Page 1 of 7 Rhetorical Devices Except in the most plain expository or report writing, authors hardly ever just state facts in plain, unadorned language. The following rhetorical devices, or figures of speech, are used to add interest to writing and even to create new insights, or ways of seeing things. Skilled writers will use these devices in moderation or abundance, depending on the literary genre or form in which they are writing. Increase your enjoyment and understanding by recognizing these devices when you see them in written passages. The following is a partial list of some of the more important rhetorical devices. Major Rhetorical Devices English Term Spanish Term Explanations and Examples conceit concepto A far-fetched comparison of two things normally considered dissimilar Toda la vida es sueño, y los sueños, sueños son. Calderón de la Barca, La Vida es Sueño I have been studying how I may compare this prison where I live unto the world. Shakespeare, Richard II hyperbole hipérbole A deliberate overstatement or exaggeration used to drive home a point. Ya se lo he dicho un millón de veces. If anyone comes to me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:26 irony ironía The use of words with the opposite of their usual and expected meanings, sometimes with an edge of sarcasm. - Qué plato es este, señor? - Es de culebras y víboras - Excelente plato! metaphor metáfora A comparison of two different things by speaking of one in terms of the other. Unlike a simile, a metaphor asserts that one thing is another thing, not just that one is like another. The mind is but a barren soil; a soil which is soon exhausted and will produce no crop, or only one, unless it be continually fertilized and enriched with foreign matter. --Joshua Reynolds La inteligencia libre de pasiones es una verdadera ciudadela. --Marco Aurelio metonymy metonimia A form of metaphor (see above) in which the thing
Page 2 of 7 chosen for the metaphorical image is closely related to the thing to which it is compared. You can't fight city hall (meaning the bureaucrats who work there) Ella es mi brazo derecho. Ese museo tiene dos Grecos y un Velázquez (referring to the paintings rather than the painters). oxymoron oxímoron The juxtaposition (placing of two words) that normally contradict each other, to express a comical, paradoxical or ironic situation The living dead A funeral of modest magnificence Esta divina prisión del amor con que yo vivo Santa Teresa de Jesús personification personificación Metaphorical representation of an animal or an inanimate object as if it had human qualities. The ship began to creak and protest as it struggled against the rising sea. rhetorical question pregunta retórica Empieza el llanto de la guitarra. La Guitarra, Federico García Lorca A question whose answer is already implied and is not intended to be answered. The intent usually to press a point or to provoke further discussion. For if we lose the ability to perceive our faults, what is the good of living on? Marcus Aurelius Acaso soy guarda de mi hermano? Genesis 4:9 simile símil A direct comparison of two things that resemble each other in some way. This device generally uses "like" or "as" in English, como in Spanish. The soul in the body is like a bird in a cage. And money is like muck, not good except it be spread. Francis Bacon Tenía el cuello largo como un avestruz symbol símbolo The use of one thing to stand for or represent another without making an explicit or implied verbal comparison as is done with metaphor and simile. For example, in
Page 3 of 7 understatemen t lítote / eufemismo fables such as those of Aesop, La Fontaine, or Iriarte, each animal and person symbolizes a concept or character trait. In La Fontaine's famous fable of the grasshopper and the ant, the grasshopper represents laziness and the ant represents industry. In most literary works, the symbolism is not as obvious as it is in simple fables, and a great deal of the enjoyment of such works consists of discovering the symbolic meaning behind the literal elements of the narrative. To deliberately expresses an idea as less important than it actually is, either for ironic emphasis or for politeness and tact. Last week I saw a woman flayed, and you will hardly believe how much it altered her person for the worse. Jonathan Swift Use of this rhetorical device for humorous or ironic effect is less common in Spanish than in English, where it seems to flourish almost as a part of our culture. However, understatement does occur often in Spanish in the form of a lítote, in which one softens an affirmation by denying the opposite of that affirmation. Vuestra hija no se morirá si la casamos. Cervantes
Page 4 of 7 Connecting Words and Phrases Study these connectors very carefully. They are crucial for understanding the structural relationships between the sentences and paragraphs of a written text. a fin de que a la vez que a menos que a no ser que a partir del momento en que a pesar de a propósito además ahora bien al contrario al mismo tiempo antes de que apenas así que aun cuando aunque cada vez que claro como con el objeto de que con tal de que dado que de hecho de modo/manera/forma que de ninguna manera de tal modo que de tal manera que debido a que desde luego después de que efectivamente el hecho es que empero en cambio en cuanto en efecto en fin en realidad en resumen en suma in order that at the same time that / while unless unless beginning at the time when / from the moment that in spite of by the way in addition now then (emphasis) on the contrary at the same time before barely (Apenas había llegado cuando ) so (resuming the train of thought) although / even though although / even though each time that of course since / because (used typically at beginning of sentence) in order that / for the purpose that provided that / on the condition that since / because (used typically at beginning of sentence) in fact so (resuming train of thought, suggesting that what comes after follows logically from what came before) in no way / absolutely not in such a way that in such a way that since / because (used typically at beginning of sentence) of course / it goes without saying after indeed, in fact (not "effectively," which is a false cognate) that fact is that however (highly formal) on the other hand as soon as / the moment that (Saldremos en cuanto llegue María) indeed, in fact (not "in effect," which is a false cogante) well (to sum up) in reality in short / to sum up in short / to sum up
Page 5 of 7 en vista de que entonces es más es que excepto que no bien no obstante pese a poco después de que por consiguiente por ejemplo por el contrario por eso por esta razón por lo demás por lo tanto por más que por otra parte por supuesto que porque pues puesto que realmente salvo que si si bien siempre que siempre y cuando sin embargo tan pronto como total y eso que ya que since / because then (Entonces podemos ver que ) in addition, what's more I'm telling you that / the fact is that (colloquial way of asserting the truth of something) except that / save that the moment that / as soon as (No bien llegaron los Arciniego, se puso alegre la fiesta.) nevertheless / notwithstanding in spite of a short time after therefore for example on the contrary that's why for this reason / this is why aside from that therefore no matter how much on the other hand of course because well (can be translated numerous ways, generally indicates that what comes after follows logically from what went before) since / because really except that / save that intensifier. Difficult to translate but very important in colloquial language to forcefully remind the hearer of important information that has been overlooked. (-- Dígale a ese señor que levante esa caja. -- Pero si tiene ochenta años!) even though / while / though it's true that provided that / whenever provided that / on the condition that nevertheless / however as soon as when used at the beginning of a sentence, it's a colloquial way of saying "to sum up" despite the fact that since / because
Page 6 of 7 Handling Unfamiliar Vocabulary When you come across words that you don't know in a reading selection, keep in mind the following principles. If You're Taking the Test, Don't Waste Time! Try to apply, as quickly and efficiently as possibly, the techniques described below. If you can't come up with the correct meaning within a few seconds, move on. The overall context of the passage might reveal the meaning, or you might not even need to know the meaning of the word to answer the test questions. If You're Not Taking the Test, Take Your Time! Time that you spend discovering the meaning of new words is one of the best investments that you can make in developing your Spanish language skills. Look up the word in dictionaries, try to find it in other contexts (perhaps with a Web search), and analyze it in terms of cognates, etymology (roots and affixes) and context. You will find excellent resources for researching and building vocabulary in the Check It Out activity of this Study Plan, Resources for Building Vocabulary Look for Cognates. Thousands of Spanish words are similar in appearance to English words, and mean the same thing. But look out for false cognates! You will find a more extensive discussion of cognates in the separate Print Tutorial that deals with that subject. Sometimes the use of cognates requires a little bit of reasoning and deduction, not just matching English and Spanish words. For example, if you ran across the word pugna in a document, and you remembered that in English a "pugnacious" person is someone who likes to fight, you could deduce that pugna means "fight" or "conflict." Analyze the Roots and Affixes If you are familiar with the historical roots of Spanish and with the prefixes and suffixes that we use to modify the meanings of those roots, you can sometimes arrive at the meaning through analysis. Here's an example: Spanish Example: Foto-sens-ible The word fotosensible can be broken down into three meaningful parts: foto sens, and ible. The root sens derives from the Latin verb sentire (to feel). The prefix foto- relates the word to the concept of light, and the suffix -ible, like the same suffix in English words, conveys the idea of able to. Thus, this word describes something that is able to perceive (or feel ) light, such as photographic film, and has the same meaning of the related English word photosensitive. You can find more extensive discussions of Latin and Greek word roots, and prefixes and suffixes, in the Exploration Activates Vocabulary Recognition 1 and Vocabulary Recognition 2, respectively.
Page 7 of 7 Read the Word in Context Even after you have learned many of the historical roots of Spanish words and have memorized a great many others that can t be determined from root words, you will still run across words that you don t know. However, by combining your knowledge of root words with a careful analysis of the context, you can often make an educated guess as to the meaning of a word. Let s look at two examples. Nuevo México es uno de esos lugares que nos remontan a la época de la colonización española. Suppose that you don t know the meaning of the verb remontar. You might know, or can probably make an educated guess, that época refers to an epoch or era of time. Thus, you could roughly translate the sentence in your mind as follows: New Mexico is one of those places that us to the era of Spanish colonization. Now, by analyzing a bit the word remontar in its context, you can begin to approximate the meaning. The prefix re- often conveys the meaning of repeating or going back. For instance, consider words like retorno and regresar. You might know that montar means to mount, including the idea of mounting a horse or other form of transportation. So, in the context, it makes sense to think about being taken back or transported in time to the era of Spanish colonization. Summary You can greatly enhance your understanding and enjoyment of Spanish texts by learning how to: recognize and understand the rhetorical devices used by skilled writers to reate impact and insight perceive the rhetorical structure of a passage by recongnizing the connective language that holds the text together recognize and acquire new vocabulary in reading passages