Rhetorical Devices

Affirmation Pattern Series of questions or statements that makes your audience shake their head yes. Do you like to stay up late? Do you like to sleep in? Do you like the opportunity to work when you feel you are at your best?

Alliteration Repetition using the beginning consonant sounds of two or more neighboring words. EXAMPLE: The kids stampede the stuffy streets at school at South.

Allusion is a reference to a familiar person, place, or thing. "And I can pledge our nation to a goal: When we see that *wounded traveler on the road to Jericho, we will not pass to the other side." -- George W. Bush, 2000 Inaugural Address *reference to the Bible

Analogy is a comparison of an unfamiliar idea to a simple, familiar one. The suggestion is sometimes lengthy with several points of comparison. Ex: "Withdrawal of U.S. troops will become like salted peanuts to the American public; the more U.S. troops come home, the more will be demanded." -- Henry Kissinger, Memo to President Richard Nixon, 10 September 1969.

Anaphora the repetition of words at the beginning of successive clauses Example: "To raise a happy, healthy, and hopeful child, it takes a family; it takes teachers; it takes clergy; it takes business people; it takes community leaders; it takes those who protect our health and safety. It takes all of us."-- Hillary Clinton, 1996 Democratic National Convention Address

Anecdote is a short story told to illustrate a point. Example: If you are giving a speech on stricter drunk driving laws, and you relate a story about a relative who was hit by a drunk driver.

Antithesis is a figure of speech involving bringing out opposites with parallel structure and grammar, usually done within the same sentence. Example: When there is need of silence you speak; and when there is need of speech you are silent.

Asyndeton leaving out conjunctions between words, phrases, clauses Example: "Be one of the few, the proud, the Marines."

Hyperbole The counterpart of understatement—deliberately exaggerates conditions for emphasis or effect. Example: There are 1,000 reasons why more research is needed for solar energy.

Metaphor A form of figurative language which is a comparison between two seemingly unrelated subjects without using like or as. Example: All the world’s a stage…

Metonymy using an associated symbol to represent the idea attached Example: the bottle for alcoholism, Oval Office for President “The pen is mightier than the sword”

Negative definition describing something by telling what it is not rather than, or in addition to, what it is. Example: A Catholic is a Christian who is not a Protestant.

Parallel structure is the repetition of words or phrases in meaning and/or structure. Example: I came, I saw, I conquered

Repetition is the uttering of the same word of phrase in order to create a sense or cadence, rhythm and emphasis. Example: “Today, as never before, the fates of men are so intimately linked to one another that a disaster for one is a disaster for everybody.” (Natalia Ginzburg, The Little Virtues, 1962)

Rhetorical questions is a question posed to highlight a point, not for the purpose of eliciting a response. Example: What are you going to do about it?