Rhetorica:
Past Conceiving, Fair

By Gabriel Blanchard

Last and least, let rhetoric be clad in fine figures, and we shall send her on her way.

The Regions of the Spheres

The great poet Dante, in his book Il Convivio or “The Banquet,” associated each of the seven liberal arts with one of the seven classical planets: grammar with the Moon, dialectic with Mercury, rhetoric with Venus, arithmetic with the Sun, geometry with Jupiter, music with Mars, and astronomy itself with Saturn. As you can observe, this aligns the ancient goddess of love with rhetoric. Throughout the Rhetorica series, we have been building up this discipline, like the Olympians crafting Pandora, beginning with the innermost heart: We have now reached her outermost and least essential, but not least attractive, charms. If there are two speakers before us, though both may speak equally cogently, we will tend to prefer to listen to the one who speaks well; in fact, so strong is this preference that it tends to sway us even when the one who speaks well is not cogent (which is part of what makes learning and using logic such a crucial skill).

Still, the preference itself is innocent; so long as we are guided by wisdom and temperance, there is nothing wrong with taking pleasure in the “surface level” beauties of rhetoric. This is especially true because, more than any other, rhetoric is a social art, and taking pleasure in its surface beauties means either sharing our own skill with others or appreciating someone else’s.¹ We therefore close out this series with a short look at these surfaces.

Tone

At first glance, this may seem to concern only spoken rhetoric. Once upon a time that was true; however, we’ve invented writing since then, and things have grown more complex. Alternate terms for this include “voice,” which doesn’t clarify much, and “register,” which helps a little more; in linguistics, register indicates the setting in which, and usual subject matter about which, a given word is used or a given grammatical or syntactic form is employed.

Broadly speaking, registers can be sorted into formal versus informal ones—but it immediately gets less simplistic than that. The most obvious registers, because of how much they contrast with our everyday use of language, are the religious and legal registers, which have many distinctive elements and rules. There are many other registers as well, like the business register, the political, the poetic, the academic; there are registers used only or primarily by children, or by people in a given fandom or hobby, and so on.

As this list suggests, registers (and their contents) aren’t watertight, and they often contain subdivisions. The word “thou” is a good example: Nowadays, it is most associated with the religious register in English, because we hear it most often in quotations from the King James Bible or older editions of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer; but “thou” pops up a lot in the poetic register too, while on the other hand, someone most familiar with non-denominational religious expression might never use “thou” in religious contexts. Abruptly switching from one register to another (e.g., “I regret to inform you that we’re hosed”) is generally quite jarring, and the jar can be played either for laughs or to increase discomfort. But the chief thing to remember about register is to learn to recognize how to match registers to their contexts and rules, so that you can use the right register in each context—or can, for some specific rhetorical purpose, intentionally break the rules of the register.

If we were going to discuss stance, gesture, tone and volume of voice, etc., this would also be the place to do it. However, discussing those without being able to give examples in real time is beyond the powers of the present author; I would need to be at your house, which I am not (as far as either of us know). We pass, then, to:

Figures of Speech

This is the “tricks of the trade” part of rhetoric—the verbal constructions that immediately strike the listening ear or the reading eye. This list is by no means exhaustive, but a large selection of the commonest and most important figures of speech is below, arranged in categories according to their usual forms or functions. In some cases, examples are given; if the text of the example extends beyond the thing being exemplified (as is sometimes necessary), the relevant part will be underlined.

Elaborately, yea, past conceiving, fair
Since, from the graced decorum of the hair,
Ev'n to the tingling, sweet
Soles of the simple, earth-confiding feet,
And from the inmost heart
Outwards unto the thin
Silk curtains of the skin,
Every least part
Astonish'd hears
And sweet replies to some like region of the spheres.

Coventry K. D. Patmore, "To the Body" ll. 13-22

AMPLIFICATION & ABBREV.

Apostrophe

Apostrophe, simpliciter: speaking as if addressing someone or something not physically present.
Euche: expressing oneself as if in prayer.
Personification: addressing an impersonal, inanimate, or abstract entity as if it were personal.

Expansion

Enumeratio: listing topics, facts, or other elements of a discourse, either before or after relating them in greater detail.
Exemplum: giving an example that illustrates an idea.
Exergasia: re-explaining an idea in different words.
Hendiadys: expressing a single idea in the form “[term] [conjunction] [term],” e.g. “sink or swim” or “Sturm und Drang.”²
Hyperbole (or Exaggeration): overstating an idea.
Parenthesis: an “aside” remark—with or without the punctuation marks so named—that gives additional information or context.
Periphrasis (or Circumlocution): using a longer and normally more indirect expression in place of a simpler one (e.g. “all the sons of Adam” instead of “humanity”).
Pleonasm: using redundant words or phrases (e.g. “burning fire,” “perhaps it’s possible”).
Procatalepsis: raising anticipated objections and pre-emptively answering them.
Syntaxis: a style favoring longer, more complex sentence structures (typically including compound sentences, more subordinate clauses, and more parentheses).

Reference

Allusion: hinting at a widely-known figure, text, event, etc., without directly or fully explaining it.
Mimesis: imitation of another (e.g. “doing an impression”).
Proverb: citing a common saying.
Quotation: directly repeating the words of some famous or authoritative person or text.

Simplification

Abbreviation: using a shortened form of a word or phrase (e.g., e.g.).
Ecphonesis: using a brief exclamatory phrase (e.g., “The very deep did rot: O Christ! / That this should ever be”).
Ellipsis: omission (usually of irrelevant details but sometimes of significant matter), or “trailing off” …

ARRANGEMENT

Anastrophe

Adjunction & Extraposition: placing the verb at the beginning, or at the end, the subject.
Anacoluthon: interrupting one’s own train of expression.
Anastrophe, simpliciter: a change in normal word order (e.g. “This is the kind of nonsense up with which I shall not put”).
Antimetabole: employing the same words in reverse order in successive clauses (e.g. “I meant what I said, and I said what I meant“).
Hypallage: exchanging the grammatical or syntactic roles of at least two words (e.g., “her beauty’s face astonished me”).
Hyperbaton: separating two grammatical or syntactic elements normally found together.
Hysteron Proteron: placing what is, by logic or syntax, the last element of a phrase or clause at the beginning.

Climax

Anabasis: mounting up to an idea with greater and greater emphasis.
Catabasis: coming down to an idea with lighter and lighter emphasis.
Hypotaxis: a style with an uneven distribution of longer, more complex sentences and brief, simpler ones (the latter will naturally receive more emphasis).
Paraprosdokian: abrupt redirection of a train of expression away from an anticipated conclusion (e.g., the conclusion of the poem “Richard Cory”).
Pausis: abrupt silence in the middle of a train of expression (occasionally, even in the middle of a word).

Symmetry

Asyndeton & Polysyndeton: omitting conjunctions (usually in a list), or including unnecessary ones (e.g. “X and Y and Z” instead of “X, Y, and Z”).
Chiasmus: a pattern in grammar, story structure, etc., in which similar elements form an ABBA pattern.
Parallelism: using the same grammatical or thematic pattern in successive phrases (e.g., “Let the extortioner catch all that he hath: and let the strangers spoil his labor,” Psalm 109:11).
Parataxis: a style favoring shorter, simpler sentences, usually without subordinate clauses or parentheses.

COMPARISON

Analogy

Metaphor: relating two things by referring to one as the other.
Parable: relating two things by setting forth a symbolic story without explicitly stating within the story what symbol aligns with what.
Simile: relating two things by saying explicitly that one is similar to the other.

Apposition

Antithesis: setting forth two terms or ideas as opposites of each other.
Correlation: setting forth two ideas as naturally tied together (e.g. “Where you go, I go” or “if expenses go down, profits go up”).
Oxymoron: a word or phrase that is self-contradictory on the surface but communicates a surprising or amusing truth (e.g. “sophomore,” which comes from Gr. σοφός [sofos] “wise” + μωρός [mōros] “stupid”).
Paradox: a self-contrasting statement (e.g. “To keep peace, we must prepare for war”).

IRONY

Apophasis

Ambiguity: using vocabulary, grammar, or syntax in a pattern allowing two or more interpretations (e.g. the reputed Russian proverb “Humans are not pigs; they’ll eat anything”).
Apophasis, simpliciter: not mentioning something when one would be expected to, usually as a way of subtly drawing attention to what is not being said.
Innuendo (or Adianoeta³): a form of ambiguity in which a statement has an obvious meaning that is socially acceptable, and an alternate interpretation which would be unacceptably offensive or vulgar.
Litotes: describing something by negating what it is not (e.g. “He is not without accomplishment” to describe an accomplished person).
Paralepsis: mentioning something by stating that one will not mention it (e.g. “I do not say that thou hast received bribes of thy fellows, I busy myself not in this thing”).
Subreption: using language that conceals or nullifies the real importance or relevance of what it refers to.

Sarcasm

Accismus: feigned refusal of something desired (e.g. “you shouldn’t have” in response to a gift).
Antanagoge: describing a negative thing in positive terms or manner (e.g. “We’re ruined!” in a cheerful tone of voice).
Catachresis⁴ (or Malapropism): using a similar-sounding but incorrect word in a context where a different word is clearly meant (e.g. “epitaph” in place of epithet).
Dysphemism: an unpleasant expression for something innocuous; or, an ostensible euphemism that is even worse than the omitted term or phrase.
Erotema (or Rhetorical Question): a question in grammatical form, but which does not require nor expect an answer.
Humblebragging: expressing a boast in ostensibly humble terms (e.g. “I really need to acknowledge how blessed I am with being so intelligent”).
Meiosis (or Understatement): describing something in terms that are obviously far weaker or less definite than called for (e.g. “On the fifth day he died, thus confirming the general impression that he must have been unwell”).
Paradiastole: a description that reframes a vice as a virtue (e.g. “Of course it doesn’t work when you need it to—what would be the fun of that?”)

Socratic Devices

Aphorismus (or Distinctio): questioning the meaning of a term, either for general purposes or in context (often as a way of implying it is being used subreptively).
Aporia: expression of doubt (real or feigned).
Correctio: self-correction of a statement, either immediate or delayed.

RESONANCE

Heterophony

Cacophony: a string of unattractive, clashing sounds.
Dysrhythmia: breaking an established rhythm of speech or writing, especially abruptly.
Syncope: omitting one or more syllables or letters from a word.
Tmesis: interrupting a wo

Homophony

Alliteration: similar sounds at the beginning of several words used close together.
Assonance: similar vowel sounds used close together or at a key point in a poetic line or prosodic phrase.
Consonance: similar consonantal sounds used close together or at a key point in a poetic line or prosodic phrase.
Psittacism: parrot-like repetition of a word.
Rhyme: identical or near-identical last vowel and closing consonant sounds among multiple words used close together or at a key point in a poetic line or prosodic phrase.
Rhythm: a pattern of stresses that is at least somewhat regular over a series of phrases or clauses.⁵

Repetitio

Anadiplosis: repeating the final word or phrase of a previous clause.
Anaphora: repeating the initial word or phrase of a previous clause.
Epanalepsis: using a word or phrase at the end of one clause to begin the next clause.
Epistrophe: using the same word or phrase to complete a series of phrases.⁶
Epizeuxis: repeating a word or phrase for emphasis.
Mesodiplosis: repeating a word or phrase in the middle of successive clauses.
Symploce: using anadiplosis and anaphora together.
Tautology: tautology is tautology.

SUBSTITUTION

Diminution

Colloquialism: using a casual term or phrase for an idea or entity.
Hypocorism: using childish or affectionate terms for something.

Elevation

Archaism: using old-fashioned or obsolete language (e.g. “thou” for you).
Aureation: using “gilded” language about something (often involving periphrasis and longer, rarer, or more difficult words), in deference to its greatness or goodness.
Euphemism: a neutral pleasant way to refer to something unattractive (e.g., “water closet” for toilet).
Illeism: referring to oneself in the third person, or employing plural pronouns for a singular referent (e.g. the “royal ‘we'”).
Jargon: using the technical terminology of a specialized field.
Kenning: a poetic expression for something, usually in the form of a periphrasis.

Metonymy

Holonymy: referring to a part of something by a name for the whole (e.g. “the government has imposed tariffs” to allude to a specific branch and office of the government imposing tariffs).
Meronymy: referring to the whole of something by a name for a part.
Synecdoche: referring to something by an associated term or object (e.g. referring to a monarchy as “the crown”).
Toponymy: synecdoche specifically using an associated place (e.g. referring to the Russian state or government as “the Kremlin”).

Transignification

Anthimeria: using one part of speech as if it were another (e.g. verbing a noun).
Antanaclasis (or Pun): using the same word in different senses, or playing on a word’s multiple senses to create a double meaning (e.g. “time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana”).

The Last Word

This can be a good thing to get, because audiences usually remember the end of a speech or essay best; for that very reason, it can also be a courteous thing to give away. Unfortunately, the Rhetorica series, since it has been in the form of a monologue, is not really in a position to give away its last word, so the present author shall use it to thank you all for reading, express his hope that you learned something (which is not a hope that you had fun. He has no truck with that, thank you), and to wish you all a pleasant upcoming weekend.

¹It is tempting, at this juncture, to add something to the effect of And if people are going to be swayed by bad means anyway, we might as well have those on the right side, right? However, please note that the present author uses that word, “tempting,” with its full force of meaning. To yield to this temptation is fatal. For the terrible thing about the means we use to achieve any end is that they are infectious—they drag in the moral logic required to make them work; after all, they won’t work otherwise. And once we begin to operate on that basis, spiritually speaking, the rot has already set in. What high goal we originally let it in for makes no difference whatsoever. That rot must be cut out, like gangrenous tissue, or it will devour our whole organism.
²Sturm und Drang is a German phrase literally meaning “storm and stress”; it was used in the latter half of the eighteenth century to denote an artistic and literary movement, primarily in the German-speaking world, which was a forerunner of Romanticism.
³Another term for this device is “double entendre,” though both it and “innuendo” tend to suggest a lewd secondary meaning (a connotation the word “adianoeta” does not carry). This device, under whatever name, is closely related to subtext; the term “subtext” tends to indicate innuendo extending over a very long passage, potentially even an entire work.
⁴That is, this is catachresis when done on purpose. When done accidentally, “solecism” or “barbarism” are usual terms in the academic register for this kind of mistake.
⁵Rhythm resembles and is akin to meter in poetry; however, if a text has meter, then (by definition) what we are dealing with is poetry, not prose.
⁶This may seem identical with anadiplosis; however, anadiplosis distributes the repetition between clauses (the basis of the complete sentence, with both a subject and a verb), whereas epistrophe can be and often is used for phrases within a clause. A good example appears at the end of the Gettysburg Address, where Lincoln says that “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”: this is epistrophe but not anadiplosis, because there is only one clause.

Gabriel Blanchard is a freelance author contracting with CLT. He lives in Baltimore, MD.

Thank you for reading the CLT Journal. If you’d like to explore the rest of the content we have here, we recommend starting from our topical index of our “Great Conversation” series, reviewing the many recurring themes in the history of our intellectual tradition.

Published on 7th August, 2025. Page image of a mosaic found in the remains of the Roman city of Volubilis in modern Morocco: It depicts Diana being discovered bathing by Actæon. Photo by Wikimedia contributor Prioryman, made available under a CC BY-SA 3.0 license (source).

Rhetorica:Past Conceiving, Fair