Rhetorical Devices

When something is said to figuratively be like something else

• metaphor

• simile

• alliteration

• onomatopoeia

A word that imitates the sound it refers to

• metaphor

• simile

• alliteration

• onomatopoeia

Intentional over-exaggeration

• metaphor

• simile

• hyperbole

• onomatopoeia

When something is said to be like something else

• metaphor

• simile

• alliteration

• onomatopoeia

A complex metaphor or extended simile, a comparison between two similar things

• metaphor

• simile

• alliteration

• analogy

Repeating the same or similar letters at the start of each word

• metaphor

• simile

• alliteration

• onomatopoeia

Casually referencing something that is well known

• metaphor

• allusion

• alliteration

• onomatopoeia

A figure of speech that uses two opposite words together

• oxymoron

• allusion

• alliteration

• onomatopoeia

Using humour to criticise public figures

• oxymoron

• allusion

• satire

• onomatopoeia

Making a statement that seems self-contradictory or impossible but actually makes sense

• oxymoron

• allusion

• satire

• paradox