Rhetorical devices that actually work
Devices are tools, not decoration. Each one does a job: build rhythm, create contrast, make an idea stick.
Part of your national curriculum
- Writing: Write for a wide range of purposes and audiences, selecting and organising ideas and information appropriately
- Grammar and vocabulary: Study the effectiveness and impact of the grammatical features of the texts they read
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Use rhetorical devices for effect
Key learning points
- • The useful few
- • Effect, not label
This lesson at a glance
- 25 minutes
- 9 parts to scroll through
- 3 quick checks
- Marked quiz at the end
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
Watch & discover
Part 1 of 9
Watch first
Rhetorical devices that actually work
An English teaching video on this topic from Learn on the Go . Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.
In a nutshell
Use rhetorical devices for effect
Explore the idea
Part 2 of 9
Learn
The useful few
Tricolon (three-part list) builds rhythm. Anaphora (repeated openings) builds pressure. Antithesis sets two ideas against each other. Direct address pulls the reader in.
Explore the idea
Part 3 of 9
Learn
Effect, not label
In analysis, never stop at naming the device. Say what it does to the reader and why the writer chose it there.
Quick check
Part 4 of 9
Quick check
A three-part list is a…
Quick check
Part 5 of 9
Quick check
Anaphora means repeating…
Quick check
Part 6 of 9
Quick check
Strong analysis explains…
Challenge round
Part 7 of 9
Game · Sort it
Which of these are true?
Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.
True
Not true
Mastery quiz
Part 8 of 9
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: Rhetorical devices that actually work
4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. You are writing a letter to a council asking for a new crossing. Which opening best suits the audience and purpose?
2. A three-part list is a…
3. Anaphora means repeating…
4. Strong analysis explains…
Lesson round-up
Part 9 of 9
Lesson round-up
Ready when you are
Quiz score
Not sat
Games
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Points this lesson
0
Best run
0 in a row
Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?
Ask LunaDo the work
Your written work for this lesson
This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.
The last bus
The bus shelter smelled of wet coats. Mira pressed her timetable flat against the glass, as though staring at the numbers might make the 9:42 appear. Rain tapped the roof in small, impatient fingers. Somewhere behind her, a shop shutter came down with a sound like a full stop.
She had been brave all day. She had been brave in the corridor, brave at lunch, brave when the register reached her name and nobody looked up. Being brave, she decided, was mostly a matter of keeping your face still.
Headlights swung around the corner and lit the puddles gold. Mira picked up her bag. Tomorrow she would say something. Tonight she would simply go home.
Original extract written for Good Learning Co.
Reading questions
- Find two words or phrases that show how Mira is feeling, and explain what each one suggests.
- How does the writer use the weather and the sounds to build the mood? Use a short quotation.
- Write the next paragraph in the same style, keeping the writer's short sentences at the moments that matter.
Reading response
ReadingRead the extract again, then write about how the writer makes you feel that way. Use a short quotation and explain your choice of words.
2 paragraphs (PEE)
Extended writing
WritingWrite your piece in full, then redraft the opening so it hooks the reader.
250–350 words
Reading log
ReadingNote the book, the pages you read and one thing you noticed about the writing.
20 minutes' reading
Saved as you type.
Part 1 of 9 · Watch & discover
How this is going
- Not looked at yet
Write for a wide range of purposes and audiences, selecting and organising ideas and information appropriately
- Not looked at yet
Study the effectiveness and impact of the grammatical features of the texts they read