Semantic Features

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Rhetorical Devices

A rhetorical device is a linguistic tool that employs a particular type of sentence structure, sound, or pattern of meaning in order to evoke a particular reaction from an audience.

Effects:

• dramatic
• persuasive
• humorous
• expressive
• memorable

Device	Core Mechanism	Effect
Simile	overt comparison	vividness, clarity, imagery
Metaphor	covert comparison	conceptual depth, vivid abstraction
Metonymy	association / contiguity	compression, indirectness
Synecdoche	part-whole substitution	concreteness, compact reference
Hyperbole	overstatement / exaggeration	intensity, humor, drama
Litotes	understatement / negated opposite	politeness, irony, understated emphasis
Parallelism	repeated structures	rhythm, balance, persuasive force
Antithesis	contrast in parallel structures	sharp contrast, memorability
Oxymoron	contradictory word combination	paradox, emotional complexity
Anticlimax	sudden fall from elevated sequence	comic deflation, surprise, absurdity

Comparison

Device	Pattern	Example
Simile	A is like/as B	sharp as the blade of a knife
Metaphor	A is B / A directly becomes B	All the world's a stage

Example

Shakespeare, As You Like It

All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players.

Shakespeare, Macbeth

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player...

• world = stage
• people = players
• life = shadow / poor player
• Effect: abstract ideas become theatrical and visible.

Substitution

Device	Relation	Example
Metonymy	related object / concept	lend me your ears = give me attention
Synecdoche	part for whole	20,000 hungry mouths = 20,000 people

Example

Expression	Device	Explanation
The Oval Office is busy at work	metonymy	place for president / administration
The pen is mightier than sword	metonymy	writing / ideas vs. war / violence
Many hands make light work	synecdoche	hands for workers
England beats Sweden	synecdoche	country for national team
under the same roof	both	roof as part of house / shelter as household

Overstatement and Understatement

Device	Pattern	Example	Effect
Hyperbole	impossible exaggeration	I've told you a million times	intensifies emotion / humor
Litotes	negating the opposite	not unreasonable	polite understatement
Litotes	double-negative emphasis	not unacquainted with danger	understated force
Litotes	ironic mitigation	not exactly delicious	sarcasm

Example

W. H. Auden, As I Walked Out One Evening

I'll love you till the ocean

Is folded and hung up to dry...

• Hyperbole.
• Impossible image expresses emotional intensity.

Oxymoron

\[\text{Oxymoron} = \text{logical contradiction} + \text{compressed emotional complexity}\]

Common examples:

• open secret
• negative growth
• sweet sorrow
• the only choice
• silent scream
• alone together
• wise fool
• living dead

Example

Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

O brawling love! O loving hate!

O heavy lightness! Serious vanity!

Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health...

Phrase	Effect
brawling love	love as conflict
loving hate	hatred mixed with attachment
heavy lightness	emotional contradiction
cold fire	passion that hurts
still-waking sleep	confused, paradoxical state

Dense oxymorons reveal Romeo's emotional confusion and the paradoxical nature of love.

Parallelism

\[\text{Parallelism} = \text{repetition of the same or similar syntactic structure}\]

Effects:

• rhythm
• balance
• emphasis
• memorability
• persuasive force

Example

Example	Effect
I came, I saw, I conquered.	swift, balanced, triumphant
Reading makes a full man; conference a ready man; writing an exact man.	aphoristic balance
of the people, by the people, for the people	political force, memorability

The Declaration of Independence

that all men are created equal,

that they are endowed...

that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Repeated that-clauses create formal, rational, declarative force.

Antithesis

\[\text{Antithesis} = \text{parallel structure} + \text{contrasting ideas}\]

Examples:

• Man proposes, God disposes.
• one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind
• Not that I loved Caesar less but that I loved Rome more.
• We do not stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.

Example

Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times;

it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness;

it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity;

it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness;

it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair...

Device	Evidence	Effect
Parallelism	repeated it was the ... of ...	rhythm, grandeur, rhetorical force
Antithesis	best/worst, wisdom/foolishness, hope/despair	historical contradiction

Quick Identification

Sentence	Device
We have 20,000 hungry mouths to feed.	synecdoche
He has a sharp tongue.	metonymy
They came to live under the same roof.	synecdoche / metonymy
Not that I loved Caesar less but that I loved Rome more.	antithesis
thin and sharp as the blade of a knife	simile
I've told you a million times	hyperbole
lend me your ears	metonymy
perfect imperfections	oxymoron
not unacquainted with danger	litotes
Rhaegar fought... Rhaegar fought... Rhaegar fought... And Rhaegar died.	anticlimax

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