Rhetorical Elements

Front 1

Alliteration

Back 1

Repetition of the same sound beginning several words or syllables in sequence.

Ex. Let us go forth to lead the land we love...

Front 2

Allusion

Back 2

Brief reference to a person, event, or place (real or fiction) or to a work of art.

Ex. Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah...

Front 3

Anaphora

Back 3

Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines.

Ex. Not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need -- not as a call to battle, though embattled we are...

Front 4

Antimetabole

Back 4

Repetition of words in reverse order.

Ex. Ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country.

Front 5

Antithesis

Back 5

Opposition, or contrast, of ideas or words on a parallel construction.

Ex. We shall support any friend, oppose any foe...

Front 6

Archaic diction

Back 6

Old-fashioned or outdated choice of words.

Ex. Beliefs for which our forebears fought

Front 7

Asydeton

Back 7

Omission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words.

Ex. We shall pay any price, bear and burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty.

Front 8

Cumulative sentence

Back 8

Sentence that completes the main idea at the beginning of the sentence then builds and adds on.

Ex. But neither can two great and powerful groups of nations take comfort from our present course -- both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons, both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom, yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind's final war.

Front 9

Hortative sentence

Back 9

Sentence that exhorts, urges, entreats, implores, or calls to action

Ex. Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.

Front 10

Imperative sentence

Back 10

Sentence used to command or enjoin.

Ex. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

Front 11

Inversion

Back 11

Inverted order of words in a sentence (variation of the subject-verb-object order).

Ex. United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is little we can do...

Front 12

Juxtaposition

Back 12

Placement of two things closely together to emphasize similarities or differences.

Ex. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…”

Front 13

Metaphor

Back 13

Figure of speech that compares two things without using like or as.

Ex. And if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion...

Front 14

Metonymy

Back 14

Figure of speech in which something is represented by another thing that is related to it or emblematic of it.

Ex. The pen is mightier than the sword.

Front 15

Oxymoron

Back 15

Paradoxical juxtaposition of words that seem to contradict each other.

Ex. But this peaceful revolution...

Front 16

Parallelism

Back 16

Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses.

Ex. Let both sides explore... Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals... Let both sides seek to invoke... Let both sides unite to heed...

Front 17

Periodic sentence

Back 17

Sentence whose main clause is withheld until the end.

Ex. To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support...

Front 18

Personification

Back 18

Attribution of a lifelike quality to an inanimate object or an idea.
Ex. With history the final judge of our deeds

Front 19

Rhetorical question

Back 19

Figure of speech in the form of a question posed for the rhetorical effect rather than for the purpose of getting an answer.

Ex. Will you join in that historic effort?

Front 20

Synedoche

Back 20

Figure of speech that uses a part to represent the whole.

Ex. In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course.

Front 21

Zuegma

Back 21

Use of two different words in a grammatically similar way that produces different, often incongruous meanings.

Ex. Now the trumpet summons us again -- not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need -- not as a call to battle, though embattled we are -- but a call to bear the burden...