RHETORICAL DEVICES

ANAPHORA

• It is a scheme (a change in standard word order or pattern)
• Definition: a repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses lines
• It is most commonly used in novels and short stories as well as seen in poetry, essays, and formal speeches
• It emphasizes key words or ideas

ANAPHORA EXAMPLES

• It uses repetition to make the line memorable
• "I came I saw I conquered." -Julius Caesar
• "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness..." -A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
• "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right..." -Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address

EUPHEMISM

• It is a trope (the use of a word, phrase, or imagery in a way not intended by its normal signification)
• Definition: a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing
• It can be used to mask a rude or impolite expression but conveys the concept clearly and politely

EUPHEMISM EXAMPLES

• "He plowed her, and she cropped." -Antony and Cleopatra (plowed means sex, cropped means to become pregnant)
• "He is a special child." (meaning he's disabled or retarded)
• "You are becoming a little thin on top (meaning becoming bald)

METAPHOR

• It is a trope (the use of a word, phrase, or image in a way not intended by its normal signification)
• Definition: implied comparison through a figurative, not literal, use of words
• It is a resemblance of two contradictory or different objects is made based on a single or some common characteristics

METAPHOR EXAMPLES

• "My brother was boiling mad." (he was too angry)
• "Shall I compare Thee to a Summer's Day" -William Shakespeare (extended metaphor between the love of the speaker and the fairness of the summer season)
• "The assignment was a breeze." (implies the assignment was easy)