Rhetorical Devices

Rhetorical Devices www.americanrhetoric.com Anaphora Anaphora (an-NAF-ruh): Figure of repetition that occurs when the first word or set of words in one sentence, clause, or phrase is/are repeated at or very near the beginning of successive sentences, clauses, or phrases; repetition of the initial word(s) over successive phrases or clauses. Anaphora example • "What we need in the United States is not division. What we need in the United States is not hatred. What we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness; but is love and wisdom and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country whether they be white or whether they be black." • -- Robert F. Kennedy, Announcing the death of Martin Luther King Epistrophe (eh-PISS-truh-FEE): • Figure of repetition that occurs when the last word or set of words in one sentence, clause, or phrase is repeated one or more times at the end of successive sentences, clauses, or phrases. Epistrophe example • "I said you're afraid to bleed. [As] long as the white man sent you to Korea, you bled . He sent you to Germany, you bled . He sent you to the South Pacific to fight the Japanese, you bled . You bleed for white people. But when it comes time to seeing your own churches being bombed and little black girls be[ing] murdered, you haven't got no blood." • -- Malcolm X, Message to the Grassroots Another example • "Booze sold to a preacher or a high school girl has the same effect as when it's sold to an automobile thief , or a horse thief ." • -- Billy Sunday, Booze Antithesis • Antithesis (an-TIH-theh-sis): Figure of balance in which two contrasting ideas are intentionally juxtaposed, usually through parallel structure ; a contrasting of opposing ideas in adjacent phrases, clauses, or sentences. Antithesis Example • Ex : "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose" • -- Jim Elliot • Ex : Lloyd Braun: "Serenity now; insanity later." • -- from Seinfeld episode "The Serenity Now" Antithesis Example • "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character . I have a dream today!" -- Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have a Dream Antithesis Example • "...although the surface appears to be...very, very fine-grained as you get close to it. It's almost like a powder...Okay, I'm going to step off the LEM now. That's one small step for [a] man ; one giant leap for mankind." -- Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11 Moon Landing Speech Asyndeton • Asyndeton (a-SIN-dih-tawn): Figure of omission in which normally occurring conjunctions (and, or, but, for, nor, so, yet) are intentionally omitted in successive phrases, or clauses; a string of words not separated by normally occurring conjunctions. Asyndeton example • "Be one of the few, the proud , the Marines ." –Marine Corps Advertisement • - "When we listen to the better angels of our nature, we find that they celebrate the simple things , the basic things -- such as goodness, decency, love , kindness ." -- Richard Nixon, Inaugural Address Polysyndeton • Polysyndeton (paulee-SIN-dih-tawn) : Figure of addition and emphasis which intentionally employs a series of conjunctions (and, or, but, for, nor, so, yet) not normally found in successive words, phrases, or clauses; the deliberate and excessive use of conjunctions in successive words or clauses. Polysyndeton example • Oh, my piglets, we are the origins of war -- not history's forces, nor the times, nor justice, nor the lack of it, nor causes, nor religions, nor ideas, nor kinds of government -- not any other thing. We are the killers." -- delivered by Katherine Hepburn (from the movie The Lion in Winte r) Parallelism • Parallelism : Figure of balance identified by a similarity in the syntactical structure of a set of words in successive phrases, clauses, sentences; successive words, phrases, clauses with the same or very similar grammatical structure. This figure often occurs public address with others such as antithesis, anaphora , asyndeton , climax . Parallelism example action verb, adj. any, direct object • "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price , bear any burden , meet any hardship , support any friend , oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty." • -- John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address Parallelism example • "We have seen the state of our Union in the endurance of rescuers, working past exhaustion. We've seen the unfurling of flags , the lighting of candles , the giving of blood , the saying of prayers -- in English, Hebrew, and Arabic." • George W. Bush, 9-20-01 Address to the Nation on Terrorism Parallelism with Anaphora • "We have petitioned and our petitions have been scorned . We have entreated and our entreaties have been disregarded . We have begged and they have mocked when our calamity came. We beg no longer . We entreat no more . We petition no more . We defy them." -- William Jennings Bryan • Note here that the first three sentences comprise the first parallelism used in conjunction with anaphora . The the next three sentences constitute a second parallelism also in conjunction with anaphora. Paradox • –noun 1. a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. • 2. a self-contradictory and false proposition. • 3. any person, thing, or situation exhibiting an apparently contradictory nature. • 4. an opinion or statement contrary to commonly accepted opinion. Paradox • "When I seem fullest, I'm often hungry." • What is the hidden truth behind this paradox? • Standing is more tiring than walking. litotes • li-to'-tees from Gk litos , "plain, small, meagre" Also sp. lyptote , liptoteantenantiosis diminutio (deminutio), extenuatiothe moderatour • Deliberate understatement, especially when expressing a thought by denying its opposite. The Ad Herennium author suggests litotes as a means of expressing modesty (downplaying one's accomplishments) in order to gain the audience's favor (establishing ethos ). • Examples It isn't very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain. —J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye Litotes More examples • understatement, esp . that in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary, as in “not bad at all.” • Simple examples: • Not bad. • I do not find the offer to be unattractive. • Running a marathon in under two hours is no small accomplishment Litotes More examples • "I was not a little surprised," would be litotes, especially if we knew the speaker had practically jumped out of his skin, because the speaker was the opposite of a little surprised. So litotes does not HAVE to be a double negative, but it does have to be the opposite of the opposite. • litotes is a type of understatement, but it is more specific. In litotes you must deny the opposite of the thing being affirmed. • "Einstein is not stupid," is litotes. (What is being affirmed is that he is smart, and that statement denies ("not") the opposite (stupid). • "Einstein is a pretty smart guy," is merely an understatement. • Litotes is "a form of ironical understatement that affirms something be stating the negative of its opposite. For example, to say 'She is no fool' instead of "She is shrewd" is to use litotes. Meiosis , a near synonym, employs understatement to give the idea that something is less important or smaller than it really is: 'That was a pretty good movie.'" (from NTC's Dictionary of Literary Terms by Kathleen Morner and Ralph Rausch) Meiosis example: "A nuclear weapon attack puts a damper on a nice luncheon," would be meiosis. Chiasmus • chi·as·mus • ka æz m əs/ [kahy-az-muh s] • a reversal in the order of words in two otherwise parallel phrases, as in “He went to the country, to the town went she.” • A rhetorical inversion of the second of two parallel structures Chiasmus Example • "Never let a fool kiss you or a kiss fool you." Epithet • Source: Abrams's Glossary of Literary Terms • "EPITHET ... denotes an adjective or adjectival phrase used to define the special quality of a person or thing... Homeric epithets are adjectival terms – usually a compound of two words... We often use fixed, or 'conventional' epithets in identifying historical or literary figures; for example, Charles the Great, Lorenzo the Magnificent, Patient Griselda" Epithet examples… • Examples: Richard the Lion-Hearted, wily Odysseus, prudent Penelope, Crooner Sinatra, Alexander the Great, Orphan Annie, The Windy City, etc. • Othello, the Moor of Venice” • Kilimanjaro “The Cold One” and “The Big One.” • BEOWULF = the Geats' king Epithet • Equiano’s slave narrative • Nominal Christians • Epithet applies if the word or phrase is used as an adjective to characterize the person or thing: "Poseidon, Earthshaker" or "wine-dark sea." These are often repeated throughout the work, especially in epic poetry example of antimetabole in • "Although we are what we do, what we do is not all that we are." Kathleen Parker's column 5/12/10 • "Nothing works, but everything might work." (spoken about education)Diane Ravitch • Appositive applies if the sentence has a noun or noun phrase that explains or renames a noun in a sentence (it could actually take the place of the noun): "Denver, the capital of Colorado" or "the dragonfly, an insect with gossamer wingsAppositive and greedy applies if the appetite, is often misunderstood." •.

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