You have already examined many rhetorical devices even if you did not know it. Amy Benjamin, author of "AP Toolbox" defined rhetorical devices as "the jewelry of rhetoric: they create sparkles and interesting little gems of writer's craftsmanship. Like jewelry, rhetorical devices should not be used to excess lest they become garish." Benjamin's point here is important -- writers hold valuable keys to language when they have mastered rhetorical devices -- but writers need to use them wisely and when appropriate, not overindulging their work with them.
In this lesson you will familiarize yourself with common devices such as
- alliteration
- allusion
- anaphora
- parallelism
- antithesis
- imagery
- irony
- figurative language
- paradox
