Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasion

Rhetorical DevicesAP English III

Categories of Rhetorical Devices Terms involving emphasis,

association, clarification, and focus Terms involving physical organization,

transition, and disposition of arrangement

Terms involving decoration and variety

Expletive A single word or short phrase, usually

interrupting normal syntax, used to lend emphasis to the words immediately proximate to the expletive.

Asyndeton Consists of omitting conjunctions

between words, phrases, or clauses In a list of items, asyndeton gives the

effect of multiplicity, of an extemporaneous rather than a labored account

Polysyndeton Use of a conjunction between each

word, phrase, or clause Structurally the opposite of asyndeton Intended rhetorical effect is one of

multiplicity, energetic enumeration, and building up

Understatement Deliberately expresses an idea as less

important than it actually is either for ironic emphasis or for politeness and tact

Parallelism Please learn to spell this word

correctly! Recurrent syntactical similarity Several part of a sentence or several

sentences are expressed similarly to show that the ideas in the parts or sentences are equal in importance

Adds balance, rhythm, and clarity to the sentence

Chiasmus Inverted parallelism Repetition of grammatical structures

in inverted order Shows the relationship of the two

linked items in an unusual way to add to emphasis

Zeugma Grammatically correct linkage (or

yoking together) of two or more parts of speech by another part of speech

Examples: one subject with two verbs; a verb with two direct objects

Main benefit of the linking is that it shows relationships between ideas and actions more clearly

Antithesis Establishes a clear, contrasting

relationship between two ideas by joining them together in parallel structure

Creates a definite and systematic relationship between ideas

Anaphora Repetition of the same word or words

at the beginning or successive phrases, clauses, or sentences, commonly in conjunction with climax and with parallelism

Often used in conjunction with rhetorical questions

Epistrophe Counterpart to anaphora Repetition o f the same word or words

at the end of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences

Please note… These terms are intended for use on

the multiple choice section of the exam and in your own writing.

They are DEVICES—not techniques—which means you should not focus on them in your analysis of timed writings