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Leslie D. Hannah Department of English University of Oklahoma
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Rhetorical Devices Abstract Language: Words that refer to ides, qualities, attitudes, and conditions that cannot be perceived with the senses—for example, freedom, beauty, joy. Opposite of concrete language. Alliteration: repetition of the same consonant sound beginning several words in sequence. *Let us go forth to lead the land we love. J. F. Kennedy, Inaugural *Veni, vidi, vici. Julius Caesar Anacoluthon: lack of grammatical sequence; a change in the grammatical construction within the same sentence.
Anadiplosis: ("doubling back") the rhetorical repetition of one or several words; specifically, repetition of a word that ends one clause at the beginning of the next.
Analogy: A comparison between something familiar and something unfamiliar. The things being compared are similar in some ways but not in others. Metaphor and simile are types of analogies. Anaphora: the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases or clauses.
Anastrophe: transposition of normal word order; most often found in Latin in the case of prepositions and the words they control. Anastrophe is a form of hyperbaton.
Antistrophe: repetition of the same word or phrase at the end of successive clauses.
Antithesis: opposition, or contrast of ideas or words in a balanced or parallel construction.
Aporia: expression of doubt (often feigned) by which a speaker appears uncertain as to what he should think, say, or do. *Then the steward said within himself, 'What shall I do?' Luke 16 Aposiopesis: a form of ellipse by which a speaker comes to an abrupt halt, seemingly overcome by passion (fear, excitement, etc.) or modesty. Apostrophe: a sudden turn from the general audience to address a specific group or person or personified abstraction absent or present.
Archaism: use of an older or obsolete form.
Assertion: A statement of belief. Assonance: repetition of the same vowel sound in words close to each other. *Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. Asyndeton: lack of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words.
Audience: The intended readers of a piece of writing. Knowledge of the audience’s needs and expectations helps a writer shape the writing so that it is clear., interesting, and convincing. Authority: an expert in a particular field. A reliable or respectable source of information used to support an argument. Backing: the assurance upon which an assumption or warrant is based. Bandwagon: the tactic of inviting the audience to accept an assertion because everybody else does. Brachylogy: a general term for abbreviated or condensed expression, of which asyndeton and zeugma are types. Ellipse is often used synonymously. The suppressed word or phrase can usually be supplied easily from the surrounding context. Cacophony: harsh joining of sounds.
Catachresis: a harsh metaphor involving the use of a word beyond its strict sphere. *I listen vainly, but with thirsty ear. MacArthur, Farewell Address Cause-and-effect analysis: the explanation of why something happened or what its consequences were or will be. Chiasmus: two corresponding pairs arranged not in parallels (a-b-a-b) but in inverted order (a-b-b-a); from shape of the Greek letter chi (X).
Claim: what the writer of the argument is trying to prove; the conclusion of an argument. Claims are supported with reasons. Cliché: a worn-out or stale expression that dulls the writing. Climax: arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in an order of ascending power. Often the last emphatic word in one phrase or clause is repeated as the first emphatic word of the next.
Colloquial language: words or expressions from everyday speech. Colloquial language can enliven informal writing but is generally inappropriate in formal academic or business writing. Comparison and contrast: the identification of similarities (comparison) and differences (contrast) between two or more subjects. Concession: in an argument, an acknowledgment of the merits of the opposition’s position. Concrete language: words that refer to objects persons, places, or conditions that can be perceived with the senses. Opposite of abstract language. Connotation: an association called upon by a word that is beyond its dictionary definition. Credibility: the reliability or trustworthiness of the writer or sources; ethos. The audience’s belief in such. Data: factual information used to support one’s reasoning or argument. Definition: the clarification or explanation of the meaning of a word or phrase. Specifying the characteristics of something to establish what it is or is not. Denotation: the dictionary definition or literal meaning of a word or phrase. Diction: the choice and use of words. Enthymeme: an incomplete logical structure that depends, for its completeness, on one or more unstated assumptions (values, beliefs, principles) that serve as the starting point of the argument. Ethical appeal: an attempt to engage and persuade the audience by presenting the writer as a competent, sincere, and fair person. Evidence: the facts, statistics, examples, expert opinions, personal testimony, and other information used to support a claim or a thesis. Euphemism: substitution of an agreeable or at least non-offensive expression for one whose plainer meaning might be harsh or unpleasant.
Passed away = died Chemical dependant = dope head She has loose morals = she’s a slut Fact: something that is believed to have objective reality; a piece of information that is regarded as verifiable. Factual evidence: supporting data that an audience considers objectively verifiable. Fallacy: an error in reasoning, a false argument. These are not necessarily to be avoided at all costs; however, if used they must be used very wisely and carefully. One fallacy can destroy an entire argument if it is used improperly. The following is a list of various fallacies and their definitions.
Ad misericordiam: An argument that is an appeal to the emotions of the audience.
Freewriting: a technique for generating ideas. It usually takes place during a fixed amount of time. Generalization: an assertion inferred from evidence. Grounds: the minor premise supporting evidence. Hendiadys: use of two words connected by a conjunction, instead of subordinating one to the other, to express a single complex idea. *It sure is nice and cool today! (for "pleasantly cool") *I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Psalms 116 Hypallage: ("exchanging") transferred epithet; grammatical agreement of a word with another word which it does not logically qualify. More common in poetry. Hyperbaton: separation of words which belong together, often to emphasize the first of the separated words or to create a certain image. Hyperbole: exaggeration for emphasis or for rhetorical effect. *My vegetable love should grow
Hysteron Proteron ("later-earlier"): inversion of the natural sequence of events, often meant to stress the event which, though later in time, is considered the more important. *Put on your shoes and socks! Irony: expression of something which is contrary to the intended meaning; the words say one thing but mean another. Litotes: understatement, for intensification, by denying the contrary of the thing being affirmed. (Sometimes used synonymously with meiosis.) *A few unannounced quizzes are not inconceivable. *War is not healthy for children and other living things. *One nuclear bomb can ruin your whole day. (meiosis) Metaphor: implied comparison achieved through a figurative use of words; the word is used not in its literal sense, but in one analogous to it.
Metonymy: substitution of one word for another which it suggests. *He is a man of the cloth. *The pen is mightier than the sword. *By the sweat of thy brow thou shalt eat thy bread. Narration: the telling of a story; the recounting of a sequence of events, usually in the order of their occurrence. Neologism: a new word, a word coined recently thus not established in use. A new use for an old word. Occam’s Razor - the theory holding that all things being equal the simplest answer is probably the best and most correct. Spock (Star Trek) used a version of Occam’s Razor in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, "If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains—however improbable—must be the truth." Onomatopoeia: use of words to imitate natural sounds; accommodation of sound to sense. Opinion: a conclusion based on facts or judgements; an arguable, potentially changeable assertion. Assertions of opinion form the backbone of an argument. Oxymoron: apparent paradox achieved by the juxtaposition of words which seem to contradict one another. *I must be cruel only to be kind. Shakespeare, Hamlet Paradox: an assertion seemingly opposed to common sense, but that may have some truth in it. *What a pity that youth must be wasted on the young. George Bernard Shaw Paraprosdokian: surprise or unexpected ending of a phrase or series. *He was at his best when the going was good. Alistair Cooke on the Duke of Windsor *There but for the grace of God -- goes God. Churchill Paronomasia: use of similar sounding words; often etymological word-play.
Personification: attribution of personality to an impersonal thing. *England expects every man to do his duty. Lord Nelson Pleonasm: use of superfluous or redundant words, often enriching the thought. *No one, rich or poor, will be excepted. *Ears pierced while you wait! *I have seen no stranger sight since I was born. Polysyndeton: the repetition of conjunctions in a series of coordinate words, phrases, or clauses.
Praeteritio (=paraleipsis): pretended omission for rhetorical effect.
Pre-empting: anticipating the opposition’s argument and attempting to invalidate it before it is delivered. Process analysis: a step-by-step explanation of how something works or how something is done. Prolepsis: the anticipation, in adjectives or nouns, of the result of the action of a verb; also, the positioning of a relative clause before its antecedent. *Consider the lilies of the field how they grow. Proposition: the claim or the point to be discussed or proven in an argument. Purpose: what the writer hopes to accomplish is a piece of writing. The chief reason for communicating something about a topic to one’s audience. Qualifier: a restriction placed on the claim to indicate that it may not always be true as so stated. Racist language: slurs or derogatory terms that discriminate against or denigrate members of certain races or ethnicity. Reason: a statement that explains or justifies the claim. Rebuttal: exception to a claim. Refutation: an attack on an opposing point of view in order to lessen its credibility or to invalidate it. Rhetoric: the strategic use of language. Rhetorical question: a question asked for effect, with no answer expected. Sexist language: language expressing narrow ideas about men’s and women’s roles, positions, capabilities, or values. Simile: an explicit comparison between two things using 'like' or 'as'.
*Reason is to faith as the eye to the telescope. D. Hume [?]
Slang: expressions used by members of a group to create bonds and sometimes exclude others. Most slang is too vague, short-lived, and narrowly understood to be included in anything but informal writing. Statistics: information that is expressed in numerical form; quantitative data. Syllepsis: use of a word with two others, with each of which it is understood differently. *We must all hang together or assuredly we will all hang separately. Benjamin Franklin Syllogism: a form of deductive reasoning in which two premises (one major, one minor) stating generalizations or assumptions together lead to a conclusion. Synchysis: interlocked word order. Synesis (constructio ad sensum): the agreement of words according to logic, and not by the grammatical form; a kind of anacoluthon. *For the wages of sin is death. Romans 6 *Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. Acts 6 Synecdoche: understanding one thing with another; the use of a part for the whole, or the whole for the part. (A form of metonymy.)
Tautology: repetition of an idea in a different word, phrase, or sentence. *With malice toward none, with charity for all. Lincoln, Second Inaugural Thesis: the central controlling idea of an essay to which all assertions and details relate. Thesis sentence: the sentence that asserts the central controlling idea of an essay. It conveys the writer’s purpose and attitude and perhaps previews the essay’s organization. Transitions: words or phrases such as thus or similarly or by comparison that link sentences and paragraphs for the sake of enhancing coherence. Twisted cliché: a cliché where one or more of the words are changed, either in spelling or replaced by a new word, but the basic concept of the cliché is still recognizable. Unity: the quality of an effective essay or paragraph in which all parts relate to the central idea and to each other. Values: principles or ideas that are used as standards for determining the worth of something—that is, good or bad, ugly or beautiful, useful or worthless, right or wrong. Warrant: an assumption or general principle that establishes a connection between the evidence and the claim. Zeugma: two different words linked to a verb or an adjective which is strictly appropriate to only one of them. *Nor Mars his sword, nor war's quick fire shall burn The living record of your memory. |