Rhetorical Devices

Front 1

Anesis

Back 1

Adding a concluding sentence that diminishes the effect of what has been said previously. The opposite of epitasis.

Hint 1

Examples She had set more track records than any woman in the country. She had more stamina, skill, and perserverance than many of the best, but she had broken her leg and would not be competing this year.

Front 2

abecedarian

Back 2

An acrostic whose letters do not spell a word but follow the order (more or less) of the alphabet.

Hint 2

Adorable, beautiful, charming, delightful, exciting, fantastic—you run the gamut from A to Z.

Front 3

acoulutha

Back 3

The substitution of reciprocal words; that is, replacing one word with another whose meaning is close enough to the former that the former could, in its turn, be a substitute for the latter. This term is best understood in relationship to its opposite, anacoloutha.

Front 4

accismus

Back 4

A feigned refusal of that which is earnestly desired.

Hint 4

I couldn't possibly take such charity from you.

Front 5

accumulatio

Back 5

Bringing together various points made throughout a speech and presenting them again in a forceful, climactic way. A blend of summary and climax.

Hint 5

"He [the defendant] is the betrayer of his own self-respect, and the waylayer of the self-respect of others; covetous, intemperate, irascible, arrogant; disloyal to his parents, ungrateful to his friends, troublesome to his kin; insulting to his betters, disdainful of his equals and mates, cruel to his inferiors; in short, he is intolerable to everyone"

Front 6

acrostic

Back 6

When the first letters of successive lines are arranged either in alphabetical order (= abecedarian) or in such a way as to spell a word

Hint 6

Your answer must not come by prying force
Except that gentle urging of your mind.
So take your time, and tell me when you will.

Front 7

acyrologia

Back 7

An incorrect use of words, especially the use of words that sound alike but are far in meaning from the speaker's intentions.

Hint 7

"I'm going to get tutored!" (One dog brags to another in a Gary Larson Far Side cartoon)

Front 8

acyron

Back 8

The use of a word repugnant or contrary to what is meant.

Hint 8

“Never could I have hoped for such great woe” —Aeneid 4.419

Front 9

adage

Back 9

One of several terms describing short, pithy sayings, or traditional expressions of conventional wisdom.

Hint 9

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Front 10

adhortatio

Back 10

A commandment, promise, or exhortation intended to move one's consent or desires.

Front 11

adianoeta

Back 11

An expression that, in addition to an obvious meaning, carries a second, subtle meaning (often at variance with the ostensible meaning).

Hint 11

In the following example, what is meant is that a man tore his own limbs with his teeth. This is hinted at obscurely (if at all) in the phrase meant to communicate this:
The man laid upon himself

Front 12

adnominatio

Back 12

A synonym for paronomasia.
A synonym for polyptoton.
Assigning to a proper name its literal or homophonic meaning.

Hint 12

(of definition #3) Mr. Oake, with his 5' 3" stature, really seemed more of an acorn.

Front 13

adynaton

Back 13

A declaration of impossibility, usually in terms of an exaggerated comparison. Sometimes, the expression of the impossibility of expression.

Hint 13

I will sooner have a beard grow in the palm of my hand than he shall get one of his cheek , —Shakespeare 2 Henry IV 1.2.20-22

Front 14

aetiolgia

Back 14

A figure of reasoning by which one attributes a cause for a statement or claim made, often as a simple relative clause of explanation.

Hint 14

I mistrust not the judges, for they are just.

Front 15

affirmatio

Back 15

A general figure of emphasis that describes when one states something as though it had been in dispute or in answer to a question, though it has not been.

Front 16

aganactesis

Back 16

An exclamation proceeding from deep indignation.

Front 17

allegory

Back 17

A sustained metaphor continued through whole sentences or even through a whole discourse.

Hint 17

The most obvious use of allegory is work-length narratives such as the medieval Everyman or Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.

Quintilian labels allegory what is elsewhere called a "conceit": an extended metaphor:
The ship of state has sailed through rougher storms than the tempest of these lobbyists.

Allegory also occurs when an allusion is made with no introductory explanation and the speaker trusts the audience to make the connection, as in the following example, where reference is made to the historic landing of a craft on the moon, but no direct connection is made to the more mundane application of this allusion:
Well, the Eagle has landed. I thought you'd never make partner in the firm.

Front 18

alleotheta

Back 18

Substitution of one case, gender, mood, number, tense, or person for another. Synonymous with enallage.

Hint 18

Each of the students should bring their notebook.
Through alleotheta, the word "their" has been substituted for the more traditional but non-inclusive possessive pronoun, "his."

Front 19

alliteration

Back 19

Repetition of the same letter or sound within nearby words. Most often, repeated initial consonants.

Hint 19

Why not waste a wild weekend at Westmore Water Park?

Front 20

amphibologia

Back 20

Ambiguity of grammatical structure, often occasioned by mispunctuation.

Front 21

ampliatio

Back 21

Using the name of something or someone before it has obtained that name or after the reason for that name has ceased. A form of epitheton.

Hint 21

Even after the man was healed from his ailment by Jesus, he was still referred to as "Simon the leper."

Front 22

anacephalaeosis

Back 22

A recapitulation of the facts. A kind of summary employed in the peroratio.

Front 23

anacoenosis

Back 23

Asking the opinion or judgment of the judges or audience, usually implying their common interest with the speaker in the matter.

Hint 23

Now I ask you to decide: Given the persecution my client has undergone, does he not deserve to have some justifiable anger?

Front 24

anacoloutha

Back 24

Substituting one word with another whose meaning is very close to the original, but in a non-reciprocal fashion; that is, one could not use the first, original word as a substitute for the second. This is the opposite of acoloutha.

Hint 24

"When Diana lighteth Late her crystal lamp, Her pale glory kindleth
From her brother’s fire." —the manuscript of Benedictbeuern
The word "glory" is being used instead of "light," but the replacement is not reciprocal; “light” would probably not be used for “glory.”

Front 25

anacoluthon

Back 25

A grammatical interruption or lack of implied sequence within a sentence.

That is, beginning a sentence in a way that implies a certain logical resolution, but concluding it differently than the grammar leads one to expect. Anacoluthon can be either a grammatical fault or a stylistic virtue, depending on its use. In either case, it is an interruption or a verbal lack of symmetry. Anacolouthon is characteristic of spoken language or interior thought, and thus suggests those domains when it occurs in writing. (Not to be confused with anacoloutha)

Hint 25

Athletes convicted of drug-related crimes —are they to be forgiven with just a slap on the wrist?

Front 26

anadiplosis

Back 26

The repetition of the last word (or phrase) from the previous line, clause, or sentence at the beginning of the next. Often combined with climax.

Hint 26

The love of wicked men converts to fear,
That fear to hate, and hate turns one or both
To worthy danger and deserved death.
—Shakespeare, Richard II 5.1.66-68

Front 27

anamnesis

Back 27

Calling to memory past matters. More specifically, citing a past author from memory.

Hint 27

Was it not Socrates who said the unexamined life is not worth living?

Front 28

anangeon

Back 28

Arguing on the basis of inevitability or necessity.

Hint 28

Yes, I killed him, but it was in self-defense.

Front 29

anaphora

Back 29

Repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses, sentences, or lines.

Hint 29

This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as [a] moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands;
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England,
This nurse, this teeming womb of royal kings [. . .]
This land of such dear souls, this dear dear land,
Dear for her reputation through the world,
Is now leas'd out — I die pronouncing it —
Like to a tenement or pelting farm.

Front 30

anapodoton

Back 30

A figure in which a main clause is suggested by the introduction of a subordinate clause, but that main clause never occurs.

Anapodoton is a kind of anacoluthon, since grammatical expectations are interrupted. If the expression trails off, leaving the subordinate clause incomplete, this is sometimes more specifically called anantapodoton. Anapodoton has also named what occurs when a main clause is omitted because the speaker interrupts himself/herself to revise the thought, leaving the initial clause grammatically unresolved but making use of it nonetheless by recasting its content into a new, grammatically complete sentence.

Hint 30

"If you think I'm going to sit here and take your insults..."

"When you decide to promote me to manager—when you see more clearly what will benefit this corporation—I will be at your service."

Front 31

anastrophe

Back 31

Departure from normal word order for the sake of emphasis.
Anastrophe is most often a synonym for hyperbaton, but is occasionally referred to as a more specific instance of hyperbaton: the changing of the position of only a single word.

Hint 31

Anastrophe occurs whenever normal syntactical arrangment is violated for emphasis:

The verb before the subject-noun (normal syntax follows the order subject-noun, verb):
Glistens the dew upon the morning grass. (Normally: The dew glistens upon the morning grass)

Adjective following the noun it modifies (normal syntax is adjective, noun):
She looked at the sky dark and menacing. (Normally: She looked at the dark and menacing sky)

The object preceding its verb (normal syntax is verb followed by its object):
Troubles, everybody's got. (Normally: Everybody's got troubles)

Preposition following the object of the preposition (normal syntax is preposition, object ["upon our lives"]):
It only stands / Our lives upon, to use Our strongest hands
—Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra 2.1.50-51

Front 32

anemographia

Back 32

Creating an illusion of reality through description of the wind. A type of enargia.

Hint 32

"The rushing zephyr hushed the pace of words."
The onomatopoeia (words sounding like wind) and the rhythm of this line (iambic pentameter) seem to suggest the sound and movement of wind.

Front 33

antanaclasis

Back 33

The repetition of a word or phrase whose meaning changes in the second instance.

Hint 33

Your argument is sound...all sound. —Benjamin Franklin
The meaning of "sound" first appears to be "solid" or "reasonable"; in its repetition, it means something very different, "all air" or "empty"

In thy youth learn some craft that in thy age thou mayest get thy living without craft.
The meaning of "craft" first means "vocation"; in its repetition, it means "fraud" or "cunning."

While we live, let us live.

In the following example, antanaclasis occurs with an entire phrase whose meaning alters upon repetition:
"If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm." —Vince Lombardi

Front 34

antanagoge

Back 34

Putting a positive spin on something that is nevertheless acknowledged to be negative or difficult.

Hint 34

"Many are the paines and perils to be passed
But great is the gaine and glorie at the last."

Front 35

anthimeria

Back 35

Substitution of one part of speech for another (such as a noun used as a verb).

Hint 35

I've been Republicaned all I care to be this election year.
Noun used as verb.

Did you see the way those blockers defenced on that last play?
Noun used as verb.

Feel bad? Strike up some music and have a good sing.
Verb used as noun.

Front 36

anthropopatheia

Back 36

Ascribing human attributes to God.

Hint 36

In the following example, God speaks as though he were ignorant of what Abraham would have done; thus, a human quality (ignorance) is attributed to God:
And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. —Genesis 22:10-12

Front 37

anthypophora

Back 37

A figure of reasoning in which one asks and then immediately answers one's own questions (or raises and then settles imaginary objections). Reasoning aloud.
Anthypophora sometimes takes the form of asking the audience or one's adversary what can be said on a matter, and thus can involve both anacoenosis and apostrophe.

Hint 37

"But there are only three hundred of us," you object. Three hundred, yes, but men, but armed, but Spartans, but at Thermoplyae: I have never seen three hundred so numerous.—Seneca

Front 38

anticategoria

Back 38

A retort in which one turns the very accusation made by one's adversary back against him.

Front 39

antilogy

Back 39

A contradiction either in terms or ideas. More generally, antilogy names the basic rhetorical theory (propounded by Protagoras) that two contrary arguments may be given about everything. See in utrumque partes.

Front 40

antimetabole

Back 40

Repetition of words, in successive clauses, in reverse grammatical order.
This figure is sometimes known as chiasmus.

Hint 40

When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. —John F. Kennedy

You can take the gorilla out of the jungle, but you can't take the jungle out of the gorilla.

Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful. —Samuel Johnson, Rasselas

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! —Isaiah 5:20

Front 41

antiphrasis

Back 41

Irony of one word, often derisively through patent contradiction. Also, a synonym for paralipsis (Quintilian).

Hint 41

Referring to a tall person: "Now there's a midget for you"

Front 42

antiprosopopoeia

Back 42

The representation of persons as inanimate objects.
This inversion of prosopopoeia or personification can simply be the use of a metaphor to depict or describe a person.

Hint 42

She was a doormat upon which the tread of too many boots had scraped.

Front 43

antiptosis

Back 43

A type of enallage in which one grammatical case is substituted for another.

Hint 43

Me Jane, Tarzan.
"Me" is used (the objective case pronoun) instead of the proper subjective case pronoun, "I". This example also includes ellipsis of the verb "am"

Front 44

antirrhesis

Back 44

Rejecting reprehensively the opinion or authority of someone.

Hint 44

Rush Limbaugh is no political commentator; he's a two-bit showman whose political ideas are about as impressive as his humility.

Front 45

antisagoge

Back 45

Making a concession before making one's point (=paromologia).
Using a hypothetical situation or a precept to illustrate antithetical alternative consequences, typically promises of reward and punishment.

Hint 45

[of #1]:
Yes, it is most difficult to learn languages, but most necessary.

[of #2]:
See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
—Deuteronomy 30:15-19

Front 46

antistasis

Back 46

The repetition of a word in a contrary sense. Often, simply synonymous with antanaclasis.

Front 47

antisthecon

Back 47

Substitution of one sound, syllable, or letter for another within a word. A kind of metaplasm.

Hint 47

The following pun is accomplished only through antisthecon, substituting "o" for "a" in the word "reward":
"A pun is its own reword"

Front 48

antithesis

Back 48

Juxtaposition of contrasting words or ideas (often, although not always, in parallel structure).
This is closely related to the Topic of Invention: Contraries, and is sometimes known as the similarly named figure of thought, antitheton.

Hint 48

"It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues." —Abraham Lincoln

"It can't be wrong if it feels so right" —Debbie Boone

Front 49

antitheton

Back 49

A proof or composition constructed of contraries.
Antitheton is closely related to and sometimes confused with the figure of speech that juxtaposes opposing terms, antithesis. However, it is more properly considered a figure of thought (=Topic of Invention: Contraries).

Hint 49

Flattery hath pleasant beginnings, but the same hath very bitter endings. — R. Sherry

Front 50

antonomasia

Back 50

Substituting a descriptive phrase for a proper name, or substituting a proper name for a quality associated with it. (=periphrasis)

Hint 50

You must pray to heaven's guardian for relief.

He proved a Judas to the cause.

Multum Ciceronis est in hac epistola. There is much of Cicero in this letter [Here, what is meant is that there is much eloquence in the letter]

Front 51

apagoresis

Back 51

A statement designed to inhibit someone from doing something.

Hint 51

If your parents discover what you did, you will not see your next birthday.
The apagoresis above demonstrates the antecedent/consequence relationship. To dissuade a person from an action, it suggests unattractive consequences due to follow such an action. Obviously, the consequence of this apagoresis is exaggerated to be more persuasive.

If you return to Florence, you will be entering the lion's den.
The apagoresis above uses a metaphor to demonstrate the repercussions of an action. The speaker is comparing Florence to a lion's den. By making such a strong comparison, the speaker is inferring that the atmosphere in Florence is as dangerous to his subject as a lion's den would be.

Front 52

aphaeresis

Back 52

The omission of a syllable or letter at the beginning of a word. A kind of metaplasm.

Hint 52

mission of an initial letter:
What's the third R? Rithmetic! [for "Arithmetic"]

Omission of an initial syllable:
The King hath cause to plain.[for "complain"]

Front 53

aphorismus

Back 53

Calling into question the proper use of a word.

Hint 53

For you have but mistook me all this while.
I live with bread like you, feel want,
Taste grief, need friends: subjected thus,
How can you say to me I am a king?
—Shakespeare, Richard II 3.2.174-177