Paronomasia is a type of play on words. It involves the use of words that are similar in sound or appearance but different in meaning, like “blue” and “blew.”
Because of the possible interpretations, paronomasia creates ambiguous, funny, or thought-provoking sentences. Due to this, we often encounter it in comedy, theatrical plays, and news headlines.
Paronomasia example“Baking Bad: Police say edible forms of pot hit new high”—this headline about the increase in edible marijuana consumption uses paronomasia twice.
“Bake” or “baked” is a slang term for drug intoxication, and “baking” sounds like “breaking,” an allusion to Breaking Bad, a popular TV series about the illegal drug trade. “High” has a double meaning: it means feeling euphoric due to drugs or something being great in quantity.
An allusionis an indirect reference to a person, event, or literary work that the audience is expected to recognize and understand. Allusions provide a shortcut to more complex ideas. Because of this, they are often used in literature, poetry, and everyday conversations.
Allusion examplesThe new policy might open a box of unknown evils for the government. (a source of unforeseen problems)
He is such a Scrooge with the project budget and gives a hard time to his colleagues. (a stingy character from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol)
Chocolate is my Achilles’ heel. (weakness)
The recent election was a Waterloo for the incumbent governor. (a decisive defeat)
Pathos is an emotional appeal employed to elicit a specific emotional response from an audience. This usually involves feelings of pity, sympathy, or sorrow. The intention is to make an audience feel the way the author or speaker wants them to feel.
Pathos exampleAdvertisements encouraging people to adopt a rescue often show heart-wrenching images of abandoned, injured, or malnourished dogs roaming the streets. These are often juxtaposed with stories of rescued dogs overcoming adversity, accompanied by uplifting music to evoke empathy and compassion from the audience.
“Pathos” is a term mostly used in persuasive speaking and writing, but we also encounter it in literature, film, and advertising.
Foreshadowing provides hints, clues, or indications about what happens later in a story. By preparing readers for future developments, foreshadowing creates anticipation and suspense. This makes it an effective technique used in most types of storytelling, including novels, plays, and movies.
Foreshadowing definition literature“My life were better ended by their hate,
Than death proroguèd, wanting of thy love.”
In these lines from Romeo and Juliet (Act 2, Scene 2), Romeo declares that he would rather die at the hands of Julia’s family, the Capulets, than live without her. These words foreshadow the events leading to their deaths: they take their lives due to their families’ feud.
Enjambment is when a sentence or phrase spans over more than one line of poetry. Because of this, a thought or idea carries on from one line to the next without a pause or punctuation mark at the end of the line.
Enjambment can affect the rhythm and pace of a poem.
Enjambment example: “Theme in Yellow” by Carl SandburgI spot the hills
With yellow balls in autumn.
I light the prairie cornfields
Orange and tawny gold clusters
And I am called pumpkins.
On the last of October
When dusk is fallen
Children join hands
And circle round me
Singing ghost songs
And love to the harvest moon;
I am a jack-o’-lantern
With terrible teeth
And the children know
I am fooling.
Enjambment can be found in different types of poems, including haikus, sonnets, and free verse.
Logosis an appeal to an audience’s sense of logic and rationality and usually involves objective facts and figures. With the use of solid evidence, the speaker or writer can support their argument and persuade their audience or readers.
Logos exampleBecause firearms are potentially lethal, only responsible, mature, and trained individuals should be permitted to own and handle them. Therefore, children, lacking maturity and understanding, should not have access to firearms.
“Logos” is a term mostly used in persuasive speaking and writing, including political speeches, marketing, and legal arguments.
Ethos is a persuasive technique in which individuals rely on their credibility or character to sway others. When someone comes across as trustworthy, we are receptive to their message. Due to this, speakers and writers strive to impress upon us that they have authority on the subject matter and sincerity and, therefore, are worth listening to.
ExamplesA politician is speaking to an audience of blue-collar workers and emphasizes his experience working a factory job. He establishes common ground with the workers and showcases that he understands their challenges and concerns.
You may come across ethos in various contexts where persuasion and argumentation are involved, including politics, advertising, and legal proceedings.
Published on
June 25, 2024
by
Paige Pfeifer, BA
Revised on
August 13, 2024
Verbosity is the quality of being excessively wordy in writing or speech. Verbose sentences can always be made shorter and simpler.
Verbosity example“If you really want to know, I’m late today because I forgot to lock my front door and I had to go all the way back after I had already left for work, and then I drove over a nail in the road, which gave me a flat tire, and roadside assistance didn’t come for another hour.”
A concise version of this sentence would be, “I’m late because I got a flat tire.”
“Verbosity” comes from the Latin word verbosus, which means wordy.
A mixed metaphor is a figure of speech that combines two incompatible metaphors into one comparison.
Mixed metaphors are often unintentional. When writers intentionally use them, they often signal their use (e.g., “excuse the mixed metaphor”).
Mixed metaphor examplesThe light of our love is a candle burning in the dark. If we cling to it, it will save us from the roughest seas. [Love is compared to a candle in the first sentence and a life preserver in the second]
Children are little sponges, soaking up knowledge. One day, they will blossom into flowers of wisdom. [Children are compared to sponges in the first sentence and seeds in the second]
The rhetorical triangle is a tool for organizing the three elements of rhetoric according to Aristotle. These elements, known as ethos, pathos, and logos, are often depicted as a triangle with logos at the top and ethos and pathos at the bottom corners.
The purpose of the triangle is to remind writers and speakers that a well-developed argument typically balances all three elements.
