Rhetorical Devices and Tropes in Sports Writing

Rhetorical Schemes of Repetition

• Anaphora (repetition of the same group of words at the beginning of clauses): Exercise builds stamina in young children; exercise builds stamina in teenagers and young adults; exercise builds stamina in older adults and senior citizens.
• Epistrophe (repetition of the same group of words at the end of successive clauses): To become a top-notch player, I thought like an athlete, I trained like an athlete, I ate like an athlete.
• Anadiplosis (repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause): Mental preparation leads to training; training builds muscle tone and coordination; muscle tone and coordination, combined with focused thinking, produce athletic excellence.
• Climax (repetition of words, phrases, or clauses in order of increasing importance): Excellent athletes need to be respectful of themselves, their teammates, their schools, and their communities.

Tropes Involving Comparison

• Metaphor and Simile: An athlete’s mind must be like a well-tuned engine, in gear and responding to the twists and curves of the contest. (This sentence begins with a simile and ends with an implied metaphor.)
• Synecdoche (a part of something used to refer to the whole): We decided we could rearrange the gym equipment if everyone would lend a hand.
• Metonymy (an entity referred to by one of its attributes): The central office announced today new regulations for sports nights.
• Personification: Giving human qualities to non-human entities.

Tropes Involving Word Play

• Pun (used to attract the reader’s attention): A horse is a very stable animal.
• Anthimeria (one part of speech, usually a verb, substitutes for a noun): When the Little Leaguers lost the championship, they needed just to have a good cry before they could feel okay about their season.
• Onomatopoeia: The puck whizzed and zipped over the ice, then clattered into the goal.

Tropes Involving Overstatement

• Hyperbole: He couldn’t make that shot again if he tried a million times.

Tropes Involving the Management of Meaning

• Irony (words meant to convey the opposite of literal meaning): I posted a video on YouTube about how boring and useless YouTube is.
• Sarcasm (bitter irony): Thanks for everything you did for us tonight (said when he really did nothing).
• Oxymoron (words with contradictory meaning placed side-by-side): When you have to face your best friend in competition, whoever wins feels an aching pleasure.
• Rhetorical Question (a question designed not to secure an answer but to move the idea forward): Hasn’t the state of intercollegiate athletics reached the point where the line between professionalism and amateurism is blurred?