Rhetorical Devices & Figures of Speech
RHETORICAL DEVICES & FIGURES OF SPEECH
(Bringing Brightness and Buoyancy to Language: Prose & Poetry)
1.
allegory: (Greek, ‘speaking otherwise’) It is a story, poem, or picture which can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. It has a double meaning: a primary or surface meaning; and a secondary or under-the-surface meaning. It is a story, therefore, that can be read, understood and interpreted at two or more levels. 1. Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress is an allegory of Christian Salvation—the best known allegory in the English language. The whole work is a simplified representation of the average man’s journey through the trials and tribulations of life on his way to Heaven. 2. An early example of the use of allegory in literature is the myth of the Cave in Plato’s Republic. Other notable instances of allegory include Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and George Orwell’s Animal Farm.
2.
alliteration: (Latin, ‘repeating and playing upon the same letter’) The use of words starting with or containing the same letter or sound. It is a very old devise indeed in English verse and is used occasionally in prose. 1. Coleridge’s famous description of the sacred river Alph in Kubla Khan: ‘Five miles meandering with a mazy motion.’ 2. Alliteration is common in tongue-twisters: Betty Botter bought some butter, But, she said, the butter’s bitter; If I put it in the batter It will make my batter bitter, But a bit of better butter, That would make my batter better.
3.
anacoluthon: (Greek, ‘back bending’) A sentence or construction in which the expected grammatical sequence is absent, considered an error in Grammar. Beginning a sentence in one way and continuing or ending it in another—used as a rhetorical device to achieve a particular effect. 1. While in the garden, the door banged shut. (Error in Grammar) 2. You know what I—but let’s forget it! (Rhetorical Device)
4.
anadiplosis: (Greek, ‘doubling’) The repetition of the last
(Bringing Brightness and Buoyancy to Language: Prose & Poetry)
1.
allegory: (Greek, ‘speaking otherwise’) It is a story, poem, or picture which can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. It has a double meaning: a primary or surface meaning; and a secondary or under-the-surface meaning. It is a story, therefore, that can be read, understood and interpreted at two or more levels. 1. Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress is an allegory of Christian Salvation—the best known allegory in the English language. The whole work is a simplified representation of the average man’s journey through the trials and tribulations of life on his way to Heaven. 2. An early example of the use of allegory in literature is the myth of the Cave in Plato’s Republic. Other notable instances of allegory include Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and George Orwell’s Animal Farm.
2.
alliteration: (Latin, ‘repeating and playing upon the same letter’) The use of words starting with or containing the same letter or sound. It is a very old devise indeed in English verse and is used occasionally in prose. 1. Coleridge’s famous description of the sacred river Alph in Kubla Khan: ‘Five miles meandering with a mazy motion.’ 2. Alliteration is common in tongue-twisters: Betty Botter bought some butter, But, she said, the butter’s bitter; If I put it in the batter It will make my batter bitter, But a bit of better butter, That would make my batter better.
3.
anacoluthon: (Greek, ‘back bending’) A sentence or construction in which the expected grammatical sequence is absent, considered an error in Grammar. Beginning a sentence in one way and continuing or ending it in another—used as a rhetorical device to achieve a particular effect. 1. While in the garden, the door banged shut. (Error in Grammar) 2. You know what I—but let’s forget it! (Rhetorical Device)
4.
anadiplosis: (Greek, ‘doubling’) The repetition of the last