Address & Argument
Apostrophe
Turning to address someone absent or dead, or something non-human: “O wild West Wind.” The address presents the speaker’s feelings as if the named listener could hear them.
"O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?"
Don't confuse it with Invocation. Direct address speaks to the present audience ('Reader, I married him' sits between the two); invocation is apostrophe petitioning for aid.
Examples
O winter wind, spare the travelers tonight!
The speaker turns to address a nonhuman wind.
Often used alongside this device
Explore devices that often appear in the same passages as apostrophe.
Antithesis 3 Parallelism 3 Rhetorical Question 3 Anaphora 3
The rest of the family
Rhetorical Question Invocation Aphorism Enthymeme Correctio / Epanorthosis Parrhesia Metabasis Amplificatio Aporia Enargeia / Vivid Specificity