Rhetorical device
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In rhetoric, a rhetorical device or resource of language is a technique that an author or speaker uses to evoke an emotional response in his audience (his reader(s) or listener(s)). These emotional responses are central to the meaning of the work or speech, and should also get the audience's attention.
[edit] Partial list
This list contains both rhetorical devices per se, as well as other tools of spoken and written language that may be prominently used for rhetorical purposes. See also the Glossary of rhetorical terms.
- Anacoluthon, an abrupt change in sentence structure
- Analogy
- Antithesis
- Chiastic structure, in which attention is drawn to a main idea
- Diction, the choice of words based on their connotation and precise meaning
- Epithet
- Imagery, also known as detail
- Metaphor
- Parade of horribles
- Parallelism
- Personification, giving human qualities to an inanimate object.
- Rhetorical organization, a division of a work into components, either explicitly or subtly, used for rhetorical purposes.
- Rhetorical question, a question to which an answer is not expected in response
- Simile
- Symbolism, in which a (usually recurrent) object or character represents an idea.
- Syntax, also known as sentence structure, may be used as a rhetorical device.
A rhetorical device is a technique, sometimes called a resource of language, used by an author or speaker to induce an emotional response. These emotional responses are central to the meaning of the work or speech, and should also get the listener (or the reader's) attention.
This list contains both rhetorical devices per se, as well as other tools of spoken and written language that may be prominently used for rhetorical purposes.
