Rhetorical Devices: Sound, Semantic, and Grammatical Figures

Rhetorical Devices: Classification and Examples

1. Phonic Resources (Sound Devices)

These devices affect the sound structure of the text.

Alliteration

This is the repetition of a sound or sound group, often consonants, for effect.

• Example: In ilencio s s s ee s olo spoon an s u s s bee Urrô that s NABO.

Paronomasia

Paronomasia involves a play on words, using words that have significant phonetic similarities but different meanings (paronyms).

• Example:

  my basket Poor
  among broken rocks,
  without candles sleepless
  and the waves alone!

2. Semantic Resources (Figures of Meaning)

Metaphor (Impure)

This relates a real term (R) with an imaginary term (I), identifying them while keeping the real term present.

• Example: His hair was a waterfall that fell...

Metaphor (Pure)

This involves designating the real term (R) using only the imaginary term (I), omitting R entirely.

• Example: A cascading blonde covered her shoulders.

Simile (Comparison)

This relates a real term (R) with an imaginary term (I) using a comparative linkage, such as AS or LIKE.

• Example: His hair fell like a waterfall down her back.

Metonymy

Metonymy consists of applying the name of one thing to another with which it is in a relationship of proximity or contiguity (e.g., cause-effect, container-content).

• Example: Running away from gray.

Synecdoche

Synecdoche involves the replacement of the whole to designate the part, or vice versa. It is usually considered a type of metonymy.

• Example: A thousand head of cattle. (Original text: Mil cattle.)

Irony

Irony is saying the opposite of what is meant, making the real sense clear through context or tone.

• Example: "That is an excellent movie. I think there was even one viewer who liked it."

Antithesis

Antithesis consists of playing with words or phrases that have opposite meanings (antonyms).

• Example:

  In the heart of his friend,
  opens the wall;
  the poison and the dagger,
  close the wall.

3. Grammatical Resources (Figures of Construction)

Epithet

An epithet is an adjective that denotes a quality already inherent in the noun it accompanies, often for emphasis or poetic effect.

• Example: For you the green grass, the cool wind, the white lily and pink rose, sweet spring wanted.

Polysyndeton

Polysyndeton is the repetition of a single coordinating conjunction. This resource slows the pace of the speech, giving the text a calm and weighty tone.

• Example: And there recognizes strong and grows and is released, and advances and foams up, and jumps and trusts.

Asyndeton

Asyndeton consists of the elimination of conjunctions or links. This makes the expression more fluid and contributes to a sense of speed or dynamism.

• Example: Come, succor, flies, the high mountain passes, took the plain.

Anaphora

Anaphora is the repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of various verses or clauses.

• Example:

  Death up Early in flight
  Early Morning Morning,
  Early you're rolling on the floor.

Parallelism

Parallelism is the repetition of the same or similar syntactic structures.

• Example:

  She, the daughter of kings,
  CONJ PREP + NP + N + PREP + N
  is buried at the altar;
  to him as the son of Count
  CONJ PREP + NP + N + PREP + N
  few steps behind.

Hyperbaton

Hyperbaton consists of altering the normal syntactic order of speech (inversion).

• Example:

  The room in the dark corner,
  harp perhaps forgotten by its owner,
  its owner may forgotten
  looked dusty and silent
  silent and dusty
  in the dark corner of the room.
  could see the harp