Rhetorical Devices

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Allegory

Back 1

An extended narrative in prose or verse in which characters, events, and settings represent abstract qualities and in which the writer intends a second meaning to be read beneath the service of the story; the underlying meaning may be moral, religious, political, social, or satiric.

Front 2

Alliteration

Back 2

Repeated consonant sounds at the beginning of words placed near each other.

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Allusion

Back 3

A brief reference to some person, historical event, work of art, or biblical or mythological situation or character.

Front 4

Anadiplosis

Back 4

Figure of repetition that occurs when the last word or terms in one sentence, clause or phrase is/are repeated at or very near the beginning of the next sentence, clause, or phrase.

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Anaphora

Back 5

Figure of repetition that occurs when the first word or set of words in one sentence, clause, or phrase is/are repeated at or very near the beginning of successive sentences, clauses, or phrases.

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Anapodoton

Back 6

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

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Anastrophe

Back 7

Departure from normal word order for the sake of emphasis.

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Anthimeria

Back 8

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

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Antimetabole

Back 9

Figure of emphasis in which the words in one phrase or clause are replicated, exactly or closely, in reverse grammatical order in the next phrase or clause (A-B)(B-A).

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Antithesis

Back 10

The presentation of two contrasting images. The ideas are balanced by word, phrase, clause, or paragraphs.

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Aphorism

Back 11

A concise statement designed to make a point or illustrate a commonly held belief.

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Apostrophe

Back 12

Speaking directly to a real or imagined listener or inanimate object; addressing the person or thing by name.

Front 13

Apposition

Back 13

Figure of addition in which words are placed side by side (in apposition to) each other with one word describing or clarifying the other.

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Asyndeton

Back 14

A string of words not separated by normally occurring conjunctions.

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Atanaclasis

Back 15

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

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Climax

Back 16

Figure of repetition in which words or phrases or sentences are arranged in order of increasing intensity or importance, often in parallel construction.

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Ellipsis

Back 17

The deliberate omission of a word or words readily implied by context.

Front 18

Epanalepsis

Back 18

Beginning and ending a phrase or clause with the same word or words.

Front 19

Epistrophe

Back 19

Figure of repetition that occurs when the last word or set of words in one sentence, clause, or phrase is repeated one or more times at the end of successive sentences, clauses, or phrases.

Front 20

Euphemism

Back 20

An understatement, used to lessen the effect of a statement; substituting something innocuous for something that might be offensive or hurtful.

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Invective

Back 21

Insulting, abusive, or highly critical language.

Front 22

Parallelism

Back 22

Successive words, phrases, clauses with the same or very similar grammatical structure.

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Parenthesis

Back 23

The insertion of some verbal unit that interrupts the normal syntactic flow of the sentence.

Front 24

Personification

Back 24

Attributing human characteristics to an inanimate object, animal, or abstract idea.

Front 25

Polyptoton

Back 25

Repeating a word, but in a different form.

Front 26

Polysyndeton

Back 26

The deliberate and excessive use of conjunctions in successive words or clauses.

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Hyperbole

Back 27

Intentional exaggeration for rhetorical effect.

Front 28

Irony

Back 28

An expression, often humorous or sarcastic, that exposes absurdity.

Front 29

Litotes

Back 29

Deliberate understatement, especially when expressing a thought by denying its opposite.

Front 30

Metaphor

Back 30

A direct comparison between two unlike things, stating that one is the other or does the action of the other.

Front 31

Metonymy

Back 31

A figure of speech in which a person, place, or thing is referred to by something closely associated with it.

Front 32

Oxymoron

Back 32

A combination of two words that appear to contradict each other.

Front 33

Periphrasis

Back 33

The substitution of a descriptive word or phrase for a proper name; or, conversely, the use of a proper name as shorthand to stand for qualities associated with it.

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Paradox

Back 34

A statement in which a seeming contradiction may reveal an unexpected truth.

Front 35

Pun

Back 35

A joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings.

Front 36

Rhetorical Question

Back 36

Figure which asks a question, not for the purpose of further discussion, but to assert or deny an answer implicitly.

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Sarcasm

Back 37

A cutting, often ironic remark intended to wound.

Front 38

Simile

Back 38

A direct comparison of two unlike things using "like" or "as".

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Synecdoche

Back 39

A whole is represented by naming one of its parts, or vise versa.