1. Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasion Rhetorical Devices English II PreAP

2. Categories of Rhetorical Devices  Terms involving emphasis, association, clarification, and focus  Terms involving physical organization, transition, and disposition of arrangement  Terms involving decoration and variety

3. Expletive  A single word or short phrase, usually interrupting normal syntax, used to lend emphasis to the words immediately proximate to the expletive.

4. Asyndeton  Consists of omitting conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses  In a list of items, asyndeton gives the effect of multiplicity, of an extemporaneous rather than a labored account

5. Polysyndeton  Use of a conjunction between each word, phrase, or clause  Structurally the opposite of asyndeton  Intended rhetorical effect is one of multiplicity, energetic enumeration, and building up

6. Understatement  Deliberately expresses an idea as less important than it actually is either for ironic emphasis or for politeness and tact

7. Parallelism  Please learn to spell this word correctly!  Recurrent syntactical similarity  Several part of a sentence or several sentences are expressed similarly to show that the ideas in the parts or sentences are equal in importance  Adds balance, rhythm, and clarity to the sentence

8. Zeugma  Grammatically correct linkage (or yoking together) of two or more parts of speech by another part of speech  Examples: one subject with two verbs; a verb with two direct objects  Main benefit of the linking is that it shows relationships between ideas and actions more clearly

9. Antithesis  Establishes a clear, contrasting relationship between two ideas by joining them together in parallel structure  Creates a definite and systematic relationship between ideas

10. Anaphora  Repetition of the same word or words at the beginning or successive phrases, clauses, or sentences, commonly in conjunction with climax and with parallelism  Often used in conjunction with rhetorical questions

11. Epistrophe  Counterpart to anaphora  Repetition o f the same word or words at the end of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences

12. Please note…  These terms are intended for use on the multiple choice section of the exam and in your own writing.  They are DEVICES—not techniques— which means you should not focus on them in your analysis of timed writings