Rhetorical Devices
Alliteration
The Practice of beginning several consecutive or neighboring words with the same sound (repetition of initial consonant sound), e.g., The twisting trout twinkled below.
Assonance
The repetition of vowel sounds in a series of words, e.g., the words "cry" and "side" have the same vowel sound and so are said to be in assonance.
Consonance
The repetition of a consonant sound in the middle or at the end of words within a series of words to produce a harmonious effect, e.g., And each slow dusk a drawing-down on blinds.
Simile
A comparison of two different things or ideas through the use of words like or as. It is a stated comparison, where the writer says one thing is like another, e.g., The warrior fought like a lion.
Metaphor
A direct comparison, or a comparison without the use of like or as. The poet states that one thing is another. It is usually a comparison between something that is real or concrete and something that is abstract, e.g., Life is but a dream; Time is money.
Personification
(Giving people qualities to non-people). It is a kind of metaphor that gives inanimate objects or abstract ideas human characteristics, e.g., The wind cried in the dark.
Onomatopeia
(Imitative Harmony). It is the use of words that mimic the sounds they describe, e.g., hiss, buzz, bang.
Hyperbole
A deliberate, extravagant, and often outrageous exaggeration. It may be used either for serious or comic effect; e.g., The shot that was heard 'round the world.'
Imagery
This consists of the words or phrases a writer uses to represent persons, objects, actions, feelings, and ideas descriptively by appealing to the senses (tins includes all senses, not just visual, a common misconception b/c the word imagery reminds people of the image).
Understatement
The opposite of hyperbole. It is a kind of irony that deliberately represents something as much less than it really is, e.g., I could probably manage to survive on a salary of two million dollars per year.
Paradox
A statement that contradicts itself. It may seem almost absurd. Although it may seem to be at odds with ordinary experience, it usually turns out to have a coherent meaning, and reveals a truth which is normally hidden, e.g., The more you known, the more you know you don't know (Socrates).
Oxymoron
A form of paradox that combines a pair of contrary terms into a single expression. This combination usually serves the purpose of shocking the reader, e.g., sweet sorrow, cold fire.
Pun
A play on words which are identical or similar in sound but which have sharply diverse meanings. Puns may have serious as well as humorous uses, e.g., When Mercutio is bleeding to death in Romeo and Juliet, he says to his friends, "Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man."
Irony
3 Types of This rhetorical device:
-Verbal: When a speaker or narrator says one thing while meaning the opposite.
-Situational: When a situation turns out differently from what one would normally expect.
-Dramatic: When a character/speaker says or does something that has different meanings from he or she thinks it means.
Sarcasm
A type of irony in which a person appears to be praising something while he is actually insulting the thing, e.g., As I fell down the stairs headfirst, I heard her say "Look at that coordination."