Rhetorical Devices

Question 0

Asyndeton

Answer 0

Omitting conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses. Gives the effect of multiplicity and speed.

Ex:

• She likes pickles, raisins, dates.
• They spent all day thinking, writing, searching.
• The moist, rich, furtive soil…
• In books I find the dead as if they were alive, in books I foresee things to come, in books warlike affairs are east forth…

Question 1

Expletive

Answer 1

A single word or phrase used to lend emphasis to the words immediately proximate to the expletive.

Ex:
-But the lake was not, in fact, drained before April.
-In short, the water was bad.
-The Bradys, clearly a happy family, lived in an old house.
Other useful ones: of course, indeed, without doubt, to be sure, naturally, it seems, after all, for all that, in brief, on the whole, to tell the truth, clearly, at least, importantly

Question 2

Polysyndeton

Answer 2

Use of a conjunction between each word, phrase or clause. Causes a feeling of multiplicity and building up.

Ex:

• I laughed and played and talked.
• Burnt green, and blue, and white.
• We have not power, nor influence, nor money…

Question 3

Understatement

Answer 3

Expresses an idea as less important than it actually is. Used for ironic emphasis or for politeness and respect. Also used when disagreeing with someone.

Ex:
-The earthquake interrupted business.
-I should be a little disappointed if you were hit by a drunk driver.
-

Question 4

Litotes

Answer 4

Form of understatement by using the opposite of a certain word. Usually intensifies the sentiment of the writer.

Ex:

• Heat waves are no rare in the summer.
• Hitting that telephone pole certainly didn’t do any good to the car.
• The spices used combine to make the dish not at all disagreeable to the meal.
• We were not defeated.

Question 5

Parallelism

Answer 5

Several parts of the sentence are expressed similarly to show equal in importance, balance, rhythm and clarity.
Ex:
-Ferocious dragons breathing fire and wicked sorcerers casting their spells.
-I have always sought but seldom obtained.
-Quickly and happily

Question 6

Chiasmus

Answer 6

Also called “reverse parallelism.” This occurs when the second part of a grammatical construction is balanced or paralleled by the first part. (The sentence would not make sense without the second part)

Ex:

• It is gladly forgotten.
• He labors without complaining and without bragging.
• available also at a discount is the soda.

Question 7

Zeugma

Answer 7

Linking two or more parts of speech by another part of speech. (One subject and two verbs, two nouns and one verb, etc). It shows relationships between ideas and actions more clearly.

Form:
1. Prozeugma: the yoking word precedes the words yoked. (Could be verb stated in first clause understood in the following clauses)
Ex: Fred excelled at dance, Carl at art, Bob with girls.

2. Diazeugma: single subject with multiple verbs.
   Ex: Fluffy rolled around, raised her head, and meowed.

Question 8

Antithesis

Answer 8

Establishes a clear, contrasting relationship between 2 ideas by joining them together in parallel structure. Also used to point out clarifying differences which might be overlooked.

Ex:

• one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.
• if we try, we might succeed; if we do not try, we cannot succeed.
• the advertisement says they are the best, but it means that they equal, for best is a claim.

Question 9

Anaphora

Answer 9

Repetition of the same word(s) at the beginning of phrases/clauses/sentences.

Ex:

• to think on death, to think on life, to think on the world.
• they looked, not knowing what came, not knowing what they would find, not knowing the truth.
• will he do it? Will he succeed? Will he fail?
• talked very loud, very rough, and very harsh.