Auxesis (ok-see’-sis): (1) Arranging words or clauses in a sequence of increasing force. In this sense, auxesis is comparable to climax and has sometimes been called incrementum. (2) A figure of speech in which something is referred to in terms disproportionately large (a kind of exaggeration or hyperbole). (3) Amplification in general.
(1) First it was a protest, then it was a revolution, now it is a civil war.
70,000 killed and countless victims living in misery: hungry, horrified and maimed. Where’s the Red Line? In Obama’s head? In the bloodstains on the streets of Damascus? On Satan’s tachometer? Or, on the flatlined puffy faces of the UN’s living dead?
(2) The world’s tribulations churn in whirlpools of misery–from Mali to Manhattan spinning in the wake of speedy Catastrophe: Hell’s flagship luxury liner.
The Brochure: “Powered by Greed and commanded by Captain Temerity! Stow your immortal souls below, cast off all hope, and lose the 21st century! Enjoy the cruise–it lasts for eternity!”
Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu).
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Tagged auxesis, climax, current-events, elocutio, example, incrementum, politics, rhetoric, style, Syria, trope
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