Questions tagged [rhetorical-devices]
For questions about rhetoric devices (Using certain phrasings or constructions in order to elicit a certain sort of response from an audience).
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What is this rhetorical device called (i.e. saying "the journal" while instead referring to an article inside the journal)?
In a question on a different SE site the title is as follows
Writing the introduction section of an academic journal
while the question is about writing the introduction section of a paper that will ...
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What is the rhetorical purpose of the phrase: "to be honest?"
What is the rhetorical purpose of the phrase: "to be honest?" I think it has become a way to indicate that what came before was a lie but the speaker does not want to be direct. On LinkedIn, ...
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Rhetoric figures in a Pratchett quote [closed]
Or at least I think it was Pratchett taking a potshot at religion (exact wording unknown either):
"When you got them by the balls, you, uhm, got them by the balls."
Note that both parts of ...
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Is there a name for the figure of speech where parts of a name are replaced with similar words for critical or comic effect?
I'm struggling to explain it, but some examples are (mention does not imply endorsement!):
Sir Keir Starmer -> Sir Kid Starver (criticism of his stance on child benefits)
Benedict Cumberbatch ->...
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What is the rhetorical effect of this usage of Anastrophe in Shakespeare's Othello? [closed]
When reading Othello, I found many expressions using anastrophe. Some of them are just for the metre, but some are truly fancinating and I am not able to analyse them quite well.
For example, in 2.3, ...
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Is there a term to describe the use of an incorrect adverb (as an adjective-modifier)?
The phrase 'slightly dead' would be incorrect because a person can't be 'slightly' dead. Is there a term to describe phrases that incorrectly use adverbs in this way?
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Is there a term to the practice of over-inflating big words like 'edumecation' and 'philosphization'?
Morphologically speaking, I suppose this is the practice of adding meaningless affixes in order to make the word appear more grandiose.
Perhaps more common in AAVE, especially the word 'edumecate'. ...
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What is the term for using a word to portray a particular idea outside of but close to the context of the original meaning?
What is the term for using a word to portray a particular idea outside of but close to the context of the original meaning? Here is an example of what I mean. Someone may use the word “mercenary” in a ...
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Is there a word for "connecting multiple disparate ideas together"?
I'm also finding it hard to describe the concept succinctly, which might mean that it's not well-formed, but I'll give it a shot anyway.
The concept I'm trying to put a word to is the rhetorical ...
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What is an English term for "an event that triggers a chain of events, ultimately to downfall"? [duplicate]
I'm trying to incorporate more technical literary terms into my Macbeth revision for my upcoming exam. I've discovered terms such as Hamartia, Catharsis, Peripeteia, etc.
What would be a good word to ...
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An argument where a person says exactly what you told them isn’t true?
Background:
Person A and Person B have been in a romantic relationship for many years.
Person A gives Person B a large sum of money, specifically telling them that that Person B can use this money ...
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A short grin was smiled into Papa’s spoon. what is going on here?
A short grin was smiled into Papa’s spoon.
what is the device here?
is the grin personified?
is it past continuous as well?
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Is there a term for insincere prefacing?
Is there a specific term for the practice of prefacing a statement with another statement that is in contrast (in spirit) to what is being said?
There is a related concept called apophasis, where you ...
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What's another word for agreeing with another person just for the sake of it?
Let's assume two people A and B are in an argument, when A accuses B of some wrongdoing, which B denies. A while after, B, for the sake of pretending to have a moral high ground (for thinking of ...
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Identifying Literary devices (synecdoche, periphrasis)
Does the usage of the names of specific national dishes here represent the countries? Can we affirm that the author uses a synecdoche?
Even if you’re not bold enough to try bubble and squeak, haggis ...
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Name for a rhetorical device suggesting an individual fault by generalization
I am trying to find the name of the rhetorical device used in the following (deliberately absurd) example:
John says that he believes in motherhood and apple pie.
In my experience many people who say ...
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Rhetorical phrase analysis [closed]
Is there a rhetorical device found from the following phrase?
It won't cost you a thing, but it may save your life.
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In the phrase: "She swallowed her words", what literary device is being used?
Words can't be swallowed, so there has to be some literary device being used here. It's not a metaphor or simile because words are not being compared to anything, and it's not personification either ...
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Is there a term for the rhetorical technique of repeating an interlocutor's ideas while making it sound like their own?
Is there a term for the rhetorical technique of repeating, either spoken or written, the interlocutor's ideas or opinions, without acknowledgement, while making it sound like either something new or a ...
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What is the rhetorical term used in the sentence "When he died, all he left us was alone"? [duplicate]
From the lyrics to Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone by The Temptations:
Papa was a rolling stone
Wherever he laid his hat was his home
And when he died all he left us was alone
What is the the name of this ...
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What does a "weary room" mean? [duplicate]
A Pink Floyd song titled "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" starts with this line:
"A restless eye across a weary room"
I started looking up the various meanings of "weary" to ...
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Rhetorical device for sentence structure imitating meaning
I am trying to find the specific rhetorical device which means that the structure of the sentence I’m writing about imitates the meaning. In this particular case the writer using enjambement to convey ...
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Replacing periods with commas
In one chapter of the book, Extremely loud and incredibly close (pages 208-216), the author uses commas instead of periods to join several sentences without listing nor using conjunctions between them....
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Which rhetorical device is this?
This is a campaign from 2016 (The Guardian).
When the politicians defy belief, you need a newspaper that defies politicians.
What is this an example of (rhetorical device)? Or is it just wordplay ...
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Term for allowing implausible scenario in argument
What is the term for allowing an implausible scenario in order to be as generous as possible to the claim one is about to knock down? Example:
Acme Acres recorded 2,000 births last year, but the town ...
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What do you call it when someone says they’re not going to mention a thing? [duplicate]
Is there a name for the sort of expression where someone would say something like...
“I’m not going to mention the ridiculous hat they’re wearing.”
Or
“I could make a joke about footballers diving ...
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Word for stating something as fact when narrator and audience knows it is untrue?
I am looking for a literary term that is similar to irony. Basically, the narrator say something in an almost sarcastic way by stating something that everyone knows is untrue. The quote I am going off ...
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definition and usage for whipsaw?
My understanding of the whipsaw term is that can, according to Wiktionary, be used rhetorically as in these examples:
verb (transitive) To defeat someone in two different ways at once.
2014 November ...
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Is there a word or phrase for using overspecific, incorrect language intentionally?
A comedian I like calls vampires "Draculas", with the specificity as well as the incorrectness (there is only one Dracula, but many vampires) being a source of humor. Is there a word for ...
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Rhetorical strategy by collecting many agreeing individual perspectives to prove something right/wrong
I believe there is a specific rhetorical strategy by using large number of agreeing perspectives to prove the author's point (e.g. Person A said...Person B also stated...Company C explained)
The ...
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What is the name of the rhetoric device for the use of a one word sentence?
I'm doing a study of the collector, how would I describe the use of this quote...
"Power. Its become so real."
The use of power as a one-word sentence for emphasis, what technique or device ...
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The difference between "only one" and "one and only one"
A teacher announces, "There is only one student who failed the course."
Does the teacher’s statement mean anything different from the following version?
"There is one and only one student who ...
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Types of Questions
Are questions such as "Will they like me?" and "Will I fit in?" said in a diary, for example, with an emotional tone, rhetorical questions? If not, what type are they?
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Is there a word to describe a plausible but incorrect explanation? [duplicate]
I'm thinking of something where somebody (with no malicious intention) offers a very plausible and scientific-sounding explanation (not a theory but something presented as a series of facts) such that ...
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Ending a sentence with "has it" or "did it" in a sarcastic statement, what's this called?
E.g. 1:
"Oh, that joke about a pandemic has aged like fine wine, hasn't it?"
E.g. 2:
"Yes, I suppose we did, didn't we?"
I've noticed alot of people from the UK tend to speak in a manner like this,...
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'She looked incredible. Then she looked at me'
Am I correct in saying that the verb 'looked' is intransitive in the first phrase, transitive in the second phrase? Is there a name for this type of rhetorical technique playing on the two senses of ...
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What linguistic feature would I draw upon to explain this?
If i was writing an informative piece on a random topic and I wrote for instance "Ok, but how does CO2 get released? By burning fossil fuels." By asking a question to my intended audience and then ...
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What's the name for a non-question posing as a question?
A rhetorical question is a question that doesn't require an answer.
What's the name for a rhetorical device that's a non-question that requires an answer ?
Eg, in the following convo what role does "...
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Inversion with phrase "handy for"
The following example sentence from Collins Dictionary seems to me perfectly natural and in line with the given definition of handy:
3. A thing or place that is handy is nearby and therefore easy ...
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Is "When since" correct? [closed]
A friend of mine recently used an expression "When since" to start a question that could just as well start with "since when". I feel like it's incorrect, but a google search doesn't bring up any ...
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What's the word for using alternative descriptions in place of a name?
There's a word for a replacement of a name with a description of that person, place or whatever thing the name belongs to. This is a very common rhetorical device (especially in newspapers and ...
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What rhetorical device is used in the sentence?
What rhetorical device is used in the sentence "They are unconventionally rich and richly unconventional"?
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Rhetorical term for the opposite of apophasis/paralipsis?
There are several rhetorical terms describing cases where someone calls attention to something under the pretense of not talking about it or claiming that it shouldn't be talked about, thereby ...
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Seeking a name for literary device/technique involving denial and hypothetical dialogue
Preface
To properly frame this question, I should note that I recently have been studying formal rhetoric according to the five canons (inventio, dispositio, elocutio, memoria, and actio), and paying ...
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Term for anticipating counterarguments and rebutting them
There's this term for the rhetorical device of anticipating counterarguments and rebutting them, but I simply can't remember it.
Now I know what you're thinking - did you try googling it? Well I did,...
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Is there a name for this type of rhetoric?
It seems that there is a literary term for almost every imaginable rhetoric; is there a name for the following one?
Natural selection is the blind watchmaker, blind because it does not
see ahead, ...
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What's it called when a speaker has some object reflect someone's feelings?
I remember this is the name of some rhetorical scheme. It's hard to explain. It's like if I say:
"The rain poured down her tears."
Or if I say:
"All I could hear over the whine of the plane's ...
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Would 'Google' be a synecdoche or a metonymy of the internet and technology?
I want to write an opening for my essay, but I'm not sure which term to use: metonymy or synecdoche. I have a feeling that it is a synecdoche because Google is a part of the Internet, but I would like ...
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The use of 'how could ...' in past tense situations
A grammatical issue has been bugging me for some time, and I just can't seem to wrap my head around it. If I'm writing in the past tense and questioning the ability to do something or the possibility ...
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What is the rhetorical device that modifies a famous phrase, similar to antithesis?
According to Wikipedia:
An antithesis must always contain two ideas within one statement
A similar effect (parallelism emphasizing opposition of ideas) can be created in which the first element is ...
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