Rhetorical Devices and Techniques

Churchill repeats "we shall fight" at the beginning of successive clauses.

Zeugma occurs when one word, here "flourishing," governs two unlike words, "business" and "racehorse" being unalike ideas.

Litotes deliberately uses understatement to enhance the impressiveness of what we say. Frequently, litotes is an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary, e.g., "you won't be sorry" means "you'll be glad."

Polysyndeton is the deliberate use of many conjunctions, giving the effect of solemnity or burden. In this case, the poor student sounds overwhelmed even though he is only taking 6 classes.

Note the series of contrasts? This is classic antithesis at work.

Chiasmus is the reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases/clauses. Here the "hard" emphasizes making money, while the "easy" emphasizes spending it. Chiasmus creates a "neatly turned phrase," the kind that creates aphorisms or helps you win arguments.

You aren't literally eating nothing but bread: "bread" is a substitute for food and synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part stands for the whole.

Antithesis is the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas, often in parallel structure. Here Oppenheimer develops the idea that opposing consequences result from all endeavors.

"rational hysteria" combines words with opposing denotations.

Parenthesis--insertion of some verbal unit in a position that interrupts the normal syntactical flow of the sentence, remember? So here the interruption is between the dashes. Notice how the sentence makes perfect sense without it because the interruption isn't related to the basic meaning of the sentence.

"Roofs" here is a part of the whole because it stands in for houses. This poor fellow cannot find accommodations for the night.

Hyperbole is the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect. We are so accustomed to using superlatives these days, that hyperbole is easy to miss. In this example, the sky clearly cannot hang so low that humans must stoop, but the hyperbole reinforces how stormy and dark the sky looks.

Personification invests abstractions or inanimate objects with human qualities or abilities. Here "Mother Tongue" is personified as "self-reliant" and "female," both human characteristics. It isn't apostrophe because the speaker is not addressing Mother Tongue.

Ellipsis is the deliberate omission of a word or words which are readily implied by the context. In this case, Updike omits "sexual sin" from the two phrases following the first clause, but we know to what he refers. Ellipsis provides and artful and arresting means of securing cogent expression.

Climax is an arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in an order of increasing importance. Notice that this scheme arranges the commentary by increasing the horrifying effects of the movie on the viewer.

You know irony: the use of a word(s) in such a way as to convey a meaning opposite to the literal meaning. Hence, "proud privileges" here is ironic since all these "privileges" are hellish consequences of war.

Asyndeton is a deliberate omission of conjunctions between a series of related clauses or words. Clearly, Lincoln has not added the conjunction "and" here to add rhythm, which can stir the emotions, and a sense of hurry or certainty.

Parenthesis is the insertion of some verbal unit in a position that interrupts the normal syntactical flow of the sentence. In this case, the parenthetical insertion occurs after "There is even"; the sudden insertion adding the idea that "it is the achievement of this book" is cut off from the rest of the sentence. This abrupt and brief insertion gives an emotional or intellectual charge.

This is APOSTROPHE because the speaker is talking to Death. Personification would give Death human characteristics, while apostrophe addresses an absent person or abstraction.

Again, this is an ellipsis. Notice that the words left out come after "sophistication IN ITS ASSIGNMENTS," which Elbow does not repeat because it is understood.