Pupils – along with some of their teachers – are often puzzled when it comes to stylistic devices, rhetorical devices, figures of speech, etc. This page aims to shed some light on this subject.
Stylistic Devices? Rhetorical devices?
Generally, style refers to the way in which language is used, while rhetoric is the art of persuation. Style and rhetoric are closely intertwined with each other. Stylistic or rhetorical devices are techniques to make speeches, essays, poems, etc. more interesting or convincing. They evoke certain feelings, images or ideas, or give auxiliary meaning to an utterance. Knowing that there is no consistent definition of “stylistic devices“, let us use the term as an umbrella term for the structure, diction, and figures of speech applied in a text. (Often stylistic devices are called rhetorical devices.)
Structure
Referring to its formal structure “a text is either a novel, a drama, a poem, or some other ‘form’ of literature. However, this term can also refer to the length of lines, stanzas, or cantos in poems, as well as sentences, paragraphs, or chapters in prose. Furthermore, such visible structures as dialogue versus narration are also considered part of formal structure. […] Plot structure refers to the configuration of a plot in terms of its exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution/denouement.” (Wikipedia)
Another aspect is the framework the author uses to organise their train of thought. Sequence/chronological? Description? Cause and effect? Problem – solution? Compare – contrast? Directions? Would you mind more information? Why don’t you take a look at the “Text Structure Signal Questions & Signal Words” chart? The “Text Structure Frames” are really useful, too.
Diction
Diction refers to the kind of words used by the author. “Are they taken from any particular word field – e. g. religion (like “sermon”, “awe”, “devotion”, “pious”) or business (like “credit”, “investment”, “deal”, “contract”, “firm”, “partner”, “profit”)? Does the author use a lot of descriptive adjectives and adverbs (like “sweet”, “glowing”, “hummid”, “tightly”, “shyly”) or verbs of motion (like “jump”, “hobble”, “hop”, “rush”)?” (Freese, Peter [ed.], Previews. Einführungskurs in die gymnasiale Oberstufe. München: Langenscheidt 2001, p. 110.)
Is the language formal or neutral? Is it complex or simple? Vulgar? Inappropriate? Abstract or concrete?
Figures of speech
Often, language is used in an unusual, figurative way. Commonly, those “figures of speech” can be divided into two categories, “schemes” (unusual arrangements of words) and “tropes” (unusual meanings of words). Find more information about topes and schemes on silva rhetoricae and about “Why You Should Know Your Figures” on Figures of Speech Served Fresh. There you can also find another, yet more interesting, compilation of “rhetorical terms“.
Nice site about rethorical devices:
http://www.virtualsalt.com/rhetoric.htm
Hendrik
Here are some Stylistic & Rhetorical Devices in english and german with some technical expressions.
http://www.ego4u.de/de/cram-up/writing/style
http://www.li-go.de/definitionsansicht/rhetorik/rhetorischetextanalysefigurenundtropen.html
nice page for figures and tropes
Chronological/Sequence: (Time/Order) Chronological articles reveal events in a sequence from beginning to end. Words that signal chronological structures include: first, then, next, finally, and specific dates and times.
Cause/Effect: Informational texts often describe cause and effect relationships. The text describes events and identifies or implies causal factors.
Problem/Solution: The text introduces and describes a problem and presents solutions.
Compare/Contrast: Authors use comparisons to describe ideas to readers. Similes, metaphors, and analogies are used in compare/contrast organizational structures.
Description: Sensory details help readers visualize information.
Directions: How-To texts frame the information in a series of directions.
http://www2.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Style01.htm – look at the point “diction”
Here is a link which is unfortunately in German but so well explained that we can’t abstain from it: http://www.teachsam.de/deutsch/d_schreibf/schr_schule/txtanal/txtanal_6_1_2.htm
Schemes and Tropes
Schemes and tropes both have to do with using language in an unusual or “figured” way:
Trope:
An artful deviation from the ordinary or principal signification of a word.
Scheme:
An artful deviation from the ordinary arrangement of words.
Examples
“I work like a slave” [trope: simile]
“I don’t know if I’m working my job or my job, me” [schemes: antimetabole, ellipsis, personification]
Categories of tropes and schemes.
Click on a category to see specific figures of speech, or proceed directly to the tropes page or the schemes pages to see them all. To see other organizational methods for the figures of speech, click here.
Kinds of Tropes:
Reference to One Thing as Another
Wordplay and puns
Substitutions
Overstatement/Understatement
Semantic Inversions
Kinds of Schemes:
Structures of Balance
Change in Word Order
Omission
Repetition
http://www.textetc.com/traditional/diction.html
This is about diction in poetry.
Here s a link to a site with lots and lots of stylistic devices…
http://www.klassenarbeiten.de/oberstufe/leistungskurs/englisch/schreibtechniken/stilmittelstylisticdevices.htm
seems to be made for our course paper :D