What are rhetorical devices?

Question

If you know, please list some examples.

Answer 1

A rhetorical device is an arrangement of words meant to strengthen one's argument by making it somehow more impressive or persuasive, or by arousing an emotional response in the listener.

Here are a few, with examples:

Exaggeration  (also called hyperbole):  "I've told you a million times";  "You ALWAYS do that."

Similes (comparison of something with another that has a well-known characteristic):   "Brave as a lion," "Quiet as a mouse."

Triplets:  "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness";  "I came, I saw, I conquered";  "Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite";  "Duty.  Honor.  Country."

Antithesis (the juxtaposition of ideas with contrasting meanings):   "To err is human;  to forgive is devine";   "Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more."

Profanity:  "Son of a b*tch."

Argumentum ad hominem:   Finding personal faults in one's opponent, instead of flaws in his argument.

Below are links to listings of over 60 rhetorical devices, together with their definitions and examples.   There are others, and there are also nonverbal devices, like sneers, frowns, and various gestures, like shaking one's fist at someone.

http://www.virtualsalt.com/rhetoric.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhetorical_...

http://www.uky.edu/AS/Classics/rhetoric....