Terms for Rhetorical Analysis

Figurative and Rhetorical Devices Examples

Allegory: a narrative in which the characters and Fables in which personified animals are used
sometime the setting represent general concepts allegorically to teach lessons of human conduct
and ideas
Alliteration: draws attention to a string of words Playing Frankenstein, the actor Boris Karloff
through repetition of their initial sounds rambled, raged and roared.
Allusion: creating a comparison by a reference to When the gang leader was sentenced, he
a well-known event, person, thing, place or pointed a finger at the informant and called him
quality. By suggestion, it may enhance the Judas.(religion)
significance of a poetic image or prose passage. She had the determination of a Rosa Parks.
Allusions may be mythical, historical, religious or (history)
pop culture. With her fur coat on she looked like a regular
Cruella Devill. (pop- culture ( film)
Anadiplosis (ana-de-PLO-sis): the repetition of My conscience hath a thousand several tongues.
a word that ends one clause at the beginning of And every tongue brings in a several tale,
the next. And every tale condemns me for a villain.
(Shakespeare, Richard III)
Analogy: a method to help the reader Comparing an urban centre to an anthill helps
understand something unfamiliar by comparing it reinforce the concept that it is heavily populated,
to something well-known. busy and has regular patterns of movement.
Anaphora: repetition of a word or phrase at the Mad world! Mad kings! Mad composition!
beginning of successive clauses. (Shakespeare, King John)
Anecdote: a brief account of some interesting In his sitcom, Jerry Seinfeld often opened episodes
incident based on a persons life which often telling anecdotes which were then dramatized in
reveals a character trait. Establishes a personal, the show.
intimate rapport with reader/audience.
Antithesis: parallel structure in which two ideas It was the best of times, it was the worst of
are directly opposed to set up a juxtaposition or times
contrast. (Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities)
Apostrophe: a figure of speech by which the I said to Love, It is not now as in old days, when
speaker directly addresses a person who is not men adored thee and thy ways. (Thomas Hardy)
physically present (through absence or death) or O Death, where is thy sting? (I Corinthians)
addresses an abstract concept.
Assonance: a device by which vowel sounds are A mean, lean, fighting machine
repeated
Asyndeton (a SIN da tawn): Commas used "Be one of the few, the proud, the Marines.
(with no conjunction) to separate a series of Marine Corps
words. The parts are emphasized equally when We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet
the conjunction is omitted; in addition, the use of any hardships, support any friend, oppose any foe
commas with no intervening conjunction speeds to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
up the flow of the sentence. Asyndeton takes the John F. Kennedy
form of X, Y, Z as opposed to X, Y, and Z. . . . and that government of the people, by the
people, for the people shall not perish from the
earth." Lincoln
Connotation vs. Denotation: Connotation is Home literally denotes a place where a person
the associated meanings implied by a word; lives, but connotes intimacy, privacy, safety,
denotation is the literal meaning. coziness, family.
Colloquialism: a word or phrase (including yall, aint, were fixin to go to the store
slang) used in everyday conversation and
informal writing but that is often inappropriate in
formal writing
Diction: word choice, an element of style; it Different types and arrangements of words have
creates tone, attitude, and style, as well as significant effects on meaning. An essay written in
meaning. academic setting would be much less colorful, but
perhaps more precise than street slang.
Didactic: writing whose purpose is to instruct or This type of writing may be fiction or nonfiction
to teach. The work is usually formal and focuses that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides
on moral or ethical concerns. a model of correct behavior or thinking.
Hyperbole: deliberate exaggeration to create a His heart burst with joy and his eyes popped out
dramatic or humorous effect. of his head when she walked into the room.
Imagery: appealing to one or more of the senses His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like
by creating vivid pictures through concrete mouldy hay. Alfred Noyes, The Highwayman
details, adjectives, and figures of speech.
Inverse Word Order: gives variety and Natural Order: John caught the ball.
emphasis to writing by changing the usual Inverse Order: John the ball caught. The ball, John
subject-verb-object sentence pattern. caught.
Irony: words are used to convey the opposite Verbal Irony - when Marc Antony says But
meaning (verbal), to create tension (dramatic) or Brutus is an honourable man., even though he
to alter the expected outcome (situational). believes he is not.
Dramatic Irony This castle hath a pleasant
seat. We know he Duncan is going to his death,
but he doesnt.
Situational Irony when the Captain admits to
the barber that Killing is not so easy (Just
Lather, Thats All)
Jargon: The special language of a profession or The writings of the lawyer and the literary critic
group. The term usually has negative are both susceptible to jargon.
associations, with the implication that jargon is
evasive, tedious, and unintelligible to outsiders.
Juxtaposition: placing contradictory images, In architecture a massive modern high rise built
concepts, ideas, characters side by side. beside a 200 year old gothic cathedral. In
oxymoron is a type of juxtaposition literature a noble hero cast against a seditious
villain. In art contrasting colors of yin and yang.
Litotes (LIE ta tees): understatement; When reflecting on the tragedy of 9/11, someone
deliberately making a fact seem less important. said in an understated way, Well, that was
definitely not one of New Yorks better mornings.
Metaphor: directly compares two unlike things The moon was a ghostly galleon tosses upon
(without the use of like or as). It is more subtle cloudy seas from The Highwayman
than simile and requires more interpretation. No man is an island John Donne

Mood: similar to tone, it is the primary emotional attitude of a work (the feeling of the work; the
atmosphere). Syntax is also a determiner of this term because sentence strength, length, and
complexity affect pacing.
Motif: main theme or subject of a work that is In Night the motifs night and eyes
elaborated on in the development of the piece; a
repeated pattern or idea
Paradox: a contradictory statement which, when The child is father of the man. (Wordsworth)
examined, reveals some truth. Passion destroys passion; we want what puts an
end to wanting what we want. John Fowles
Parallel Structure: using grammatically similar Mary likes hiking, swimming and riding her
structure, often with repetition, to emphasize bicycle. (gerunds)
ideas or images; the technique of arranging Mary likes to hike, to swim and to ride her bicycle.
words, phrases, clauses, or larger structures by (infinitives)
placing them side by side and making them Mary said that she would swim first and that she
similar in form. would hike later. (clauses)
Example (from Churchill): We shall fight on the
beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds,
we shall fight in the fields.
Parody: a work that ridicules the style of another Meet the Spartans is a parody of 300
work by imitating and exaggerating its elements. Vampires Suck is a parody of the Twilight movies
It can be utterly mocking or gently humorous. It
depends on allusion and exaggerates and distorts
the original style and content.
Periodic Sentence: withholds important Whether he is swilling beer on the couch, getting
information until the very end so the last word(s) into trouble at work, or being an obnoxious
creates meaning. citizen, there is one man whose name we all
recognize Homer Simpson.
Personification: giving human traits to The fingers of ice scraped down the window
inanimate objects.
Rhetorical Question: one whose answer is Can anyone deny that the microchip has
obvious or will be provided through subsequent revolutionized todays communication?
discussion.

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