Rhetorical Device

A Rhetorical Device uses words in certain ways to convey meaning or persuade.

Alliteration

The recurrence of consonant sounds.
Examples:
Sally sells sea shells by the sea shore.
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
How can a clam cram in a clean cream can.

Analogy

Compares two different things with some similar characteristics.
Examples:
He was sly as a fox.
The drums were as loud as thunder.

Consonance

Repeated consonant sound in a word, sentence or phrase. Adds texture and flow to the writing.
Examples:
His breathing was heavy from heaving all of the hay.

Sibiliance

A form a consonance that is acheived by using the teeth and tongue to create a S, Sh, Zh, Z, or Ch sound.
Examples:
The winter evening settles down with smell of steaks in passageways

Hyperbole

An exaggeration.
Examples:
I'm so hungry I could eat a horse.
She is as thin as a toothpick.

Adynation

A form of Hyperbole specific to when a statment is so extreme it implies it is impossible. Creates exaggeration to prove a point.

Anaphora

The same phrase being repeated at the beggining of sucessive sentences or clauses. Focuses the reader's attention and creates a sense of urgency.
Examples:
"I believe we can. I believe we can rebuild. I believe we can fix our wrongdoings…."

Apostrophe

The definition of apostrophe as a literary device is when a speaker breaks off from addressing one party and instead addresses a third party. Commonly known as the punctuation.
Examples:
“Ugh, cell phone, why won’t you load my messages?”
(While speaking on the phone with someone) “Hold, on, my kid’s going crazy—Jim, come back here, stop running with scissors.”

Onomatopoeia

Words that imitate the sounds they describe.
Examples:
"crack"
"buzz"
"hissed"
"sizzling"

Scheme

Patterns of syntax that deviate from the expected.

Antithesis

A statement where two opposite ideas are put together to achieve a contrasting effect. Used to envoke thought using two opposing ideas.
Examples:
“Float like a butterfly sting like a bee”
"love is the antithesis of selfishness"

Assonance

Repetition of vowels. Helps create the atmosphere. Creates mood and internal rythym.
Examples:
Poetry is old, ancient, goes back far. It is among the oldest of living things. So old it is that no man knows how and why the first poems came.

Anastrophe

Anastrophe is a form of literary device wherein the order of the noun and the adjective in the sentence is exchanged.
Examples:
"Patience I lack,"
"Strong in the force, you are,"
"Excited the boy was when his family found him."

Trope

Patterns of diction that deviate from what is expected.

Oxymoron

A two word paradox. A paradox is a controversial statement that when investigated can be proven to be factual or true.
Examples:
"Act natural"
"Jumbo shrimp"
She is an "unpopular celebrity."

Simile

Comparing one object to another using key words like "like" or "as"
Examples:
Cool as a cucumber.
As cold as ice.
She has eyes like a hawk.

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