Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices
 

After seeing the amount of stories here that have potential for better improvement, I decided to try and collect some good ways to refine your works. After some extensive research, I've complied this reference.

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Rhetorical: The art of effectively speaking or writing.

Purpose: To allow authors to express themselves and their writing in a clear, more coherent, emphatic, or creative manner.

[Use Ctrl+F to find the device easier.]



Alliteration
Definition: The repetition of the same consonant sounds.
Example: He clasps the crag with crooked hands.


Allusion
Definition: An indirect or direct reference to something you assume your audience will understand and appreciate.
Example: His new plays made him the William Shakespeare of the 21st Century.


Analogy
Definition: A situation that is similar, comparable; a likeness in some respects.
Example: Just as Romans did not build Rome in a day, so we need a time to think and develop a great story.


Anaphora
Definition: Repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses.
Example: Let us pray for peace. Let us pray for wisdom. Let us pray for the future.
Notes: Great for majestic speeches or any kind of instigative or motivative speeching.


Diction
Definition: The choice and use of words.
Example: The denotations and connotations of words~
Sentence 1: I went to the store to get milk.
Sentence 2: I ran rapidly to the store to purchase milk for breakfast.
Notes: Diction is the general style you write in.


Euphemism
Definition: The substitution of a more delicate or less offensive word or phrase for another- both of which tend to mean the same thing.
Example: I'm not laying off workers! I'm only downsizing!
Notes: I find this especially useful in poetry when talking about harsh subjects. Killing for example, if you want to write a very materialistic composition, it would be wise to incorporate euphemism.


Exaggeration
Definition: A statement that stretches the truth, also called Hyperbole.
Example: I feel like 10 feet tall!
Note: This is more or less used in any story, to add emphasis and entertainment value to your story.


Flashback
Definition: The writer describes an earlier time in the story and explains something that will help the reader understand the plot and character better.
Example: A character recalling a previous event~
John saw the "Beware of Dogs" sign and froze, his hands trembling in fear.
It was an early March afternoon when a German Sheppard bit him.
Note: This device is useful when you start a story without emphasis on describing character personalities. Flashbacks can be major plot changers and may determine climax.


Foreshadowing
Definition: A clue or hint about what will happen later in the story.
Example: I think coming to this party was a bad idea...
Note: As seen mostly from Shakespeare's plays.


Idiom
Definition: A common phrase or expression that means something different from what the words actually mean.
Example: It was raining cats and dogs. (This example is also exaggeration.)


Imagery
Definition: A technique a writer uses to create pictures in the reader's mind and to appeal to the senses of touch, taste, smell, or hearing.
Example: The horse and wagon ripped through the night. The wheels squeaked and sighed in cue with the cracking of the driver's whip.
Note: You don't have this, your story sucks, period. A general and basic element of any story or poem.


Irony
2 Types:
1) Dramatic Irony:
Definition: The reader/audience knows about an even or situation that the character does not.
2) Verbal Irony:
Definition: The speaker says one thing means something else.
Example: I was simply overjoyed at having to return to school after the summer break.
Notes: I could not find a way to express dramatic irony, sorry. But irony is a good way to present a character and his/her personality.


Juxtaposition
Definition: Place two ideas together so that their closeness and comparison create a sharp contrast or a new, sometimes ironic, meaning.
Example: In shampoo endorsement, having a woman with conditioned hair, and one with dandruff.


Metaphor
Definition: An direct expression that describes or implies a comparison between a person, place, or thing.
Example: The sky was a blue sea.
Note: I said direct expression. If the comparison was said as "The sky was as blue as the sea". it would then be a simile, which is further down. Metaphors contribute to imagery and promotes details of the ambiance of your story.


Onomatopoeia
Definition: Words whose sound makes you think of their meaning.
Example: Boom, Crash, Whiz, Bang.
Notes: Sound effects basically.


Oxymoron
Definition: The joining of two contradictory words in a phrase.
Example: A jumbo shrimp. (Shrimps are small, how can it be jumbo?)
Note: Oxymorons are often also Paradoxes, it's difficult to find distinction.


Paradox
Definition: An apparently contradictory statement that nevertheless contains an element of truth.
Example: I was really guilty of being innocent.


Paralipsis
Definition: The act of mentioning something to an audience while saying you won't mention it.
Example: I don't think I even need to mention the amount of media attention my opponent's recent affairs with one of his staff members has received.
Note: Usually used in oratory.

Parallel Structure
Definition: The repetition of a grammatical structure in a sentence.
Example: Many people use drugs as a socializing tool, as a way to meet new people, as a way to be popular.
Note: This includes Anaphora.


Personification
Definition: When the writer describes an animal/plant or an inanimate object as if it were a person and/or with human characteristics.
Example: The chair groaned and squeaked under his weight.
Note: Absolute necessity in stories, also with some poems.


Pun
Definition: A word or phrase with more than one possible meaning used to create comic effect.
Example: The shoemaker was a mender of old "souls" (Vs. Soles)
Note: Used often in dramatic Irony


Repetition
Definition: Repeating of a word, phase or line to add rhythm or to emphasize an idea.
Example: It was bright morning and a morning of a new future. The sun's glorious rays illuminated the morning like never before.


Rhetorical Question
Definition: A question whose answer is already known or implied.
Example: Shall we let poverty rule our world?
Note: Used to make a point.


Rhyme
Definition: Words that sound alike.
Example: Last and Past.
Note: Used often in poetry.


Rhythm
Definition: The occurrence of a beat or a sound in the words of a poem.
Example: Twin-kle twin-kle lit-tle star. (Twinkle twinkle little star.)


Simile
Definition: An expression that describes or directly compares a person, place, or thing by comparing it to something else using the words "like" or "as".
Example: The sky was like a blue sea.


Symbolism
Definition:A person, place or thing or event that is used to represent something else.
Example: White flag = surrender.


Tell me any mistakes if you see any.

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices
 

Thank you for this. I nearly forgot some of those that are mentioned in here. If people would use this in their own works it would possibly make for a better read.

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices
 

I give it sticky/10

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices
 

Thanks Devonin, I hope people can refer to this as some guidelines for improvement.

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices
 

Shouldn't it be 'rhetoric' and not 'rhetorical'?

Either way, nice list. Add 'archetype'. I like that one.

And 'foil'.

Also there's a typo in 'symbol': represent.

Another typo in your note about 'oxymoron': it's.

Another type in 'repetition': rhythm.

Oh, and personification is not necessarily just a description as in your example but actual human characteristics.

And 'symbolism' might be better than saying 'symbol'.

If you're really interested in making this sticky beefy find excerpts from books to effect understanding of the device(s).

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices
 

am i the only one who doesn't even need to consciously consider these things to use them effectively

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices
 

Yes Tokzic, I shall agree with you if you really want to make yourself feel a bit more special.


Fixed typos. Researching on archetypes. Foil....I'll think about it.

EDIT.
Archetypes doesn't seem distinctive enough to have its own section, it seems like an free and unbinding form of repetition. Foil is almost no less from Juxtaposition, seeing how Foil is also a direct comparison.

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices
 

I was actually expecting answers - I don't think about doing these things, they just sort of sprawl out as I go. I don't go, "man you know what would make this sentence way more effective is some juxtaposition". I just write, and when I'm finished, I look back and there they are. I'd like to know if other people work this way.

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices
 

Not all people possess the same level of skill as higher level writers with those luxuries and characteristics. Hence, this was created to have in mind when writing to present thesis and style in a more effective way.

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices
 

i'm not trying to say this thread isn't useful

i'm simply asking a question

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices
 

I've never heard of 'foil' in the literary sense...and I was very confused when I read my username about 6 times wondering what the hell you guys were talking about.

Also, Tokzic, I do the same thing you do. I don't think ahead of time about what idioms and juxtapositions and metaphors I can use - I just ****ing write.

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices
 

I write in the same way. I never consider and think about adding a literary effect before I add it, I just do. Thinking about things like that usually hampers me, unless I am aiming for a certain effect in my story. Otherwise, I just let it flow out of me.

This is a nice sticky. I hope other aspiring writers take a good read through this (like I did) and improve from it.

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices
 

Its not an uncommon skill to write off the bat, but to actually prove you have skill, this is the criteria to have an excellent composition. The purpose of this thread isn't to think about these before you write, its to refine the product after writing even more.

(Then again, its always good to have these in mind too.)

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices
 

Not that you "have" to include a single one of these to have a good composition. This is a glossary of terms, not a "good writing" checklist.

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices
 

Well, of course, no. Good writing naturally have one or many of these.

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices
 

Yes, and all authors have their preferences.

I tend to use personification a lot, as I find it the simplest to use in my writing. I'm pretty positive that similes come in second.

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices
 

Oh? I actually find similes one of the rarest out of all these devices in stories I read and (rarely, cause I'm more a poet) write. The reason I see because I find that as ___as or ___ like ___ gets wordy when writing imagery and doing a comparison.

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices
 

Simile lends itself more to brevity than wordiness. It lets you communicate a complex idea by drawing a comparison between your object and something the reader presumably already knows about. The most effective similes are usually also allusions.

If you draw a simile that also requires explanation, you generally would have been better off to just explain your original concept instead.

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices
 

The only words I try to avoid overusing are verbs, and boring words like "said" and "go". Otherwise, I simply go to town with what I write.

I am listening to music as I write Chapter 15 of FFR: The Phantom Challenge. I am trying to finish as much as possible, because I know I won't get another chance to write for another week or so.

Re: Reference: Rhetorical and Poetic Devices
 

"Her face looked like the stony steps in front of the courthouse, or like a bag of silverware that had been thrown into the washer and put on 'spin cycle' - that is to say, she had a face comprised of many spoons and polished rocks. Take from this what you will. I found her exceedingly beautiful."