Rhetorical Device Review

Hyperbole/ExaggerationMetonymy/SynecdocheAnaphora/EpistropheColloquialism/JargonCounterargument/ConcessionJuxtaposition/AntithesisChiasmus/AntimetaboleAlliteration, consonance, assonanceAphorism/EpigramConnotation/DenotationAllusion/ ReferenceImperative sentence/Declarative sentenceParallelism/parallel structureParody/satireOxymoron/paradox

Hyperbole

Hyperbole: exaggeration for a purpose

“I am so hungry I could eat three cows.”

“I used to have to walk to school in the snow. Barefoot. Uphill… both ways.”

“If Ms. Levine makes me stand up in front of the class and sing that song one more time I’m going to die!”

Metonymy / Synecdoche

Metonymy: when a thing/concept is called not by its name but by the name of something associated with it

“The Oval Office today release a statement about the death of Nelson Mandela.” (Oval Office = President/Presidential business)

“The pen is mightier than the sword.”(pen = articulate ideas / sword = physical violence)

Synecdoche: when a part of something represents the whole, or the word when you mean only a part of it

“Let the hands go to dinner.” (hands=workers)

“San Francisco recently beat Seattle.”(SF = 49ers / Seattle = Seahawks)

“Let’s take your wheels. Mine are parked far away.” (wheels = car)

Anaphora

Anaphora: repetition of words or phrases at the start of a sentence

Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

MLK Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail”

Epistrophe

Epistrophe: repetition of words or phrases at the end of consecutive sentences or clauses

“… that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.“

(Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address)

"A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of woes and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight!“

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Colloquialism / Jargon

Colloquialism: a word or phrase that is not formal but rather used in every day conversation

“You gonna hit up 7-11 before going home?”

“At the end of the year the accounting department showed that their investment was a wash.“

“You don’t have the guts to taste that weird looking food.”

Jargon: technical language specific to a particular field and hard for others to understand

Examples of Police Jargon• Suspect - A person whom the police think may have committed a

crime• 10-4 - Radio jargon meaning Okay or I understand• Code Eight - Term that means officer needs help immediately• Code Eleven - A code that means the individual is at the scene of

the crime• FTP - The failure of an individual to pay a fine• Assumed room temperature: An individual has died

Counterargument / Concession

Counterargument: an argument opposing someone’s main argumentConcession: acknowledging the validity of parts of the opposing argument

Argument: School should start at 10am so that students can have sufficient sleep and be better prepared for their day.Counterargument: If school started at 10am there would not be enough time for sports in the afternoon.Concession: I agree that sleep is important for students, and that students need more sleep than they are getting.

Juxtaposition

Juxtaposition: placing contrasting ideas, phrases, images next to each other for emphasis

“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…”

Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

By juxtaposing the more violent actions of Elijah Muhammad’s Muslim movement with his followers’ own non-violent actions in “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, MLK Jr. makes his own methodologies appear more appealing.

Antithesis

Antithesis: a person or thing that is the opposite of someone or something else

"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."

Martin Luther King, Jr., speech at St. Louis, 1964

"The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here."

Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address

Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing. ~Goethe

Chiasmus / Antimetabole

Chiasmus / AntimetaboleBoth of these have to do with the reversal of the structure of a sentence. (ABBA)

Antimetabole: (use of same words but inverted)"Eat to live, not live to eat.“ A B B A

Chiasmus: (use of different but similar words inverted)“He knowingly led and we followed blindly”

A B B A

Alliteration / Consonance / Assonance

Alliteration: repetition of sounds at the start of the sentenceConsonance: repetition on consonant sounds in the beginning, middle or end of wordsAssonance: repetition of vowel sounds in beginning, middle or end of words

Alliteration: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.Consonance: Let the boy try along this bayonet bladeHow cold steel is, and keen with hunger of blood;Blue with all malice, like a madman's flash;And thinly drawn with famishing for flesh.“

Assonance: One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish

Aphorism / Epigram

Aphorism: a short and concise (sometimes witty) statement of general truth or moral principal about the world or life (aim is to reflect on truth)Epigram: a short, concise, witty statement (aim is to humor)

Aphorism: “Truth is a funny thing; you never really know if you can trust someone, until you find out you can’t.”

Epigram: “I don’t approve of political jokes; I have seen too many get elected.”

Connotation / Denotation

Connotation: the ideas, images, feelings evoked by a particular wordDenotation: the dictionary definition of a word

Snake

Denotation: elongated, legless, carnivorous reptiles

Connotation: slimy, conniving, devious person

Allusion / Reference

Allusion: referring covertly or indirectly to a text, an object or a circumstance that has occurred or existed in an external context. It is left to the reader or hearer to make the connection.

Insulting my family is my Achille’s heel.

When MLK Jr. begins his “I Have a Dream” speech with “Five score years ago” he is making an allusion to Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address speech to highlight the equally historic significance of the moment

Reference: directly referencing another text, object, or a circumstance

Just as Achilles’s weakness was his heel, my weakness is my family. I would do anything for them.

If MLK Jr. had said “Just as Lincoln counted the years since the founding of this great country, so will I, noting that while we have come far since his great proclamation we still have far to go.”

Imperative / Declarative Sentences

Imperative: a command (usually begins with a verb”Declarative: a statement

Imperative:Get me some water. Bring me that paper.Don’t forget to study.Declarative:I need to study. I am thirst. I want to get that paper.

Parallel Sentence Structure

Parallel Sentence Structure: The repetition of similar grammatical or syntactical patterns.

CORRECT:Mary likes hiking, swimming, and bicycling.

Mary likes to hike, swim, and ride a bicycle.

INCORRECT: Mary likes to hike, swim, and riding a bike.

Parody / Satire

Parody: a composition that imitates the style of another composition, normally for comic effect Satire: a composition that uses mockery, humor, exaggeration of someone or something in order to expose and criticize it

Stephen Colbert and South Park use satire in order to comment on society trends and current events

Scary Movie is a parody of other horror movies. While it may lead you to reflect on how stupid other scary movies are, its intention is solely to entertain

Oxymoron / Paradox

Oxymoron: the juxtaposition to two opposing wordsParadox: a statement that appear to contradict itself but is also true

Oxymorons: “Why then, O brawling love, O loving hate/ O anything, from nothing first create/ O heavy lightness! Serious vanity!”

~ Romeo and JulietParadox:You can save money by spending it."I can resist anything but temptation."-Oscar Wilde