Just as spices can add interesting flavors to your favorite dish, rhetorical devices infuse your writing with style, rhythm, and flair.
(But just as using the wrong spices can utterly ruin your favorite dish, it kinda helps to know what you’re doing before you throw them around all willy-nilly.)
Key Notes About Rhetorical Devices:
- Rhetorical devices are linguistic tools that can make your words more memorable, persuasive, and impactful.
- The most common rhetorical devices include metrical structure or rhythm, metaphor, word repetition, synecdoche, metonymy, alliteration, and assonance.
- There are dozens of rhetorical devices that writers may use in their work and even if you don’t know exactly what they’re called (or how to pronounce them), you’ve likely encountered or used them without realizing it.
Rhetorical devices enhance both the style and effectiveness of communication.
They contribute to the artistry of language, making your writing more distinctive and engaging—and I’ll share some of the most common ones below, along with examples that demonstrate their effective use.
(I'll also offer phonetic pronunciations because most of them are pretty funky-looking words you'll rarely hear aloud.)
Rhythmic or Metrical Structure:
If you imagine your words tapping their feet to a rhythmic beat, you can easily understand metrical structure. Whether you're writing poetry or prose, having an appreciation for rhythm will enhance the flow of your language.
Meter essentially dictates the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables through every word, the beat of which establishes a heartbeat (of sorts) and harmonious cadence the reader can hear in their mind.
In short, it turns a simple series of words into a lyrical composition.
Metaphor:
Metaphor draws parallels to paint captivating imagery or to evoke an emotional response in the reader.
When you describe a storm as an untamed beast or love as a delicate flower, you're using metaphors to bridge the literal with the symbolic.
They’re effective tools that infuse your prose with the essence of poetry—but you want to be careful not to overuse them.
(Purple is pretty, but purple prose is generally less so.)
Word Repetition:
Anaphora, diacope, epistrophe, epimone, and epizeuxis—these terms might sound like a Greek chorus (or a horrible disease) but they’re actually very common forms of creative word repetition.
Yes, I know . . . there are writers (and even editors) who feel that words should never be repeated within the same sentence or paragraph.
I call B.S.
While it’s true that word repetition can be troublesome at times—for instance, when using the same adjective twice in the same sentence—intentional word repetition can be an exceptionally powerful tool that enhances the rhythm or meaning behind your sentences.
(And sometimes it does a bit of both.)
Anaphora (un-AFF-er-uh) involves repeating a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences, creating a rhythmic effect while adding emphasis on that particular word or phrase.
- Example: I looked to the sky. I gazed into the vast ocean of stars stretching as far as my eyes could see. I gazed into the infinity. I gazed into that endless abyss. And without even blinking, it gazed right back into me.
Diacope (die-ACK-eh-pee), meaning “to cut in two,” is the art of sandwiching a repeated word or phrase between different words.
- Example: Speak your truth and speak it boldly, but above all things, you must speak it without fear.
Epistrophe (ih-PISS-tro-fee) is closely related to anaphora, only it brings repetition to the end of a sentence or clause, echoing like a refrain.
- Example: Still, I danced. When the wind carried with it the razor edge of an oncoming storm, still, I danced. When the rain fell to the earth as liquid daggers, still, I danced. And when the tempest exhaled and stilled, I danced.
Epimone (EH-pim-oh-nee) describes the technique of dwelling on a point through word repetition and is often used in dialogue—people tend to repeat important points during real conversations. (And some of us simply forgot that we already told you a thing, so we tell you again. And again.)
- Example: I can’t let go of her house or her things because it feels like I’m letting go of her. And I can’t do that. I just can’t, not yet. I’m not ready.
Epizeuxis (epp-ih-ZOOKs-iss) is the immediate repetition of a word or phrase for emphasis.
- Example (and shout-out to my fellow T-Swizzle fans): “We-eee are never ever ever getting back together!”
Synecdoche and Metonymy:
Synecdoche (sih-NEK-duh-kee) and metonymy (mit-ON-eh-mee) are siblings of figurative language.
Synecdoche involves using a part of something to represent the whole or vice versa. It's the literary shorthand that turns "all hands on deck" into a collective call for assistance, where hands represent the entire crew/all the people on the boat.
In contrast, metonymy substitutes one word with another that’s closely associated with it. For example, when we say "The White House issued a statement," we're using metonymy, with the White House representing the President and their administration.
After all, the house itself wouldn’t issue a statement—it’s an inanimate object.
Alliteration and Assonance:
Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. Picture Peter Piper picking a peck of pickled peppers—the playful sound of repeated 'p' adds a plucky, rhythmic quality to the sentence.
Assonance (ASS-uh-nunss), on the other hand, is the repetition of vowel sounds within nearby words. It's the hum in the background, subtly tying your words together. The soft repetition of vowel sounds creates a melody all its own, whispered in your reader's ear.
Other Rhetorical Devices You’ve Likely Encountered
(But Didn’t Know They Had Names)
Anacoluthon (anna-ka-LOO-thon): shifting syntax mid-sentence.
- Example: If it isn’t broken—well, why would you try to fix it?
Anadiplosis (anna-de-PLO-thiss): repeating a prominent word, normally the last word in the previous clause immediately in the next one.
- Example: The road was long—long and winding. The night was dark—dark and impenetrable. I was hungry—hungry for a snack.
Analepsis (an-all-EPP-sis): a fancy word for a flashback.
Antanaclasis (ant-anna-KLASS-is): repeating the same word more than once, but using separate meanings with each.
- Example: As fall leaves scatter on the winds, so too shall we fall if we don’t prepare for the impending winter.
Antimetabole (ant-ee-met-AB-olee): inverting a phrase (similar to chiasmus, below) so it becomes a mirror of itself.
- Example: Fair is foul and foul is fair.
Antiphrasis (ann-TIFF-ruh-sis): using words oppositely and ironically (along the lines of a 7-foot-tall man having a nickname like “Tiny”)
Antonomasia (ant-uh-nuh-MAY-zha): using a title instead of a proper name (the Coach, instead of Vince Lombardi) or using a proper name to refer to a member of a class (such as “Vince Lombardi” for a kick-ass football coach)
Apophasis (uh-POFF-uh-sis): claiming to not mention an issue but bringing it up anyway.
- Example: I won’t talk about his long history of half-baked ideas but for the sake of the company’s success, I’ll be making the decisions from now on.
Aporia (uh-POR-ee-a): expressing doubt, indecision, and uncertainty that is real or pretend—and usually a mix of both—for emotional or philosophical effect.
- Example: To be, or not to be: that is the question.
Cacophony (kuh-KOFF-ah-nee): using words or phrases with harsh syllables to convey tone in tandem with their meanings.
- Example: The growl of engines rolled like thunder along the raceway.
Chiasmus (kie-AZ-muss): inverting a phrase (similar to antimetabole) but not mirroring the words exactly.
- Example: She danced into his heart, and he danced out of her life.
Dysphemism (DIS-muh-fizz-um): using a (generally) derogatory word or phrase to characterize something or someone.
- Example: That guy is a rat! And that other guy is a tool!
Euphemism (YOO-fuh-mizz-um): as the opposite of dysphemism, this involves using a positive (or more neutral) word or phrase to characterize something or someone.
- Example: My car has seen better days. I’m a little vertically-challenged but I can reach the top shelf if I use a step stool.
Hyperbole (hie-PURR-bowl-ee): using (obvious) exaggeration to describe something.
- Example: I’ve eaten so many slices of pizza I think I might explode. I’ve got a mountain of paperwork to read through. I laughed so hard I nearly shat my pants. (Okay that last one isn’t necessarily an exaggeration . . . I have IBS.)
Litotes (LIE-tuh-teez): a statement that expresses something positive through the use of a negative
- Example: That gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free cake wasn’t bad.
Meiosis (my-OH-sis): a fancy word for witty understatement in literature—not to be confused with cell division by the same name.
- Example: After spending 3 hours trying on 50 different outfits while getting ready for a date and later receiving a compliment from said date, you reply with something like: “Oh this old dress? It’s just the first thing I grabbed from my closet.”
Onomatopoeia (onna-matta-PEE-uh): words that imitate the sounds associated with them.
- Example: Zap! Buzz. Trill. The clinking of glasses.
Oxymoron (ox-eh-MOR-on): a combination of words that are normally contradictory.
- Example: Just act natural.
Pleonasm (PLEE-uh-nazz-um): a fancy word for redundancy—or using more words than you really need.
- Example: I heard it with my own ears. I saw it with my own two eyes. I walked there on my own two feet.
Simile (SIM-uh-lee): a common figure of speech that compares two unrelated things to one another—easily recognizable by the use of “like” or “as” to bridge them together.
- Example: She had eyes like stars. Her lips were delicate as rose petals. His hair was like spaghetti that had been left on the counter for a week.
Syllepsis (sih-LEPP-sis): when the same verb is used in two different ways (or to mean two different things).
- Example: He blew me a kiss and then blew my mind.
Zeugma (ZOOG-mah): closely related to syllepsis, a verb is used once—but serves two different meanings.
- Example: She held her breath and the pizza box as she waited for him to open the door.
The Last Word On Rhetorical Devices
Rhetorical devices enable writers to wield language more strategically, infusing their work with depth, persuasion, and a much more distinctive voice.
Plus, they’re just fun to experiment with in your writing and if you learn to pronounce them all correctly, you can WOW (and confuse) people at parties!