Sources

Grammar and Composition - Homepage of About Grammar and Composition. Ed. Richard  Nordquist. Web. 09 May 2011. <http://grammar.about.com/>.

Harris, Robert. "A Handbook of Rhetorical Devices." VirtualSalt. 22 Nov. 2010. Web. 09 May

2011. <http://www.virtualsalt.com/rhetoric.htm>.

 

 

Alliteration

The Technical Stuff:
Alliteration is the recurrence of initial consonant sounds.

Example:
Done well, alliteration is a satisfying sensation.

Anaphora

The Technical Stuff:
Anaphora is the repetition of the same word or words at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences, commonly in conjunction with climax and with parallelism.

Example:
To think on death it is a misery,/ To think on life it is a vanity;/ To think on the world verily it is,/ To think that here man hath no perfect bliss. --Peacham

Anastrophe

The Technical Stuff:
A rhetorical term for the inversion of conventional word order.

Example:
"Backward ran sentences until reels the mind. . . . Where it all will end, knows God!"

Anthimeria

The Technical Stuff:
A rhetorical term for the use of one part of speech (or word class) for another. In grammatical studies, anthimeria is known as a functional shift or conversion.

Example:
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought.
(Hamlet, III.i)

Antithesis

The Technical Stuff:
Antithesis establishes a clear, contrasting relationship between two ideas by joining them together or juxtaposing them, often in parallel structure.

Example:
That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. --Neil Armstrong

Apostrophe

The Technical Stuff:
Apostrophe interrupts the discussion or discourse and addresses directly a person or personified thing, either present or absent.

Example:
O books who alone are liberal and free, who give to all who ask of you and enfranchise all who serve you faithfully! -- Richard de Bury