Rhetorical devices are used to convey a particular meaning
with the aim of persuasion or provoking an argument about a topic. These devices are
mostly used in an argumentative or oratory environment were eloquence is necessary.
Rhetorical devices are not strongly guided by grammatical mechanics but are mainly
concerned with arrangement, style, delivery, memory and invention. These devices include
sarcasm, metaphors and irony among other constructs. For instance a statement by Abraham
Lincoln when he stated that his political rival "dived down deeper into the
sea of knowledge and come up drier than any other man he knew” is well placed
to show use of rhetorical devices. This statement uses both irony and a metaphor to
persuade the audience that the rival did not benefit from
education.
Literary devices are used to create the
compression of ideas and uniqueness of expression that envelops story in metaphor,
imagery and symbolism. Literary devices are attended to directly in the analysis,
interpretation and appreciation of literature while they indirectly guide, generate and
enhance (foreground) feelings, moods, tones, suspense and expectations for the reader of
literature, which includes theatrical drama and poetry (in poetry, literary devices are
called poetic devices).
Examples of literary devices
include the literary element of plot, which is the sequence of events that determines a
story, and the literary technique of flashback, which reveals plot in an a-chronological
pattern and generates suspense. Mood is another literary element (also called
atmosphere) that governs how a reader responds emotionally to a story and its setting
(compare the mood of Poe's works with the mood of Austen's works). Another example of a
literary device is the literary technique of oxymoron. For instance, in the phrase
“terribly beautiful” the two words are used together to add emphasis but refer to each
others' opposite meaning creating an oxymoron of contradictory
meaning.
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