Figures of Address & Emotion
Figures that involve direct address, emotional exclamation, or dramatic breaks in speech for persuasive or expressive effect.
7 figures across 2 subcategories
Direct Address
Figures that speak to or through persons, abstractions, or imagined voices.
O [absent entity]! — dramatic direct address away from audience
Turning from the immediate audience to address an absent person, abstract concept, or object directly, as a dramatic gesture.
Non-speaker given a voice — imagined speech
Giving speech or voice to an imaginary, absent, or dead person, or to an abstract quality or inanimate object.
Emotional Expression
Figures that express or provoke strong feeling through dramatic verbal gestures.
Sudden outcry — emotion bursting through speech
A sudden, emphatic outcry expressing strong emotion such as surprise, grief, or indignation.
Sentence cut short — unfinished for dramatic effect
A sudden breaking off of speech, leaving a statement unfinished, to convey being overcome by emotion, hesitation, or threat.
Dire threat or prophecy of doom — fear as persuasion
A rhetorical expression of doom, threatening dire consequences to compel action or instill fear.
Remember when... — invoking shared memory for emotional effect
Recalling past events or memories to stir emotion, nostalgia, or to establish shared experience.
Let us... / We must... — urgent call to action
An urgent appeal or call to action, exhorting the audience to do something.