Rhetorical techniques

An oxymoron (plurals: oxymorons and oxymora) is a figure of speech that juxtaposes concepts with opposite meanings within a word or in a phrase that is a self-contradiction. Examples would be "bittersweet" or "cruel kindness". As a rhetorical device, an oxymoron illustrates a point to communicate and reveal a paradox. A general meaning of "contradiction in terms" is recorded by the 1902 edition of the Oxford English Dictionary.

Hyperbole (; adj. hyperbolic ) is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. In rhetoric, it is also sometimes known as auxesis (literally 'growth'). In poetry and oratory, it emphasizes, evokes strong feelings, and creates strong impressions. As a figure of speech, it is usually not meant to be taken literally.

technique used to give an auxiliary meaning, idea, or feeling to a literal message, including assonance, consonance and alliteration

thumb|The Return of the Prodigal Son (Rembrandt)|The Return of the Prodigal Son, by [[Rembrandt, 1660s]]

figure of speech in the form of a question, asked to make a point rather than to elicit an answer

thumb|Detail of the Old English manuscript of the poem [[Beowulf, showing the words (), meaning .]]

A hypocorism ( or ; from Ancient Greek ; sometimes also hypocoristic), or pet name, is a name used to show affection for a person. It may be a diminutive form of a person's name, such as Izzy for Isabel or Bob for Robert, or it may be unrelated.

painting by René Magritte depicting a smoking pipe

thumb|Artist Tavar Zawacki painted a site-specific wordplay painting in Lima, Peru, commenting on the [[cocaine crisis and exportation.]]

logical fallacy in which a party asserts that a relatively small first step leads to a chain of related events culminating in some significant effect

form of propaganda in public relations

rhetorical technique using mere volume and rapidity of arguments

thumb|Bust of John Henry Newman, by T. Westmacott, 1841. Newman wrote an apologia to defend his decision to leave the Anglican church.

rhetorical device

short sales pitch

Apophasis (; , ) is a rhetorical device wherein the speaker or writer brings up a subject by either denying it, or denying that it should be brought up. Accordingly, it can be seen as a rhetorical relative of irony. A classic example of apophasis is "I'm not going to say that I told you so".

Hyperbaton , in its original meaning, is a figure of speech in which a phrase is made discontinuous by the insertion of other words. In modern usage, the term is also used more generally for figures of speech that transpose sentences' natural word order, which is also called anastrophe.

In Spanish and Latin American literature, a is a short statement, usually one sentence, in which the author expresses a philosophical, pragmatic, or humorous idea in a witty and original way. A greguería is roughly similar to an aphorism or a one-liner joke in comedy. It is a rhetorical and stylistic device.

principle or rule of thumb that allows one to eliminate unlikely explanations for a phenomenon

word that appears meaningful but is vague

thumb|A male cat paying a "call" on a female cat, who then serves up kittens, insinuating that the "results" of children is contingent on a male "catcall" An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), that works obliquely by allusion. In the latter sense, the intention is often to insult or accuse someone in such a way that one's words, taken literally, are innocent.

rhetorical technique

thumb|Juxtaposition of three Religious sister (Catholic)|sisters and the Three Sisters rock formation in Australia Juxtaposition is an act or instance of placing two opposing elements close together or side by side. This is often done in order to compare/contrast the two, to show similarities or differences, etc.

rhetoric used to influence an audience

linguistic device

Description is any type of communication that aims to make vivid a place, object, person, group, or other physical entity. It is one of four rhetorical modes (also known as modes of discourse), along with exposition, argumentation, and narration.

Encomium (: encomia) is a Latin word deriving from the Ancient Greek enkomion (), meaning "the praise of a person or thing." Another Latin equivalent is laudatio, a speech in praise of someone or something.

Diairesis (, "division") is a form of classification used in ancient (especially Platonic) logic that serves to systematize concepts and come to definitions. When defining a concept using diairesis, one starts with a broad concept, then divides this into two or more specific sub-concepts, and this procedure is repeated until a definition of the desired concept is reached. Aristotle makes extensive use of diaresis in categorization as basis for syllogizing. He makes clear, however, that definition by diaresis does not in itself prove anything. Apart from this definition, the procedure also resu

short clip of speech or music extracted from a longer piece of audio, often used to promote or exemplify the full length piece

strategies of rhetoric

utterance designed to instruct or persuade

Understatement is an expression of lesser strength than what the speaker or writer actually means or than what is normally expected. It is the opposite of embellishment or exaggeration, and is used for emphasis, irony, hedging, or humor. A particular form of understatement using negative syntax is called litotes. This is not to be confused with euphemism, where a polite phrase is used in place of a harsher or more offensive expression.

In literature and the arts, bathos ( ; ,  "depth") is the use of a lofty, elegant, or elevated style to present silly, vulgar, or trivial subject-matter, or a sudden transition from the former to the latter, thereby creating a ludicrous or comedic effect. Nowadays, bathos can refer to such usage occurring either accidentally (through artistic ineptitude) or intentionally as a rhetorical device (usually for the sake of comedy). Originally, it referred to an amusingly failed attempt at presenting artistic greatness and was first used in this sense in Alexander Pope's 1727 essay "Peri Bathou

Ethopoeia is the ancient Greek term for the creation of a character. Ethopoeia was a technique used by early students of rhetoric in order to create a successful speech or oration by impersonating a subject or client. Ethopoeia contains elements of both ethos and pathos and this is noticeable in the three divisions of ethopoeia. These three divisions are pathetical (dealing with emotions), ethical (dealing with character) and mixed (a combination of both emotion and character). It is essential to impersonation, one of the fourteen progymnasmata exercises created for the early schools of rhetor

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Ancient Greek rhetorical exercise

the use of multiple inconsistent arguments to defend a point

psychological concept for when a single idea (an image, memory, or thought) or dream object stands for several associations and ideas

act that deceives by stating a true statement that is irrelevant or leads to a false conclusion

American political catchphrase denying interest in a political office

stylistic literary device identified by the repetition of identical or similar consonants in neighbouring words whose vowel sounds are different

explicit authorial statement in which an author identifies themself

rhetorical technique to deliver criticism

intentionally lowering the volume of one's voice for emphasis