Rhetorical Devices A technique used by an author to convey to the reader a meaning with the goal of persuading him or her towards considering a topic from a different perspective

The goal of rhetoric To persuade towards a particular frame of view appropriate rhetorical devices are used to construct sentences designed both to make the audience receptive through emotional changes and to provide a rational argument for the frame of view or course of action.

Examples: Irony The use of irony in rhetoric is primarily to convey to the audience an incongruity that is often used as a tool of humor in order to deprecate or ridicule an idea or course of action.

Metaphor The use of metaphor in rhetoric is primarily to convey to the audience a new idea or meaning by linking it to an existing idea or meaning with which the audience is already familiar.

Metaphor An example of rhetorical device is this passage attributed to a speech by Abraham Lincoln about a political adversary in which Lincoln said that his adversary had "dived down deeper into the sea of knowledge and come up drier than any other man he knew". This attributed quote uses a body of water as a metaphor for a body of knowledge with the ironical idea of someone who gained so little from his education that he achieved the impossible of jumping into a body of water and climbing back out without getting wet.

List of some rhetorical devices Diction irony hyperbole point of view ethical appeal logical appeal emotional appeal humor metaphors simile allusion imagery anecdote analogy metonymy (can’t fight city hall...King/crown) paradox fallacies (false notion) satire sarcasm