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Alliteration
Allusion
Assonance
Anaphora
Antistrophe
Asyndeton
Climax
Metaphor
Syllepsis
Simile
Tautology
Pleonasm
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Anadiplosis
Antithesis
Aporia
Apostrophe
Cacophyn
Chiasmus
Euphemism
Hyperbole
Irony
Oxymoron
Paradox
Personification
HTTP://WWW.VIRTUALSALT.COM/RHETORIC.HTM
HTTP://FACSTAFF.BLOOMU.EDU/JTOMLINS/RHETORICAL_DEVICES.HTM
 Definition:
The repetition of consonant
sounds at the beginning of a word.
 Ex:
“Let us go forth to lead the land we
love.” – President John F. Kennedy
 Reason:
phrase.
It drives emphasis to a certain
 Definition:
A reference in a literary work to
a well-known person, place or thing in
history or another work of literature.
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Ex: “Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's
two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of
blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was
said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are
true and righteous altogether”. – Abraham Lincoln (2nd Inaugural Address)
 Reason:
They allow the reader / listener to
understand a difficult concept by relating to
an already familiar story. Evokes a more
powerful image.
 Definition:
A repetition of the same word or
group of words at the beginning of
successive clauses, phrases or lines.
 Ex:
He has refused to assent to laws… He
has forbidden his governors… He has
refused…. “The Declaration of
Independence”
 Reason:
To re-emphasize that a person,
place or thing is important to the topic.
 Definition: A
repetition of the same word
or group of words at the end of
successive clauses, phrases or lines.
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Ex: "In 1931, ten years ago, Japan invaded Manchukuo -without warning. In 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia -- without
warning. In 1938, Hitler occupied Austria -- without warning.
In 1939, Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia -- without warning.
Later in 1939, Hitler invaded Poland -- without warning. And
now Japan has attacked Malaya and Thailand -- and the
United States --without warning." - President Franklin D.
Roosevelt
 Reason:
To re-emphasize that a person,
place or thing is important to the topic.
 Definition:
Lack of conjunctions between
phrases, clauses or words.
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Ex: We the People of the United States, in Order to form a
more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic
Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the
general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to
ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.(Preamble –
The US Constitution)
 Reason:
Offers a feeling of speed and
concision to lists.
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Definition: An arrangement or words, phrases or
clauses in an order of increasing importance.
Ex: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that
all men are created equal, that they are endowed
by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit
of Happiness. (The Declaration of Independence)
Reason: Every point hits harder than the last and
leaves the reader / listener with a powerful last
image.
 Ethos “character” – Ethical appeal.
 To Convince an audience of the author / speaker’s
credibility or character.
 Pathos “suffering/experience” –
Emotional appeal.
 To persuade an audience by appealing to their
emotions.
 Logos “word” – Appeal to logic.
 To convince an audience by use of logic or reason.