Rhetorical Devices
Also known as rhetorical techniques · persuasive devices
Techniques that shape how a sentence persuades or sticks: repetition such as anaphora, contrast such as antithesis, questions asked for effect and reversals such as chiasmus.
- Plain
- We will keep working everywhere until the job is done.
- Anaphora
- We will work in the cities. We will work in the towns. We will work until it is done.
In practice
Rhetorical devices are techniques of language that shape how a message persuades, emphasizes or sticks in memory. They work at the level of the sentence: repeating a phrase, setting opposites side by side, asking a question that needs no answer or reversing a pattern. Speeches, ads, essays and dialogue all use them, usually several at once.
Most can be sorted by what they do. Repetition devices, such as anaphora, epistrophe and alliteration, build rhythm and emphasis. Contrast devices, such as antithesis and juxtaposition, sharpen a choice. Question and address devices, such as the rhetorical question and apostrophe, pull the audience in. Comparison devices, such as metaphor, simile and analogy, make an abstract idea concrete.
Teachers often say rhetorical choices for the same idea seen from the writer's side: every device is a decision about word order, emphasis or tone, made for a particular audience and purpose. In an AP English Language essay, naming a device earns little on its own; explaining the choice and its effect on the audience is what readers are scoring.
Rhetorical devices in dialogue
INT. HIGH SCHOOL LOCKER ROOM - HALFTIME
Down by twenty. Players slumped on benches, nobody talking. COACH MARSH (50s) kicks a water cooler shut.
COACH MARSH
Who here thinks we can win this?
Silence. One hand goes up, then drops.
COACH MARSH
Good. Nobody out there thinks so either. They think we're done. They think we're tired. They think we're going home.
Opens as a new Plot project once you sign in or create a free account. Inkwell keeps this copy for 24 hours.
Marsh opens with a rhetorical question, gets the silence he wants and builds on it with anaphora, three sentences starting with "They think," which turns the other team's confidence into something his players can push against. Devices in dialogue should come from the character: a coach repeats, a lawyer reasons, a poet reaches for metaphor.
List of rhetorical devices with examples
Anaphora: repeating words at the start of successive clauses. "We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields" (Winston Churchill, 1940). It builds momentum and makes a list feel like a vow.
Antithesis: opposed ideas in parallel form. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" (Charles Dickens). It sharpens a contrast so the reader feels the pull between the two halves.
Rhetorical question: a question asked for effect, not for an answer. "If you prick us, do we not bleed?" (The Merchant of Venice). It leads the audience to supply the answer the speaker wants.
Chiasmus: a pattern repeated in reverse. "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country" (John F. Kennedy). The reversal makes a line balanced, emphatic and easy to remember.
Tricolon: three parallel parts, often rising in strength. "I came, I saw, I conquered" (attributed to Julius Caesar). Groups of three sound complete, which is why speeches and slogans reach for them so often.
Hyperbole and understatement: deliberate exaggeration and its opposite. "I've told you a million times" overstates for emphasis; calling a hurricane "a bit of weather" understates for irony. Both make the listener notice the gap between the words and the facts.
Metaphor and analogy: describing one thing in terms of another. "All the world's a stage" (As You Like It) makes an idea concrete, and an analogy extends the comparison to explain how something works.
What are rhetorical choices?
Rhetorical choices are the decisions a writer makes to achieve a purpose with an audience: which words to use, which evidence to include, what order to put it in, what tone to take and which devices to use. The phrase is common in AP English Language, where prompts ask students to analyze the choices an author makes.
A device is one kind of choice, but not the only one. Opening with an anecdote instead of a statistic, addressing the reader as "you," ending on a question or shifting from formal to plain language halfway through are all rhetorical choices, even though none of them has a classical Greek name.
To analyze a choice, write a three-part sentence: what the writer does, how it works and why it matters for this audience. "By opening with a single soldier's letter, the author makes the war's cost personal before giving any numbers, which prepares a skeptical audience to accept them."
How to use rhetorical devices in writing
Start with the point, not the device. Decide what the sentence has to make the reader feel or accept, then choose a device that serves it. Repetition suits a call to action, contrast suits a choice and a question suits a moment when you want the reader to answer in their head.
Put the device where attention is highest. The openings and closings of paragraphs, speeches and scenes are where a crafted line lands; in the middle of an explanation, the same flourish only slows the reader down.
Use one at a time, and use them rarely. A paragraph with anaphora, a rhetorical question and a chiasmus sounds like a parody of a speech. One well-placed device on a page is usually enough to be heard.
Read it aloud. Most rhetorical devices were developed for listeners, so their rhythm is easier to hear than to see. If a repetition sounds forced or a reversal needs explaining, simplify it until it sounds like speech.
Rhetorical devices vs. literary devices
The two lists overlap heavily: metaphor, hyperbole and irony appear in both. The difference is purpose. Rhetorical devices are named for how they persuade an audience, so they belong to speeches, essays and arguments. Literary devices are named for how they make meaning in a story or poem, so that list also includes narrative tools such as foreshadowing, flashback and point of view.
In practice the label depends on the text. Anaphora in Churchill's speech is a rhetorical device because it rallies a nation; anaphora in a poem is a literary device because it builds a pattern of sound and meaning. Use whichever name fits the assignment, and explain the effect either way.
Common questions
What are rhetorical devices?
Rhetorical devices are language techniques that make a message more persuasive or memorable, such as anaphora, antithesis, rhetorical questions, chiasmus, hyperbole and metaphor.
What are some examples of rhetorical devices?
Churchill's repeated "we shall fight" (anaphora), Dickens's "best of times, worst of times" (antithesis), Shylock's "If you prick us, do we not bleed?" (rhetorical question) and "I came, I saw, I conquered" (tricolon).
What are the most common rhetorical devices?
Repetition (anaphora and alliteration), contrast (antithesis), the rhetorical question, metaphor and simile, hyperbole and the rule of three. Nearly every famous speech uses several of them.
What is a rhetorical choice?
Any decision a writer makes to reach an audience: word choice, evidence, structure, tone or a device. AP Language prompts ask you to explain what the choice is, how it works and why it suits the audience.
What is the difference between rhetorical devices and literary devices?
Rhetorical devices are named for how they persuade, in speeches and arguments. Literary devices are named for how they make meaning in stories and poems. Many techniques, such as metaphor and irony, belong to both lists.
How many rhetorical devices are there?
Renaissance handbooks cataloged hundreds of figures, many with Greek names few readers know today. A working writer needs a dozen or so; the ones on this page cover most speeches and essays.
Is a rhetorical question a rhetorical device?
Yes. A rhetorical question is asked for effect rather than for an answer, and it is one of the most common devices in speeches, essays and dialogue because it makes the listener supply the point.