Rhetoric and Rhetorical Devices
Often described as the “art of persuasion” or the “art of discourse,” rhetoric is the use and manipulation of language in a manner that captures the reader’s attention and appeals to them. In arguments, debates, and speeches, it works to persuade the reader to agree with and, sometimes, even adopt the writer’s perspective on the matter at hand. Therefore, its correct usage makes it a useful tool while crafting effective essays and narratives.
Rhetorical devices are a practical means to apply rhetoric in one’s writing. They are established techniques used to evoke a desired reaction from the readers. They are peppered throughout most pieces of English literature, including works of fiction, non-fiction, and speeches. While the names of these devices may be unfamiliar to most, the patterns themselves are easily recognizable.
A List of Rhetorical Devices
The following are nine oft-used rhetorical devices.
1. Anadiplosis
Anadiplosis is a Greek-origin word meaning “repetition.” The words or phrases at the end of one clause or sentence are used at the beginning of the next one.
For example:
Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.
Yoda, Star Wars
Once you change your philosophy, you change your thought pattern. Once you change your thought pattern, you change your attitude. Once you change your attitude, it changes your behavior pattern and then you go on into some action.
Malcolm X
The second instance of the repeated word or phrase does not always have to immediately follow the first; there can be intervening words, such as in the Malcolm X quote above, where the word “once” appears between the two occurrences of the repeated phrases. If there is a need for it, there can also be minor changes made to the word/phrase the second time round.
As is evident in the examples above, anadiplosis helps relate and develop chains of cause and effect relationships in a pithy and direct manner while also building to a climax. At the same time, it allows emphasis with rhythm and cadence when the text is spoken or read aloud.
2. Antimetabole
Antimetaboles are similar to chiasmus, which is a clause or sentence that inverts the grammatical structure of the preceding one. The condition that makes it an antimetabole, however, is that the word choice across the two clauses/sentences is the same; repetition is a must.
Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.
John F. Kennedy
Fair is foul and foul is fair.
William Shakespeare
Relying on symmetry, the effect an antimetabole produces is similar to that of chiasmus. While the grammatical structures are balanced, the precise message that the speaker hopes to deliver often lies in the second half.
3. Antithesis
Antithesis occurs when two opposing or contrasting ideas are presented in parallel grammatical structure.
That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
Neil Armstrong
It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.
Charles Dickens
Derived from the Greek for “opposite,” antithesis is a particularly effective and memorable means to establish contrast or to convey irony. Antithetical statements can also prove to be particularly persuasive (the message is often carried in the second part).
4. Aporia
The expression of doubt or uncertainty in a manner that proves a point is called aporia. Given that the aim is to drive home a point, the doubt is often feigned (but not necessarily). This rhetorical device also usually takes the form of a question but can also be framed as a statement.
To be, or not to be, that is the question.
William Shakepeare
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
In philosophical and political rhetoric, the uncertainty is usually insincere. It is usually intended as an attack on the opponent or opposite position. It is used as a subtle tactic to undermine.
When the doubt is real, aporia works as a descriptor and as a tool for exploration.
5. Asterismos
When a speaker begins a sentence with words or phrases like “now listen here,” “hey,” “look,” or “behold,” they are using the rhetorical device of asterismos. It is a very common device, often finding a place in regular conversation, speeches, and dialog.
Truly, I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
The Bible
Behold, I do not give lectures or a little charity.
Walt Whitman
By themselves, the words are unnecessary to the message or the sentence. Their main purpose is to attract the listener’s attention and to highlight and emphasize what comes after. When used in the middle of longer speeches, they can call to focus listeners’ flagging and/or distracted attention.
In certain situations, the use of asterismos establishes and/or reinforces the speaker’s authority, such as when used by politicians or in texts such as the Bible.
6. Chiasmus
In chiasmus, the grammatical structure is similar across two sentences or clauses, but in the second instance it is inverted. The second half is a mirror image of the first. It is important to note, however, that though the grammatical structures and even word choice is similar, it does translate into repetition. Often, the exact words used are different.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Martin Luther King
By the day the frolic, and the dance by night.
Samuel Jackson
The word “chiasmus” comes from the Greek word for “crossing.” It is a stylistic device that uses symmetry to make statements memorable and more persuasive than if they had been put more plainly.
7. Epanalepsis
Epanalepsis is when a sentence is “bookended” by the same word or phrase; it appears at both the sentence’s beginning and end.
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.
William Shakepeare
A minimum wage that is not a livable wage can never be a minimum wage.
Ralph Nader
It is used to establish emphasis and build rhythm.
8. Polyptoton
Polyptoton involves the repetition, in close proximity, of words derived from the same root.
Who will watch the watchmen?
Juvenal
With eager feeding food doth choke the feeder.
William Shakespeare
To imagine the unimaginable is the highest use of the imagination.
Cynthia Ozick
Repetition of this sort can give the sentence rhythm and musicality. It can also bring out contrast and heighten irony, while indicating emphasis.
9. Tricolon
A series of three consecutive words, clauses, phrases, or sentences with parallel structures, often appearing in close succession, is known as a tricolon. The consecutive sections are usually arranged in ascending order of intensity.
Veni, vidi, vici: I came, I saw, I conquered.
Julius Caesar
Never in the field of human conflict was so much been owed by so many to so few.
Winston Churchill
Tricolons have a significant impact on the listener and are immensely memorable. The arrangement of three elements imbues the sentence or passage with a sense of wholeness.
Tricolons also serve as an efficient vehicle for humor. This effect is achieved by having the third section veer off into a completely different direction suggested by the first two:
I require three things in a man. he must be handsome, ruthless, and stupid.
Dorothy Parker
The rhetorical devices described above and many more, such as anaphora and hypophora, are used across a range of texts and often have an impact on the way sentences and phrases sound to the ear and catch the eye. They add rhythm and cadence to sentences, rendering them and their messages memorable. They are often ornamental, functioning like figurative language and literary devices. In fact, certain devices, like metaphors, alliteration, and onomatopoeia, can work as both literary and rhetorical devices.
