Rhetorical Devices: What Is Rhetoric?

9/10/2009
1
Adapted from the Web Site
of
James Tomlinson
Rhetorical Devices
What is Rhetoric?
Rhetoric (n) - the art of speaking or writing
effectively. According to Aristotle, rhetoric is "the
ability, in each particular case, to see the available
means of persuasion." He described three main
forms of rhetoric: Ethos, Logos, and Pathos.
Aristotle stated that an arguer must state a claim (or
a proposition) and prove it. The Greek words used
to refer to the proofs are logos (logic), ethos
(credibility), and pathos (emotion).
Logos-Ethos-Pathos
Logos: includes facts, reasons and opinions that are
based on reality.
Logical proof appeals to peoples reason,
understanding, and common sense.
Two main types of logos (logical proofs) are deduction
and induction.
Ethos: materials provided in an argument that help
the audience gain a favorable impression of the
arguer, the group the arguer represents, or the
authorities and experts the arguer cites or quotes
help to create ethos, the credibility of the author.
Logos-Ethos-Pathos
Pathos: Some say that there should be no appeals
to emotion or attempts to arouse the emotions of the
audience in an argument. The idea is that an
argument should appeal only to reason.
Emotional proofs (pathos) are appropriate in
argument when the subject itself is emotional and
when it creates strong feelings.
Especially helpful in debate and persuasive writing.
Most Commonly Used in
Essay Writing and Debate
Types of Rhetorical Devices
Alliteration
Repetition of the initial consonant sounds beginning
several words in sequence.
"....we shall not falter, we shall not fail."
(President G.W. Bush Address to Congress following
9/11)
"Let us go forth to lead the land we love.
(President J. F. Kennedy, Inaugural 1961)
"Veni, vidi, vici.
(Julius Caesar - I came, I saw, I conquered)
9/10/2009
2
Assonance
Repetition of the same vowel sounds in words close
to each other.
"Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.
(The Lord's Prayer)
Its quick soft silver bell beating, beating
(Karl Shapiro, Auto Wreck)
Anadiplosis
(Doubling back") The rhetorical repetition
of one or several words; specifically,
repetition of a word that ends one clause at
the beginning of the next.
"Men in great place are thrice servants:
servants of the sovereign or state; servants
of fame; and servants of business.
(Francis Bacon)
Anaphora
The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of
successive phrases, clauses or lines.
"We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We
shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and
oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and
growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island,
whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the
beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we
shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight
in the hills. We shall never surrender."
(British Prime Minister Winston Churchill during
WWII)
Antistrophe
Repetition of the same word or phrase at the end of
successive clauses.
"In 1931, ten years ago, Japan invaded Manchukuo
-- without warning. In 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia
-- without warning. In 1938, Hitler occupied
Austria -- without warning. In 1939, Hitler invaded
Czechoslovakia -- without warning. Later in 1939,
Hitler invaded Poland -- without warning. And now
Japan has attacked Malaya and Thailand -- and the
United States --without warning."
(President Franklin D. Roosevelt )
Antithesis
Opposition, or contrast of ideas or words in a
balanced or parallel construction.
"Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice,
moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."
(Barry Goldwater - Republican Candidate for
President 1964)
"Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome
more".
(Brutus in: " Julius Caesar" by William
Shakespeare)
Aporia
Expression of doubt (often feigned) by which a speaker
appears uncertain as to what he should think, say, or do.
"Then the steward said within himself, 'What shall I
do?"
(Bible: Luke 16)
9/10/2009
3
Apostrophe
A turn from the general audience to address a
specific group or person or personified abstraction
absent or present.
"For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar's angel.
Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him".
(Mark Antony in Julius Caesar - William
Shakespeare)
Asyndeton
Lack of conjunctions between coordinate phrases,
clauses, or words.
"We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet
any hardships, support any friend, oppose any foe
to assure the survival and the success of liberty."
(J. F. Kennedy, Inaugural)
"But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we
cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground.
(President Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg
Address)
Cacophony
Harsh joining of sounds
"We want no parlay with you and your grisly gang
who work your wicked will."
(British Prime Minister Winston Churchill -
referring to Hitler.)
A toad the power mower caught,
Chewed and clipped of a leg, with a hobbling hop
has got
("The Death of a Toad" by Richard Wilbur)
Climax
Arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in an
order of ascending power. Often the last emphatic
word in one phrase or clause is repeated as the first
emphatic word of the next.
"One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."
(Tennyson, " Ulysses")
Euphemism
substitution of an agreeable or at least non-offensive
expression for one whose plainer meaning might be
harsh or unpleasant.
Examples: Euphemisms for " stupid"
A few fries short of a Happy Meal.
A few beers short of a six-pack.
One Fruit Loop shy of a full bowl.
All foam, no beer.
The cheese slid off his cracker.
Hyperbole
Exaggeration for emphasis or for rhetorical effect.
"If you call me that name again, I'm going to
explode!"
I nearly died laughing.
9/10/2009
4
(Verbal) Irony
Expression of something which is contrary to
the intended meaning; the words say one
thing but mean another.
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man.
(Shakespeare's Mark Antony in Julius
Caesar)
Metaphor
Implied comparison achieved through a figurative
use of words; the word is used not in its literal sense,
but in one analogous to it.
*Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage. "
(Shakespeare, Macbeth )
From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the

Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the
continent.
(W. Churchill)
Oxymoron/Paradox
Apparent paradox achieved by the juxtaposition of words
which seem to contradict one another.
An assertion seemingly opposed to common sense, but
that may yet have some truth in it.
What a pity that youth must be wasted on the young."
(George Bernard Shaw)
I must be cruel only to be kind.
(Shakespeare, Hamlet)
"Hurts so good
(John Cougar Melancamp)
Jumbo Shrimp
Personification
Attribution of personality to an impersonal thing.
England expects every man to do his duty."
(Lord Nelson)
The rose was a soft as a baby's skin
"Rise up and defend the Motherland"
(Line from "Enemy at the Gates)
Simile
An explicit comparison between two things using 'like' or 'as'.
My love is as a fever, longing still
For that which longer nurseth the disease"
(Shakespeare, Sonnet CXLVII)
Reason is to faith as the eye to the telescope"
(D. Hume)
Let us go then, you and I,
While the evening is spread out against the sky,
Like a patient etherized upon a table"
(T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock)
Work Cited
Tomlinson, James. Rhetorical Devices.
http://facstaff.bloomu.edu/jtomlins/rhetorical_devices.htm#top.
6/29/2006

Rhetorical Devices: What Is Rhetoric?

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Rhetorical Devices: What Is Rhetoric?

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Rhetorical Devices: What Is Rhetoric?

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

9/10/2009

From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the

You might also like