RHETORICAL DEVICES

Techniques that make communication effective in speeches

1. Repetition – repeating words and phrases (anaphora – repeating words or phrases at the beginning of neighboring clauses)
2. Alliteration – repeating the same sound or letter at the beginning of several words in a sentence
3. Parallelism – using grammatical structure that follows the same pattern
4. Tricolon (Triad) – list of three or a sentence in which there are three parts or clauses
5. Allusion – reference to ideas in original texts such as the Bible
6. Antithesis – contrasting ideas for emphasis
7. Rhetorical Questions – questions that make audience think but require no answer
8. Hypophora – speaker asks a question and then answers it
9. Figurative Speech – comparisons using similes, metaphors, analogies and                    personification (attributing living characteristics to nonliving things)
10. Rhetorical and Persuasive Appeals –
    1. Ethos – the speakers credibility – audience has to believe and trust the speaker
    2. Pathos – appealing to the emotions of the audience
    3. Logos – information must make sense and be logical
11. Hyperbole- Deliberate exaggeration or emphasis for effect