Rhetorical Devices

Metaphor

A direct comparison between two unrelated things without using “like” or “as.”

• “Time is a thief.”
• “She had a heart of stone.”
• “The classroom was a zoo.”
• “His words were daggers to her heart.”
• “The world is a stage.”

Simile

A comparison using “like” or “as.”

• “She was as brave as a lion.”
• “His smile was like sunshine.”
• “The water was as smooth as glass.”
• “Her voice was like nails on a chalkboard.”
• “He fought like a tiger in the ring.”

Personification

Giving human qualities to non-human things.

• “The wind whispered through the trees.”
• “The sun smiled down on us.”
• “The flowers danced in the breeze.”
• “Time marches on.”
• “The car groaned as it climbed the hill.”

Hyperbole

Extreme exaggeration for emphasis.

• “I’ve told you a million times!”
• “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.”
• “She cried a river of tears.”
• “It was the longest night of my life.”
• “This bag weighs a ton!”

Alliteration

Repetition of the same initial consonant sound in closely placed words.

• “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.”
• “She sells seashells by the seashore.”
• “The wild winds whistled through the woods.”
• “Big brown bears bounced beyond the bushes.”
• “Dunkin’ Donuts” (brand name using alliteration)

Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds within words.

• “The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.”
• “The mellow wedding bells.”
• “Go and mow the lawn.”
• “Hear the lark and harken to the barking of the dark fox.”
• “Fleet feet sweep by sleeping geese.”

Consonance

Repetition of consonant sounds, typically at the end of words.

• “The lumpy, bumpy road.”
• “Pitter-patter, pitter-patter.”
• “Mike likes his new bike.”
• “All mammals named Sam are clammy.”
• “Shelly sells shells by the shore.”

Anaphora

Repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses.

• “I have a dream that one day… I have a dream that my four little children… I have a dream today!” (Martin Luther King Jr.)
• “Every day, every night, in every way, I am getting better and better.”
• “We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France.” (Winston Churchill)
• “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” (Charles Dickens)
• “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right…” (Abraham Lincoln)

Epistrophe

Repetition of the same word or phrase at the end of successive clauses.

• “Government of the people, by the people, for the people.” (Abraham Lincoln)
• “I want the best, and we need the best, and we deserve the best.”
• “There is no Southern problem. There is no Northern problem. There is only an American problem.”
• “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.”
• “Where now? Who now? When now?”

Parallelism

Use of similar grammatical structures in successive phrases or clauses.

• “Like father, like son.”
• “Easy come, easy go.”
• “What you see is what you get.”
• “I came, I saw, I conquered.” (Julius Caesar)
• “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” (JFK)

Juxtaposition

Placing two contrasting ideas close together for effect.

• “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” (Charles Dickens)
• “All’s fair in love and war.”
• “Better late than never.”
• “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”
• “The young and the old, the rich and the poor, all gathered together.”

Oxymoron

A combination of contradictory words.

• “Deafening silence.”
• “Act naturally.”
• “Bittersweet.”
• “Jumbo shrimp.”
• “Living dead.”

Irony

A contrast between expectation and reality.

• A fire station burns down.
• A pilot has a fear of heights.
• “Oh, great! Another homework assignment!”
• “The Titanic was said to be unsinkable.”
• A traffic cop gets a parking ticket.

Rhetorical Question

A question asked for effect, not to get an answer.

• “Are you kidding me?”
• “Who wouldn’t want to be rich?”
• “Isn’t it obvious?”
• “Why bother?”
• “Do I look like I care?”

Antithesis

Contrasting ideas in parallel structure.

• “Speech is silver, but silence is golden.”
• “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” (Neil Armstrong)
• “Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing.”
• “To err is human; to forgive, divine.”
• “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Anadiplosis

Repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the next.

• “Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” (Yoda)
• “Our grief has turned to anger, and anger to resolution.”
• “The land of my fathers, my fathers can have it.”
• “Strength through unity, unity through faith.”
• “I am Sam. Sam I am.”

Chiasmus

A reversal of grammatical structures in successive clauses.

• “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” (JFK)
• “You forget what you want to remember, and you remember what you want to forget.”
• “Do I love you because you are beautiful, or are you beautiful because I love you?”
• “Fair is foul, and foul is fair.” (Shakespeare)
• “It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the man the oath.”

Polysyndeton

Using multiple conjunctions for emphasis.

• “We lived and laughed and loved and left.”
• “I want a car and a house and a job and a family.”
• “He ran and jumped and laughed and played.”
• “It was dark and cold and rainy and miserable.”
• “She is intelligent and kind and brave and strong.”

Asyndeton

Omitting conjunctions for effect.

• “I came, I saw, I conquered.” (Julius Caesar)
• “We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe.”
• “The air was thick, warm, heavy, sluggish.”
• “She was young, she was pure, she was new, she was nice.”
• “He was a bag of bones, a floppy doll, a broken stick, a maniac.”

Epanalepsis

Repetition of the same word at the beginning and end of a clause.

• “The king is dead, long live the king!”
• “Nothing is worse than doing nothing.”
• “Next time, there won’t be a next time.”
• “Always low prices. Always.” (Walmart slogan)
• “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, rejoice.”

Litotes

Understatement using negation.

• “Not bad” (meaning very good).
• “She’s no ordinary girl” (meaning she’s special).
• “It wasn’t my best moment” (meaning it was bad).
• “You won’t be sorry” (meaning you’ll be happy).
• “He’s not the sharpest tool in the shed” (meaning he’s unintelligent).

Apostrophe

Addressing an absent person or inanimate object.

• “O Death, where is thy sting?”
• “Oh, cruel fate, why must you do this to me?”
• “Hello darkness, my old friend.”
• “Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean—roll!”
• “O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?”

Antimetabole

Repeating words in reverse order.

Examples:

• “Eat to live, don’t live to eat.”
• “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”
• “You like it; it likes you.”
• “Winners never quit, and quitters never win.”
• “The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence.”

Zeugma

Using one word to modify two others in different ways.

Examples:

• “She stole my heart and my wallet.”
• “He lost his coat and his temper.”
• “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.”
• “They covered themselves with dust and glory.”
• “He fished for trout and compliments.”

Hypophora

Asking and immediately answering a question.

Examples:

• “What’s the secret to success? Hard work.”
• “Why should we care? Because it affects all of us.”
• “Can we win? Yes, we can!”
• “What do we want? Justice!”
• “Is it worth the risk? Absolutely.”

Paradox

A self-contradictory statement with deeper meaning.

Examples:

• “Less is more.”
• “The only constant is change.”
• “I can resist anything except temptation.”
• “The beginning of the end.”
• “You have to be cruel to be kind.”

Epizeuxis

Immediate repetition of a word.

Examples:

• “Never, never, never give up.”
• “Alone, alone, all all alone.”
• “Location, location, location.”
• “Run, run, run!”
• “Faster, faster, faster!”

Pleonasm

Use of redundant words for emphasis.

Examples:

• “I saw it with my own eyes.”
• “It was a free gift.”
• “She cried tears of joy.”
• “The burning fire was hot.”
• “This is a true fact.”

Synecdoche

Using a part to represent a whole.

Examples:

• “All hands on deck!” (Hands = sailors)
• “Give me a hand.” (Hand = help)
• “Nice wheels!” (Wheels = car)
• “The White House issued a statement.” (White House = government)
• “He’s got a great head on his shoulders.” (Head = intellect)

Metonymy

Using an associated word instead of the actual thing.

Examples:

• “The pen is mightier than the sword.” (Pen = writing, Sword = war)
• “Hollywood is obsessed with reboots.” (Hollywood = film industry)
• “The crown will decide the fate of the kingdom.” (Crown = monarchy)
• “The suits are in a meeting.” (Suits = businesspeople)
• “Wall Street is nervous today.” (Wall Street = stock market)

Cacophony

Use of harsh, discordant sounds for effect.

Examples:

• “I detest war because cause of war is always trivial.”
• “The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!” (Lewis Carroll)
• “A screaming, screeching, scratching sound echoed in the dark alley.”
• “The clashing and clanging of the bells filled the air.”
• “The gnarled, cracked hands grasped the rusted railing.”

Euphony

Use of pleasant, harmonious sounds.

Examples:

• “The murmuring brook flowed gently through the meadow.”
• “The soft whisper of the wind lulled me to sleep.”
• “Silver bells chimed in the moonlight.”
• “Golden sunshine warmed the blossoming fields.”
• “The cello’s melody was smooth and soothing.”

Antanaclasis

Repetition of a word with different meanings.

Examples:

• “We must all hang together, or we shall all hang separately.” (Benjamin Franklin)
• “Your argument is sound, nothing but sound.”
• “I live by the bank, and I work at the bank.”
• “Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.”
• “The long cigarette holder held no cigarette for long.”

Periphrasis (Circumlocution)

Using more words than necessary to express an idea.

Examples:

• “The answer to your question is in the negative.” (Instead of just saying “no.”)
• “He who must not be named.” (Instead of saying “Voldemort.”)
• “A utensil with which to consume soup” (Instead of just “spoon.”)
• “I find myself in a situation where I need to use the restroom.”
• “It is a device with a rotating blade for cutting grass.” (Instead of “lawnmower.”)

Paraprosdokian

A sentence with an unexpected ending.

Examples:

• “I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn’t it.” (Groucho Marx)
• “Where there’s a will, I want to be in it.”
• “I used to be indecisive, but now I’m not so sure.”
• “You don’t need a parachute to skydive. You only need one to skydive twice.”
• “Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.”

Aposiopesis

Breaking off a sentence suddenly for dramatic effect.

Examples:

• “If you do that one more time, I swear—”
• “I just can’t believe that you—”
• “Get out, or else—”
• “If only I had known… but it’s too late now.”
• “I was going to say something, but—never mind.”

Dysphemism

Using a harsh or offensive term instead of a neutral one.

Examples:

• “Kicked the bucket” (instead of “died”).
• “Old hag” (instead of “elderly woman”).
• “Pigsty” (instead of “messy room”).
• “Cancer stick” (instead of “cigarette”).
• “Junk food” (instead of “fast food”).

Euphemism

Using a mild term instead of a harsh one.

Examples:

• “Passed away” (instead of “died”).
• “Between jobs” (instead of “unemployed”).
• “Economically disadvantaged” (instead of “poor”).
• “Senior citizen” (instead of “old person”).
• “Correctional facility” (instead of “prison”).

Procatalepsis

Addressing an opposing argument before it is made.

• “Some may say that this policy is unfair, but let me explain why it is necessary.”
• “You may think that I am exaggerating, but the statistics prove otherwise.”
• “I know what you’re thinking: this sounds impossible, but it’s not.”
• “Many people argue that video games are bad, but research suggests otherwise.”
• “You might ask why we need change, and the answer is simple.”

Homoioteleuton

Repetition of similar endings in words.

• “He’s the nation’s frustration and irritation.”
• “We came, we saw, we conquered.”
• “Happily, merrily, and cheerily, they danced.”
• “Thriving, surviving, and arriving at success.”
• “The situation required dedication and determination.”

Hypotaxis

Using complex sentence structures to show relationships.

Examples:

• “Because it was raining, I stayed inside.”
• “She didn’t go to school since she was sick.”
• “Although he was late, he was still allowed in.”
• “While I enjoy reading, I also love movies.”
• “I will help you if you ask nicely.”

Parataxis

Placing clauses side by side without conjunctions.

Examples:

• “I came; I saw; I conquered.”
• “He was cold. He put on a jacket.”
• “The sky darkened, the wind howled, the storm began.”
• “The dog barked, the cat hissed, the baby cried.”
• “She ran, she stumbled, she fell.”

Enjambment

A sentence or phrase that continues beyond a line break in poetry.

Examples:

• “I wonder by my troth, what thou and I Did, till we loved?” (John Donne)
• “April is the cruelest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land…” (T.S. Eliot)
• “The fog comes on little cat feet.” (Carl Sandburg)
• “I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,” (John Masefield)
• “Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments.” (Shakespeare)

Tautology

Repetition of an idea using different words.

Examples:

• “It was a free gift.”
• “The reason why is because…”
• “I saw it with my own eyes.”
• “Let’s meet together at 10 AM.”
• “He made a prediction about the future.”

Antiphon

A response or counter-statement in literature.

Examples:

• “Call and response” in gospel music.
• “O Lord, have mercy—Christ, have mercy.”
• “I am strong. You are weak.”
• “We will fight. They will fall.”
• “Let us rise up. Let them fall down.”

Polyptoton

Repetition of the same root word with different endings.

Examples:

• “Choosy mothers choose Jif.”
• “To be ignorant of one’s ignorance is the malady of the ignorant.”
• “Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.”
• “The things you own end up owning you.”
• “No end to the endless.”

Allegory

A story, poem, or picture that conveys a hidden meaning, often moral or political.

Examples:

• Animal Farm (George Orwell) represents the Russian Revolution.
• The Lord of the Flies represents civilization vs. savagery.
• The Crucible serves as an allegory for McCarthyism.
• Plato’s Allegory of the Cave illustrates enlightenment and ignorance.
• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe has Christian allegories.

Alliteration

Repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of words.

Examples:

• “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.”
• “She sells seashells by the seashore.”
• “Big brown bears bounce bravely.”
• “The whispering wind whistled wildly.”
• “Dunkin’ Donuts” (brand name example).

Understatement

Making something seem less significant than it is.

Examples:

• “It’s just a scratch.” (When it’s a huge wound.)
• “Not bad.” (For an amazing performance.)
• “The desert can get a bit warm in summer.”
• “I suppose winning the lottery is nice.”
• “It rained a little.” (During a flood.)

Symbolism

Using an object or concept to represent something deeper.

Examples:

• A dove representing peace.
• The color red symbolizing passion or danger.
• A storm foreshadowing chaos.
• A locked door symbolizing missed opportunities.
• A caged bird symbolizing oppression.

Allusion

A reference to another literary work, history, or culture.

Examples:

• “He has the patience of Job.” (Biblical reference)
• “She met her Romeo at the party.” (Shakespeare)
• “It was his Achilles’ heel.” (Greek mythology)
• “That’s his Waterloo.” (Historical reference)
• “He’s a Scrooge with money.” (Dickens)

Anecdote

A short, personal story used to illustrate a point.

Examples:

• “When I was a kid, I used to…”
• “One time, I met a celebrity…”
• “In my first job, I learned the value of…”
• “Back in high school, I failed a test because…”
• “I once saw someone give up their seat for an elderly person.”

Paronomasia (Pun)

A play on words with similar sounds but different meanings.

Examples:

• “Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.”
• “I used to be a baker, but I couldn’t make enough dough.”
• “The wedding cake had me in tiers.”
• “I’m reading a book on anti-gravity—it’s impossible to put down!”
• “The duck said to the bartender, ‘Put it on my bill.’”

Aphorism

A short, witty statement expressing a truth.

• “Actions speak louder than words.”
• “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
• “A penny saved is a penny earned.”
• “The early bird catches the worm.”
• “To err is human; to forgive, divine.”

Peroration

The conclusion of a speech designed to inspire action.

• “And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you…” (JFK)
• “We shall go on to the end. We shall never surrender.” (Churchill)
• “I have a dream today!” (MLK)
• “Yes we can!” (Obama)
• “Let us unite and build a better future!”

Tricolon

Three parallel elements in a sentence.

• “Veni, vidi, vici.” (Caesar)
• “Government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
• “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
• “I came, I saw, I conquered.”
• “Blood, sweat, and tears.”

Climax

Arranging words in increasing order of importance.

• “He came, he saw, he conquered.”
• “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
• “Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Superman!”
• “For God, for country, for family.”
• “She fought, she bled, she died.”

March 13, 2025