Rhetorical Strategy Devices

Front 1

Hyperbole

Back 1

An Exaggeration. "Compared to the world during the last Ice Age, a Minnesota winter feels like spring in Hawaii."

Front 2

Understatement

Back 2

Describing something as less than it actually is. "The Middle East is currently having some political squabbles."

Front 3

Litotes

Back 3

Emphasizes a point by using a word opposite to the condition. "A cup of coffee would not be unwelcome."

Front 4

Antithesis

Back 4

Contrasts two things. "I speak not from ignorance, but from experience."

Front 5

Hypophora

Back 5

A question that is asked then answered by the author. "Do we then submit to our oppressor? No. No. A thousand times, no."

Front 6

Rhetorical Question

Back 6

An implied question for the readers to answer themselves. "In this age of modernity, can we truly condone such horrific acts?"

Front 7

Procatalepsis

Back 7

States an opinion and then objects it. "Many other experts want to classify. Sanskrit as an extinct language, but I do not."

Front 8

Distinctio

Back 8

Author elaborates the definition of a word to ensure comprehension. "Communism, by which I mean the socialist communalism which comes after the centralized state, has yet to be tried anywhere in the real world."

Front 9

Simile

Back 9

A comparison using 'like' or 'as'. "Her eyes were like sapphires."

Front 10

Metaphor

Back 10

A comparison without using 'like' or 'as'. "She has the smile of a supermodel."

Front 11

Analogy

Back 11

Comparing two things for a purpose. "As the endless waves wash eternally upon the shore, so does true love overwhelm the soul."

Front 12

Allusion

Back 12

Referring to a person, event, or piece of writing. "The giant squid, at lengths of over 40 feet, are true Leviathans of the underwater world."

Front 13

Eponym

Back 13

Referring to a specific famous person. "A modern day Moses, he led his nation to a new beginning."

Front 14

Sententia

Back 14

Quotation or wise saying. "As is often said , a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."

Front 15

Exemplum

Back 15

An example. "An example can be seen in the Seattle general strike of 1919, when for five days more than sixty-thousand workers ground the city to a halt."