so musically
wells
From the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bellsFrom the jingling and the tinkling of the
bells. From Edgar Allan Poe

Individual Sounds Level
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Onomatopoeia
The rusty spigot
Sputters,
Utters
A splutter,
Spatters a smattering of drops,
Gashes wider;
Slash,
Splatters,
Scatters,
Spurts,
Finally stops sputtering
And plash!
Gushes rushes splashes
Clear water dashes.
By: Eve Merriam
Word Level
Anaphora: A word or phrase is repeated
at the beginning of successive phrases,
clauses or lines
 “How they are provided for upon the
Earth,
 How dear and dreadful they are to the
Earth.”
 From Walt Whitman

Word Level
Anaphora
 “Let us march to the realization of the
American dream. Let us march on
segregated hosuing. Let us march on
segregated schools. Let us march on
poverty. Let us march on ballot boxes.”
 Martin Luther King, Jr.

Word Level
Antimetabole: The repetition of certain
words in reverse order
 “Whether it is better to be loved rather
than feared or feared rather than loved”


Machiavelli
Word Level
Climax/Gradation: Arrangement of words
or phrases in order of ascending power
 “Some men are born great, some achieve
greatness, and some have greatness
thrust upon them.” (Shakespeare, Twelfth
Night)

Word Level
Epistrophe: A word or expression is repeated at
the end of successive phrases, clauses or lines.
The reverse of anaphora.
 “Of the people, by the people, and for the
people” From Abe Lincoln
 "If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were lov'd by wife, then thee;
If ever wife was happy in a man, Compare me
with ye women if you can." From Anne
Bradstreet

Word Level
Oxymoron: Similar to antithesis. Brings
together two contradictory forms
 Jumbo Shrimp
 Civil War

Word Level
Synonym: Use of words with the same or
similar meanings
 “I hate inconstancy-I loathe, detest,

Abhor, condemn, abujure, the mortal made
Of such quicksilvery clay.
From Lord Byron,
Don Juan
Sentence/Phrase Leve
Anadiapolis: Repeat at the beginning of
the sentence the last word or phrase of
the preceding sentence.

Joseph Mazzini said, “And love, young
men, love and venerate the ideal.
The ideal is the word of God.”

Sentence/Phrase Level
Chiasmus: The grammatical structure of
the first clause or phrase reversed in the
second, sometimes repeating the same
words.

And so my fellow Americans, ask not
what your country can do for you;
ask
what you can do for your country” (John
F. Kennedy, Jr.)

Sentence/Phrase Level
Ellipsis: A word or phrase in a sentence is
omitted though implied by the context
 “A mighty maze! But not without a plan”
From Pope, An Essay on Man

Sentence/Phrase Level
Epanalepsis: The repetition at the end of
a clause of the word that occurred in the
beginning.

Blood hath brought blood, and
blows answer’d blows:
Strength match’d with strength, and
power confronted power
(Shakespeare, King John II.I)

Sentence/Phrase Level
Inversion: The usual word order is
rearranged, often for the effect of
emphasis or to maintain the meter
 “There’ll be dancing in the street
A chance new folk to meet”
From Martha and the
Vandellas

Sentence/Phrase Level
Hyberbole: Obvious exaggeration for emphasis
or effect
 “There did not seem to be brains enough in the
entire nursery, so to speak, to bait a fishhook
with.” From Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee

in King Arthur's Court

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Why does a boy who’s fast as a jet
Take all day—and sometimes two—
To get to school?
—John Ciardi, "Speed Adjustments"
Sentence/Phrase Level
Imagery: Sensory pictures that a piece of
literature evokes
 Can be tactile words (relating to touch, smell,
sight, hearing, and taste)
 Can be similes and metaphors that evoke
pictures
 “A red wheelbarrow
glazed with rainwater
beside the white chickens”
From William Carlos
Williams

Sentence/Phrase Level
Parallelism: The repetition of identical or
similar elements
 The coach told the players that they
should get a lot of sleep, that they
should not eat too much, and that they
should do some warm-up exercises
before the game.

Sentence/Phrase Level
Tricolon: Division of an idea into three
harmonious parts, usually of increasing
power.

In a larger sense, we cannot
didicate—we cannot consecrate—we
cannot hallow this ground.” (Abe
Lincoln)

Sentence/Phrase Level
Paradox: A daring statement which unites
seemingly contradictory words but which
upon closer examination proves to have
unexpected meaning and truth
 “He worked hard at being lazy.”

Sentence/Phrase Level
Personification: Animals, ideas,
abstractions or inanimate objects are
endowed with human characteristics
 To fit its sides, and crawl between,
Complaining all the while
In horrid, hooting stanza;
Then chase itself down hill


The Train by Emily Dicksinson
All Others

Diction: Word Choice

Denotation/Connotation
Words in unusual combinations
Degree of difficulty or complexity of a word
Level of formality of a word
Tone of a word (emotional charge it carries)
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All Others
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Syntax: Sentence arrangement or word order

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Type of Sentence: Simple or complex
Type of Sentence: Questions, exclamations,
declarative, commands, rhetorical questions
Length of sentence
Subtle shifts of abrupt changes in sentence lengths
and patterns
Punctuation Use
Use of repetition
Language patterns/cadence/rhyme
The use of active or passive voice
All Others
Allusion: A reference in a work of
literature to something outside the work
of literature, especially to a well-known
historical or literary event, person or work
 In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.
From T.S. Eliot
The Love Song of J.
Alfred Prufrock

All Others
Antithesis: Opposition or contrast of ideas
or words in a parallel construction;
explores and then refutes
 “Not that I have loved Caesar less, but
that I love Rome more”
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
From Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar
All Others
Apostrophe: Addressing an absent person, a
god, or a personified abstraction.
 Roll on thou dark and deep blue ocean." from
"Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" by Lord Byron
 "Ingratitude! thou marble-hearted fiend, / More
hideous when thou show'st thee in a child /
Than the sea-monster." from King Lear by
William Shakespeare
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All Others
Connotation: Feelings the word evokes
 Smells, scent, etc.
 House is a neutral word. Home has a
positive connotation, which brings about
warm fuzzies.

All Others
Denotation: Dictionary Definition
 House is a dictionary definition. Home is a
positive connotation. Hovel is a negative
connotation.
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All Others
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Devices of Sound: These devices are used for
many reasons, including creating a pleasant or
discordant effect or reflect a certain meaning.
They are defined at other places in this
presentation.
Rhyme
Alliteration
Assonance
Consonance
Onomatopoeia
All Others
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Euphemism: Substitution of an agreeable or at least non-offensive
expression for one whose other meaning might be harsh or
unpleasant
Die becomes “pass away”
Euphemism for FAT:
chubby, plump, big-boned, chunky, fluffy
Euphemism for THIN:
stick, twiggy, pretzel, bread stick, celery stick
Euphemism for MONEY:
bread, clams, fiver, ten spot, Washington, green back
Euphemism for TV:
idiot box, electronic babysitter
All Others
Figurative Langauge: These are used to
mean something other than the literal
meaning.
 Metaphor: Comparison not using like or as
 Simile: Comparison using like or as
 Irony: Opposite of what you think

All Others

Juxtaposition: The arrangement of two or
more ideas, characters, actions, settings,
phrases or words side by side in order to
compare/contrast the two
All Others

Narrative Techniques: The methods involved in
telling a story

Point of View
A single Character or Multiple Characters
 First Person
 Third Person
 Omniscient: The narrator can know, see and report
whatever he chooses.
Manipulation of Time
Dialogue
Interior Monologue
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All Others
Rhetorical Question: A question asked
merely for effect with no answer
 expected.
 It is really time to ask ourselves, ‘How can
we allow the rich and powerful,
 not only to rip off people as consumers,
but to continue to rip them off as
 taxpayers? (Ralph Nader, 2000 NAACP

Convention Address)
All Others

Satire: Writing that seeks to arouse a
reader’s disapproval of an object by
ridicule, holds up to contempt the faults of
individuals or groups

Setting: Time and place
All Others
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Structure: The arrangement of materials
within a work, the relationship of the parts
of a work to the whole, the logical
divisions of a work. The most common
units of structure are play: scene, act;
novel: chapter; poem: line, stanza.
All Others
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Style: The mode or expression in
language. Stylistic techniques refer to
such things as diction, syntax, figurative
language, imagery, selection of detail,
sound effects and tone.
All Others
Symbol: Something that is simultaneously
itself and a sign of something else.
 Winter, darkness, and cold are real things,
but they also may be used as symbols of
death.
 The color green is real and yet it might
represent environmental issues or money.
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All Others
Theme: The main thought expressed by a
work. What is the message the author is
trying to give us?
 To Kill a Mockingbird—empathy or loss of
innocence
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All Others
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Tone: Writer’s ability to create an attitude
toward the subject matter. Tone is the
result of things like allusion, diction,
figurative language, imagery, irony,
symbol, syntax, and style, among others.
All Others
Understatement: An attempt to minimize
something.
 “It isn’t very serious. I have this tiny little
tumor on my brain.”
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The Catcher in the Rye. J.D. Salinger
The End
Look for these rhetorical devices as a way
that authors add meaning to their works.
 Literature and poetry become much more
fascinating studying them from the
perspective of the writer.
