Rhetoric: “The faculty of discovering all the available means of persuasion in any given
situation.” –Aristotle
Rhetorical Devices:
Balance:
Parallelism: the presentation of several ideas of equal importance by putting each of them into the same kind of
grammatical structure.
(ex. “Nathan liked reading the new blog posts more than eating his sack lunch.”)
Chiasmus: a type of parallelism that reverses the order.
(ex. “The web hackers worked constantly but succeeded rarely. Vs. The web hackers worked constantly, but rarely
succeeded.”)
Antithesis: contrasts two ideas by placing them next to each other, almost always in a parallel structure.
(ex. “To err is human; to forgive, divine.”)
Emphasis:
Climax: the presentation of ideas (in words, clauses, sentences, etc…) in order of increasing importance.
(ex. “When the bucket fell off the ladder, the paint splashed onto the drop cloth, the small rug, the sofa, and the
Rembrandt painting.”)
Asyndeton: consists of omitting conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses in a list.
(ex. “The fruit market displayed apples, peaches, pears, nectarines.”)
Polysyndeton: the use of a conjunction between each word, phrase, or clause and is thus structurally the opposite of
asyndeton.
(ex. “The computer virus had spread world-wide, infecting mail servers and web servers, and home users, and
business networks.”)
Irony: involves a statement whose hidden meaning is different from its surface or apparent meaning. Often the ironic
or implied meaning is the opposite of the literal meaning.
(ex. “The food here is terrible,” said Jane with disgust, “and the portions are so small.”)
Understatement: deliberately expresses an idea as less important than it actually is. The degree, significance, or
quantity involved is reduced (usually substantially), either for the purpose of ironic emphasis, or for the sake of
politeness.
(ex. “You know, we would be a little disappointed if you were to be hit by a drunk driver at 2 AM, so we hope you
will come home early.”)
Litotes: a form of understatement, created by denying the opposite of the idea in mind. (ex. “The presence of so
many security cameras in the casino meant that the man’s visit was recorded.” vs. “The presence of so many
security cameras in the casino meant that the man’s visit was not without record”)
Hyperbole: is exaggeration; it is the opposite of understatement. (ex. “I haven’t been born one nanosecond.”)
Transition:
Metabasis: consists of a brief statement of what has been said, and what will follow.
(ex. “In the previous paragraphs, I have offered my analysis of the causes of this growing discontent. At this point, I
would like to take up the subject of what might be done to remedy it.”)
Procatalepsis: anticipates an objection that might be raised by a reader and responds to it, thus permitting an
argument to continue moving forward while taking into account opposing points.
(ex. “It is usually argued at this point, that if the government gets out of the mail delivery business, small towns like
One Tree will not have any mail service. The answer to this can be found in the history of the Pony Express…”)
Hypophora: involves asking one or more questions and then proceeding to answer them, usually at some length.
, (ex. “Where else can this growing region look to augment its water supply? One possibility is the deep aquifer
beneath the southeastern corner.”)
Clarity:
Distinctio: is the presentation of a specific meaning for a word (or reference to the various meanings of a word) in
order to prevent ambiguity or confusion.
(ex. “Move the precipitate from the filter paper to the crucible quickly–that is, within three minutes.”)
Exemplum: provides a specific example, usually including visual, concrete, specific details that a reader can see in
the mind’s eye.
(ex. “Snow cone flavours, such as bubblegum and mango, are often named after candy or fruit.”)
Amplification: consists of restating a word or idea and adding more detail.
(ex. “The subway car came to a halt with a jolt; a wrenching, neck–snapping jolt.”)
Metanoia: qualifies a statement by rejecting it or calling it back and expressing it in a better, milder, or stronger way.
(ex. “The most important quality to look for in impact sockets is hardness; no, not so much hardness as resistance to
shock and shattering.”)
Syntax:
Zeugma: and its related forms, all involve linking together two or more words, phrases, or clauses by another word
that is stated in one place and only implied in the rest of the sentence. (ex. “Jane and Tom jogged along the trail
together.”)
Diazeugma: consists of a single subject linking multiple verbs or verb phrases.
(ex. “The cat rolled on her back, raised her paws, and clawed the air.”)
Prozeugma: the verb or linking word is presented once at the beginning, and then omitted from the subsequent sets
of words or phrases linked together.
(ex. “The first year student excelled in calculus; the sophomore, in music; the senior, in drama.”)
Mesozeugma: the linking word (often a verb) comes in the middle of the sentence.
(ex. “First the hill, then the city was lost, and then the battle.”)
Hypozeugma: the linking word follows the word it links together.
(ex. “Monkeys, giraffes, elephants, and even lions had escaped from the zoo after the earthquake.”)
Syllepsis: a device similar to ordinary zeugma, except that the terms are linked (almost always by a verb), in
different senses or meanings of the linking word.
(ex. “She was unwilling to drive to that party because she was afraid to damage her car or her reputation.”)
Hyperbaton: refers to any departure from normal word order.
(ex. “Disturb me not!”)
Anastrophe: involves the reversal or transposition of words.
(ex. “His was a sad countenance” vs. “His was a countenance sad.”)
Appositive: a noun that redescribes another noun standing next to it.
(ex. Mrs. Wilkins, the manager, told me about the plans for expansion.”)
Parenthesis: consists of a word, phrase, or entire sentence inserted as an aside into the middle of another sentence.
(ex. “The ship’s crew—after three days at sea in a raft—reached the coast of St. Thomas.”)
Figurative Language:
Simile: compares two very different things that have at least one quality in common.
(ex. “The students sat upright in straight and even rows, like books on a bookshelf.”)
Analogy: like a simile, compares two different things by identifying points of similarity.
(ex. “In order to solve a problem, you have to first know what the problem really is, in the same way that you can’t
untie a knot until you’ve found the knot.”)
situation.” –Aristotle
Rhetorical Devices:
Balance:
Parallelism: the presentation of several ideas of equal importance by putting each of them into the same kind of
grammatical structure.
(ex. “Nathan liked reading the new blog posts more than eating his sack lunch.”)
Chiasmus: a type of parallelism that reverses the order.
(ex. “The web hackers worked constantly but succeeded rarely. Vs. The web hackers worked constantly, but rarely
succeeded.”)
Antithesis: contrasts two ideas by placing them next to each other, almost always in a parallel structure.
(ex. “To err is human; to forgive, divine.”)
Emphasis:
Climax: the presentation of ideas (in words, clauses, sentences, etc…) in order of increasing importance.
(ex. “When the bucket fell off the ladder, the paint splashed onto the drop cloth, the small rug, the sofa, and the
Rembrandt painting.”)
Asyndeton: consists of omitting conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses in a list.
(ex. “The fruit market displayed apples, peaches, pears, nectarines.”)
Polysyndeton: the use of a conjunction between each word, phrase, or clause and is thus structurally the opposite of
asyndeton.
(ex. “The computer virus had spread world-wide, infecting mail servers and web servers, and home users, and
business networks.”)
Irony: involves a statement whose hidden meaning is different from its surface or apparent meaning. Often the ironic
or implied meaning is the opposite of the literal meaning.
(ex. “The food here is terrible,” said Jane with disgust, “and the portions are so small.”)
Understatement: deliberately expresses an idea as less important than it actually is. The degree, significance, or
quantity involved is reduced (usually substantially), either for the purpose of ironic emphasis, or for the sake of
politeness.
(ex. “You know, we would be a little disappointed if you were to be hit by a drunk driver at 2 AM, so we hope you
will come home early.”)
Litotes: a form of understatement, created by denying the opposite of the idea in mind. (ex. “The presence of so
many security cameras in the casino meant that the man’s visit was recorded.” vs. “The presence of so many
security cameras in the casino meant that the man’s visit was not without record”)
Hyperbole: is exaggeration; it is the opposite of understatement. (ex. “I haven’t been born one nanosecond.”)
Transition:
Metabasis: consists of a brief statement of what has been said, and what will follow.
(ex. “In the previous paragraphs, I have offered my analysis of the causes of this growing discontent. At this point, I
would like to take up the subject of what might be done to remedy it.”)
Procatalepsis: anticipates an objection that might be raised by a reader and responds to it, thus permitting an
argument to continue moving forward while taking into account opposing points.
(ex. “It is usually argued at this point, that if the government gets out of the mail delivery business, small towns like
One Tree will not have any mail service. The answer to this can be found in the history of the Pony Express…”)
Hypophora: involves asking one or more questions and then proceeding to answer them, usually at some length.
, (ex. “Where else can this growing region look to augment its water supply? One possibility is the deep aquifer
beneath the southeastern corner.”)
Clarity:
Distinctio: is the presentation of a specific meaning for a word (or reference to the various meanings of a word) in
order to prevent ambiguity or confusion.
(ex. “Move the precipitate from the filter paper to the crucible quickly–that is, within three minutes.”)
Exemplum: provides a specific example, usually including visual, concrete, specific details that a reader can see in
the mind’s eye.
(ex. “Snow cone flavours, such as bubblegum and mango, are often named after candy or fruit.”)
Amplification: consists of restating a word or idea and adding more detail.
(ex. “The subway car came to a halt with a jolt; a wrenching, neck–snapping jolt.”)
Metanoia: qualifies a statement by rejecting it or calling it back and expressing it in a better, milder, or stronger way.
(ex. “The most important quality to look for in impact sockets is hardness; no, not so much hardness as resistance to
shock and shattering.”)
Syntax:
Zeugma: and its related forms, all involve linking together two or more words, phrases, or clauses by another word
that is stated in one place and only implied in the rest of the sentence. (ex. “Jane and Tom jogged along the trail
together.”)
Diazeugma: consists of a single subject linking multiple verbs or verb phrases.
(ex. “The cat rolled on her back, raised her paws, and clawed the air.”)
Prozeugma: the verb or linking word is presented once at the beginning, and then omitted from the subsequent sets
of words or phrases linked together.
(ex. “The first year student excelled in calculus; the sophomore, in music; the senior, in drama.”)
Mesozeugma: the linking word (often a verb) comes in the middle of the sentence.
(ex. “First the hill, then the city was lost, and then the battle.”)
Hypozeugma: the linking word follows the word it links together.
(ex. “Monkeys, giraffes, elephants, and even lions had escaped from the zoo after the earthquake.”)
Syllepsis: a device similar to ordinary zeugma, except that the terms are linked (almost always by a verb), in
different senses or meanings of the linking word.
(ex. “She was unwilling to drive to that party because she was afraid to damage her car or her reputation.”)
Hyperbaton: refers to any departure from normal word order.
(ex. “Disturb me not!”)
Anastrophe: involves the reversal or transposition of words.
(ex. “His was a sad countenance” vs. “His was a countenance sad.”)
Appositive: a noun that redescribes another noun standing next to it.
(ex. Mrs. Wilkins, the manager, told me about the plans for expansion.”)
Parenthesis: consists of a word, phrase, or entire sentence inserted as an aside into the middle of another sentence.
(ex. “The ship’s crew—after three days at sea in a raft—reached the coast of St. Thomas.”)
Figurative Language:
Simile: compares two very different things that have at least one quality in common.
(ex. “The students sat upright in straight and even rows, like books on a bookshelf.”)
Analogy: like a simile, compares two different things by identifying points of similarity.
(ex. “In order to solve a problem, you have to first know what the problem really is, in the same way that you can’t
untie a knot until you’ve found the knot.”)
