AP Lang & Comp_ Rhetorical Devices_ Examples #2

Procatalepsis

" 'I know what you're going to say' ... 'That if they look at it properly they'll see that it wasn't our fault. But will they look at it properly? Of course they won't."

Aporia

"Ah, yes - Zorro! And where is he now, padre? Your masked friend? He hasn't shown himself in 20 years!"

Enumeratio

"Anyway, like I was saying, shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, sauté it. There's shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo; pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That -- That's about it."

Antithesis

"Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heav'n."

Anaphora

"Five years have passed; Five summers, with the length of Five long winters! and again I hear these waters..."

Alliteration

"From forth the fatal loins of these two foes;"

Synecdoche

"His eye met hers as she sat there paler and whiter than anyone in the vast ocean of anxious faces about her."

Epigram

"I can resist everything but temptation."

Parallelism

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair."

Aphorism

"Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late."

Chiasmus

"Never let a Fool kiss you or a kiss fool you."

Asyndeton

"Now as an engineer, a planner, a businessman, I see clearly the value to our nation of a strong system of free enterprise based on increased productivity and adequate wages."

Metabasis

"Such, then, would be my diagnosis of the present condition of art. I must now, by special request, say what I think will happen to art in the future."

Metonymy

"The pen is mightier than the sword."

Analogy

"They crowded very close about him, with their hands always on him in a careful, caressing grip, as though all the while feeling him to make sure he was there. It was like men handling a fish which is still alive and may jump back into the water."

Conduplicatio

"This afternoon, in this room, I testified before the Office of Independent Council and the Grand Jury. I answered their questions truthfully, including questions about my private life -- questions no American citizen would ever want to answer."

Allusion

"This place reminds me of the Garden of Eden."

Sententia

"We are now well into our fifth year since a policy was initiated with the avowed object and confident purpose of putting an end to slavery agitation. However, under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only not ceased, but has constantly augmented. In my opinion, it will not cease until a crisis shall have been reached and passed. "A house divided against itself cannot stand."

Antimetabole

"We didn't land on Plymouth Rock. Plymouth Rock landed on us."

Colloquial/ism

"What's the use you learning to do right, when it's troublesome to do right and it ain't no trouble to do wrong, and the wages is just the same?"

Assertion

"When I don't get enough sleep, it affects my nerves and I feel irritated. Therefore, I try to go to bed earlier."

Antecedent

"When children are happy, they clap to express their pleasure."

Tricolon

"You are talking to a man who has laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom, and chuckled at catastrophe."

Anecdote

"is that? Bells, dogs again! Is it a dream? I sob and cry. See! The door opens, fur-clad men Rush to my rescue; frail am I; Feeble and dying, dazed and glad. There is the pistol where it dropped. 'Boys, it was hard - but I'm not mad ... Look at the clock - it stopped, it stopped. Carry me out. The heavens smile. See! There's an arch of gold above. Now, let me rest a little while - Looking to God and Love ... and Love...'"

Ethos

4 out of 5 dentists use this toothpaste.

Simile

A figure of speech that uses "like" or "as" to compare two things.

Bias

A person does not agree with another's political affiliation, so they name call and refuse to believe they could be right about anything.

Logos

A study on using a specific reading program to teach young children to read cites statistics regarding the number of children who have been helped by the program, their demographics, the conditions under which they used the program, and the gains they made in their reading proficiency while using the program.

Claim

A teenager who wants a new cell phone says, "Every other girl in her school has a cell phone."

Pathos

Advertisement about donating to a charity includes scenes of emaciated children and the words, "For just $1.00 a day, you can feed a starving child."

Understatement

After wrecking your car, you say, "There's a little scratch."

Thesis statement

Americans should eliminate the regular consumption of fast food because a fast food diet leads to preventable and expensive health issues, such as diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.

Counterargument

Bullies should be ALL punished and kicked out of school. However, by kicking them out of school instead of helping and directing them towards the right path, they will keep getting worse until it's too late. This will simply shift the problem from bullying within the school, to bullying outside the school too.

Epithet

Catherine the Great

Rhetorical question

Do you want to be a big failure for the rest of your life?

Anastrophe

Excited the children were when Santa entered the room.

Apostrophe

Feet, don't fail me now.

Litotes

Ferris does not have what we consider to be an exemplary attendance record.

Inversion

Hardly ever does he come to class on time.

Complex sentence

I burned dinner but not the cake.

Compound sentence

I burned dinner, but I didn't burn the cake.

Simple sentence

I burned dinner.

Imagery

I could hear the popping and crackling as mom dropped the bacon into the frying pan, and soon the salty, greasy smell wafted toward me.

Zeugma

I have lost my keys and my mind.

Paradox

I know one thing; that I know nothing.

Concession

I know that you think I will just use the phone to text during class and call friends instead of doing homework. Could we agree to let me try the phone for a month, and if I do these things, you can take the phone away?

Eponym

If someone asks you for your "John Hancock," they are asking you for your signature. John Hancock was one of the signers of the Declarations of Independence and had a particularly memorable signature.

Hyperbaton

Into the box went the homework and onto the playground went the class.

Metaphor

My brother is the black sheep of the family.

Parenthesis

My family is getting a new dog from the shelter (we are going to name him Barney).

Distinctio

Now becoming invisible is impossible. And by impossible I mean beyond possibility within our current technologies.

Imperative sentence

Please join me for dinner tonight.

Straw man

Senator Smith says that the nation should not add to the defense budget. Senator Jones says that he cannot believe that Senator Smith wants to leave the nation defenseless.

Hypophora

Should students wear uniforms to school? The answer is yes. Uniforms in school could decrease discipline incidents. They could also lead to increased concentration in class. Finally, uniforms create a sense of school community.

Argument

Teenage girl presents to her parents regarding why she needs a cell phone that will allow her to text and use the internet.

Parody

The Daily Show and The Colbert Report

Personification

The fire swallowed the entire forest.

Appositive

The insect, a large cockroach with hairy legs, is crawling across the kitchen table.

Cumulative sentence

The radiators put out lots of heat, too much, in fact, and old-fashioned sounds and smells came with it, exhalations of the matter that composes our own mortality, and reminiscent of the intimate gases we all diffuse.

Exemplum

The traditional paper newspaper is in dire straits. For example, the venerable Rocky Mountain News in Denver closed its doors in 2009, never to reopen.

Connotation

The word "dog" in "He's such a dog."

Syllogism

This channel only plays shows for children. "Lucky Duck" is a show that comes on this channel. "Lucky Duck" is a show for children.

Declarative sentence

Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.

Polysyndeton

We are ready for camping. We have the tent and the sleeping bags and the marshmallows and the chocolate and the graham crackers.

Oxymoron

Well, this is just a fine mess that we are in.

Subordinate clause

When I get to the beach.

Hyperbole

Your suitcase weighs a ton!