Rhetorical Devices: Sententia

This post is part of a series on rhetorical devices. For other posts in the series, please click this link. For a comprehensive, step-by-step overview of how to write a speech outline, please see this post. Device: Sententia Origin: From the Latin, meaning “feeling” or “thought” or “opinion”. In plain English: The use of a […]
Rhetorical Devices: Diacope

This post is part of a series on rhetorical devices. For other posts in the series, please click this link. For a comprehensive, step-by-step overview of how to write a speech outline, please see this post. Device: Diacope Origin: From the Greek διακοπή (thiakhopi), meaning “cut in two”. In plain English: Repetition of a word or […]
Rhetorical Devices: Erotema

This post is part of a series on rhetorical devices. For other posts in the series, please click this link. For a comprehensive, step-by-step overview of how to write a speech outline, please see this post. Device: Erotema Origin: From the Greek ερωτημα (erotema), meaning “question”. In plain English: A question that is asked without […]
Rhetorical Devices: Epanalepsis

This post is part of a series on rhetoric and rhetorical devices. For other posts in the series, please click this link. For a comprehensive, step-by-step overview of how to write a speech outline, please see this post. Device: Epanalepsis Origin: From the Greek ἐπανάληψις (epanalipsis), meaning “repetition” or “resumption”. In plain English: Repeating the initial […]
Rhetorical Devices: Anadiplosis

This post is part of a series on rhetoric and rhetorical devices. For other posts in the series, please click this link. For a comprehensive, step-by-step overview of how to write a speech outline, please see this post. Device: Anadiplosis Origin: From the Greek ἀναδίπλωσις (anathiplosis), meaning “doubling” or “folding”. In plain English: Beginning a sentence […]
Quotes for Public Speakers (No. 114) – Gardiner and Kittredge

“The effectiveness of rhetorical questions in argument comes from their dramatic quality. They suggest dialogue, especially when the speaker both asks and answers them himself, as if he were playing two parts on the stage. “They are not always impassioned; they may be mildly ironical or merely argumentative: but they are always to some extent […]
Rhetorical Devices: Paraprosdokian

This post is part of a series on rhetorical devices. For other posts in the series, please click this link. For a comprehensive, step-by-step overview of how to write a speech outline, please see this post. Device: Paraprosdokian Origin: From the Greek παρά (para), meaning “beyond” and προσδοκία (prosthokhia), meaning “expectation”; thus, “beyond expectation”. In plain […]
Rhetorical Devices: Paralipsis

This post is part of a series on rhetorical devices. For other posts in the series, please click this link. For a comprehensive, step-by-step overview of how to write a speech outline, please see this post. Device: Paralipsis Origin: From the Greek παράλειψις (paraleipsis), meaning “omission”. In plain English: To call attention to something by specifically […]
Rhetorical Devices: Polysyndeton

This post is part of a series on rhetorical devices. For other posts in the series, please click this link. For a comprehensive, step-by-step overview of how to write a speech outline, please see this post. Device: Polysyndeton Origin: From the Greek πολυσύνδετος (polysyndetos), meaning “bound together”. In plain English: The repetition of conjunctions such as […]
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