This section contains a compendium of 200+ brief audio and video clips illustrating 40 different figures of speech.

Most of these figures were constructed, identified, and classified by Greek and Roman teachers of rhetoric in the Classical period.

For each rhetorical device, definitions and examples (text, audio, video) are provided. Audio and video examples are taken from public speeches and sermons, movies, songs, lectures, oral interpretations of literature, and other media events.

Some artifacts have been edited further to make the devices easier to detect. In the interest of diversity, a range of voices and perspectives is included.

TOP 10 FIGURES Anadiplosis Analogy Anaphora Antimetabole Antithesis Asyndeton Distinctio Enumeratio Epistrophe Hypophora

Show Me More Asyndetons

C.S. Lewis: "Forget Psychology. Forget the inside of men's heads. Judge them by their actions. For example, Mr. Whistler is asleep. Now, from that action, I take it that he has no interest in what I have to say. The puzzle is, that being the case, why is he here at all? So, we construct a plot from Mr. Whistler's actions: he comes, he sleeps. Now, Aristotle would say that the next question is not why, but what is Mr. Whistler going to do next? [Mr. Whistler awakens from his slumber.] Good morning, Mr. Whistler. My class is not compulsory, neither are my chairs very comfortable."

Peter Whistler: "Alright, I'm going."

C.S. Lewis: "Thank you. He comes, he sleeps, he goes. So the plot thickens...."

Show Me More Anadiploses

Margaret Thatcher: "Of course our vision and our aims go far beyond the complex arguments of economics, but unless we get the economy right we shall deny our people the opportunity to share that vision and to see beyond the narrow horizons of economic necessity. Without a healthy economy we can’t have a healthy society and without a healthy society the economy won’t stay healthy for long."