Amplification

Amplification is a stylistic device of accumulating homogeneous linguistic means (synonyms, epithets, similes, syntactic constructions of the same type) for the sake of a comprehensive disclosure, reinforcement or emotional intensification of a thought. Amplification, as it were, "unfolds" the image, surveying it from different sides and gradually building up expressiveness, and is therefore closely linked to gradation and syntactic parallelism. This device lends speech fullness, sweep and pathos, and is therefore characteristic of the oratorical style, the solemn ode, epic and civic poetry. Excessive amplification, however, may lead to verbosity, so mastery lies in the appropriateness of each accumulated element. Amplification is an important means of expressive syntax and the rhetorical organisation of a text.