Language Aspect

Rhetorical Devices
Metaphor
the figure of speech that makes an implicit comparison between two things that are unrelated, but which share some common characteristics
Ex.: Her voice is music to his ears.

Rhetorical Devices
Epithet |ˈɛpɪθɛt|
a characterizing word or phrase accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a person or thing
Ex.: wine-dark sea
Simile |ˈsɪmɪli|
a direct comparison
Ex.: as cunning as a fox, red like a rose

Rhetorical Devices
Antiphrasis |anˈtɪfrəsɪs|
the use of words in a sense opposite to literal
Ex.: "Yes, I killed him. I killed him for money – and a woman – and I didn't get the money, and I didn't get the woman. Pretty, isn't it?" (Double Indemnity)
Antonomasia |ˌantənəˈmeɪzɪə|
the use of a descriptive phrase or epithet instead of a proper name
Ex.: Margaret Thatcher = The Iron Lady
Rome = The Eternal City

Rhetorical Devices
Hyperbole |hʌɪˈpəːbəli|, adynaton (pl. adynata) |adɪˈnɑːtɒn|
the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device
Ex.: It will be 10 billion years before we are finished cleaning up this room.

Rhetorical Devices
Anaphora
the repetition of a word / words at the beginning of successive phrases for emphasis
Ex.: Everything looked dark and bleak, everything looked gloomy, and everything was under a blanket of mist.
Epiphora
the repetition of a word at the end of successive phrases for emphasis
Ex.: I’m a Pepper, he’s a Pepper, she’s a Pepper, we’re a Pepper. Wouldn’t you like to be a Pepper, too? Dr. Pepper.

Rhetorical Devices
Anadiplosis |ˌanədɪˈpləʊsɪs|
the repeating of the last word of the clause at the beginning of the next clause
Ex.: This public school has a record of extraordinary reliability, a reliability that every other school is jealous of in the city.

Rhetorical Devices
Polysyndeton |pɒlɪˈsindətän|
the stylistic device in which several coordinating conjunctions are used in succession in order to achieve an artistic effect
Ex.: Let the whitefolks have their money and power and segregation and sarcasm and big houses <…> and mostly–mostly–let them have their whiteness. (Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings)

Rhetorical Devices
Climax
the gradual increase in force of rhetorical expressions
Ex.: This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable Rights of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. (Martin Luther King)

Rhetorical Devices
Ellipsis |iˈlipsēz|
the omission of one or more words that are obviously understood but that must be supplied to make a construction grammatically complete
Ex.: In the baseball game, our team scored four homeruns, the other team, only two…

Rhetorical Devices
Asyndeton
the omitting of conjunctions
Ex.: I stepped into a deserted corridor clogged with too many smells. Carnations, old people, rubbing alcohol, bathroom deodorizer, red Jell-O. (Sue Mond Kid, The Secret Life of Bees)
Zeugma |ˈzjuːɡmə|
the figure of speech in which one single phrase or word joins different parts of a sentence
Ex.: We were partners, not soul mates, two separate people who happened to be sharing a menu and a life. (Amy Tan, The Hundred Secret Senses)

Rhetorical Devices
Chiasmus |kʌɪˈazməs|, antimetabole |ˌantɪmɪˈtabəli|
the figure of speech in which two or more clauses are presented to the reader or hearer, then presented again in reverse order to make a larger point
Ex.: Charm is a woman’s strength, strength is a man’s charm.
Antanaclasis |ˌantəˈnakləsəs|
the repetition of a key word of phrase as a play on words
Ex.: If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired, with enthusiasm.

Rhetorical Devices
Anastrophe |əˈnastrəfi|
the reversing or inverting word order as a rhetorical device
Ex.: Patience I lack.
Antithesis |anˈtɪθəsɪs|
the contrast of ideas by means of parallel arrangement of words or clauses
Ex.: Setting foot on the moon may be a small step for a man but a giant step for mankind.

Rhetorical Devices
Accismus |əkˈsɪzməs|
The pretended refusal of something one keenly desires.
Ex.: I am not worthy of the honor.
Anacoenosis |anəsiːˈnoʊsɪs|
the asking the opinion or judgment of the judges or audience, usually implying their common interest with the speaker in the matter
Ex.: Now I ask you to decide: Given the persecution my client has undergone, does he not deserve to have some justifiable anger?

Anadiplosis, Anaphora
I am holding something remarkably old. It is older than any human artifact, older than life on Earth, older than the continents and the oceans between them.

Repeat, ring structure
We must keep searching the sky for near-Earth asteroids. We are the only species able to understand calculus or build telescopes. We know how to find these objects. This is our responsibility. If we found a hazardous asteroid with significant early warning, we could nudge it out of the way. Unlike earthquakes, hurricanes or volcanic eruptions, an asteroid impact can be precisely predicted and prevented. What we need to do now is map near-Earth space. We must keep searching the sky.

Antithesis
This rusty lump of nickel and iron may not appear special, but <…> you can see that it is different from earthly metals.

Simile
I think of the search for these asteroids as a giant public works project, but instead of building a highway, we're charting outer space, building an archive that will last for generations.
That object was about 19 meters across, or about as big as a convenience store.
And although it's a wonderful little space robot, these days it's kind of like a used car.