The term Rhetoric has came from Greek word ‘Rhetorike‘ meaning ‘Technical art or a rhetor“( rhetor means orator or public spreker). Some other critics also say that the term has came from Latin ‘Rhetorica‘ or ‘Rhetorice‘.

Actually we may say that rhetoric means the art of using language or decorating it well ,and gradually the technique to influence or delight the audience with the verbal or writing skills .It also indicates the art or science of using words effectively or literary composition in both Prose and Verse.

In words of Critic Smith -” art of clear and effective use of language,written or spoken,as the vehicle for the communication of ideas “.

Name the first book on the Subject rhetoric.

The first book on the subject was Aristotle’s Rhetoric which was written sometime before 322 BC or 320 BC.

How Aristotle described rhetoric in his book rhetoric?

In the book rhetoric Aristotle discourse as “the art of discovering all the available means of persuasion in all given case”.

What is the difference between Grammar and Rhetoric?

Grammar gradually is the foundation of basic of all composition, it initially deals with forms and constructions of word and their customary arrangement in phrases and sentences,punctuation and it also gives emphasis on the language sound. while grammer is the matter of such rules and etiquette which ensure the correctness of language ,rhetoric work as the ornament of a sentence or language,and in comparison with grammar ,rhetoric is much hard to learn. Grammar can’t inspire a reader but the proper use of rhetoric can obviously inspire a reader with its megnanimous use and richness of style . Rhetoric is a true art .

Classification of Figure of Speech or Rhetoric

Figures based on Similarity or Resemblance

  • Simile
  • Metaphor
  • Allegory
  • Analogy
  • Fable
  • Parable

Figures based on Association

  • Metonymy
  • Synecdoche
  • Transfered Epithet or Hypallage
  • Allusion

Figures based on contrast or difference

  • Antithesis
  • Oxymoron
  • Epigram
  • Paradox
  • Climax
  • Anti-Climax or Bathos
  • The Condensed Sentence

Figures based on indirectness

  • Innuendo
  • Irony
  • Sarcasm
  • Periphresis or Curcumlocution
  • Euphemism
  • Meiosis or Understatement
  • Litotes

Figures based on Sound

  • Onomatopoeia
  • Pun
  • Alliteration
  • Assonance

Figures based on Construction

  • Introgation or Erotesis
  • Exclamation
  • Chiasmus
  • Hendiadyds
  • Zeugma
  • Asyndeton
  • Polysyndeton
  • Hyperbation
  • Epanaphora or Anaphora

Miscellaneous Figures

  • Tautology
  • Aposiopesis
  • Syllepsis
  • Prolepsis or Anticipation
  • Epistrophe
  • Paraleipsis

Some most important figures of speeches are given below.

Figures based on similarity

Simile

Simile is a figure of speech in which an explicit competition between two different things or ideas are made.

Examples of similes

  • The soul was like a star.
  • Like the dew on the mountain…mountains like the bubble on the fountain,Thou art gone,and for ever.
  • Love swells like the Solat but ebbs like it’s tide.
  • He drinks like a fish and smokes like a chimney
  • yet her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood.
  • Heavy as frost,and deep almost as life.

Metaphor

The word metaphor comes from the Greek word ‘metaphora’ which means carrying a word or term over or beyond.

Greek meta means over or beyond and pherein means to carry or bear.

Metaphor is a figure of speech where there is an implicit competition between two different things or ideas.

Examples of Metaphor

  • He is the pillar of the state.
  • The camel is the ship of the desert.
  • The word is a lamp to my feet.
  • Loliness is young ambition’s ladder
  • I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!

Analogy

The word Analogy has come from the Greek word analogia which means proportion,according to Greek ana means according and logos means ratio.

This figure of speech is half way between a simile and a metaphor.It suggest partial likeness of similarity between things otherwise unlike or dissimilaar.

Examples of Analogy

  • The child is similar to people yet in childhood.
  • The heart is to a man what water-pump is to village.

Allegory

The word allegory is derived from the Greek word ‘allegoria’,which means description of one thing under the guise of another having some resemblance.

in this figure of speech the narrator tries to convey a different meaning from the surface story of the narrative .

Types of Allegory

  1. Historical or Political allegory.
  2. Moral and religious allegory.

Faerie Queene is a great example of allegorical writing.