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TEN BIG DAWG
RHETORICAL
DEVICES
Mr. Pogreba
AP Language
Helena High School
Sunday, January 22, 2012
The AP Exam
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You, empowered with the knowledge of rhetoric.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Antithesis
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Antithesis
Antithesis is the use of contrary ideas expressed
in a balanced sentence. It is the juxtaposition of
two words, phrases, clauses, or sentences
contrasted or opposed in meaning in such a way
as to give emphasis to their contrasting ideas and
give the effect of balance.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Contrary ideas in a
Balanced Sentence
"The world will little note, nor
long remember what we say
here, but it can never forget
what they did here."
--Abraham Lincoln,
Gettysburg Address
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Contrary ideas in a
Balanced Sentence
"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would
rather that my spark should burn out in a
brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by
dryrot. I would rather be a superb meteor,
every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a
sleepy and permanent planet. The proper
function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall
not waste my days in trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time."
--Jack London
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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ANAPHORA
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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ANAPHORA
Anaphora occurs when the speaker repeats the
same words at the start of successive sentences
or clauses.
It generally serves two purposes:
--a hammering effect that is certain to be noticed
--the creation of an involuntary rhythm
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Repetition of the
same words at the
start of
successive
clauses/
sentences
“The enemy said, I will pursue, I will
overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust
shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw
my sword, my hand shall destroy them.”
Exodus 15:9
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Repetition of the
same words at the
start of successive
clauses/sentences
In time the savage bull sustains the
yoke,
In time all haggard hawks will stoop to
lure,
In time small wedges cleave the hardest
oak,
In time the flint is pierced with softest
shower.
— Thomas Kyd, The Spanish Tragedy, I,
vi. 3
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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EPISTROPHE
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Epistrophe
Epistrophe occurs when the speaker repeats the
same words at the end of successive sentences
or clauses.
While it serves many of the same purposes of
anaphora, the effect is often more subtle.
It creates a cumulative effect.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Repetition of the
same words at the
end of successive
clauses/sentences
"A day may come when the courage of
men fails, when we forsake our friends
and break all bonds of fellowship, but it
is not this day. An hour of woes and
shattered shields, when the age of men
comes crashing down! But it is not this
day! This day we fight!"
--Aragorn, The Return of the King (film)
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Repetition of the
same words at the
end of successive
clauses/sentences
Where affections bear rule,
their reason is subdued,
honesty is subdued, good will
is subdued, and all things else
that withstand evil, for ever
are subdued.
--Thomas Wilson
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Chiasmus
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Chiasmus
Chiasmus occurs when words or other elements
are repeated with their order reversed.
Chiasmus amounts to an ABBA pattern.
A chiasmus need not repeat the same words in
order. It can instead just consist of a structural
reversal.
A good chiasmus has the benefits of emphasis,
euphony, and rhythm.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Repetition with the
order of elements
reversed
"In peace sons bury their
fathers, but in war fathers bury
their sons."
--Croesus
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Repetition with the
order of elements
reversed
"America did not invent
human rights. In a very real
sense, it is the other way
round. Human rights invented
America." --Jimmy Carter
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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polysyndeton
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Polysyndeton
Polysyndeton is the repeated use of conjunctions.
Polysyndeton is used to create rhythm, regulate
the pace of an utterance, give the impression the
speaker is making up the list as she goes on, or
emphasize the large number of items in a list.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Repeated use of
Conjunctions
“A German daily is the
slowest and saddest and
dreariest of the inventions of
man.”
-Mark Twain, A Tramp Abroad
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Repeated use of
Conjunctions
“...I’ll chase him round Good Hope,
and round the Horn, and round the
Norway Maelstrom, and round
perdition’s flames before I give him
up.”
--Captain Ahab, in Melville’s Moby
Dick
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Asyndeton
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Asyndeton
Asyndeton means leaving out a conjunction
where it might have been expected to appear.
Asyndeton can create emphasis, give
independent force to each item, show close
relationship, improve the “music” of a sentence,
or create a sense of acceleration.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Omission of an
expected
conjunction
“I came, I saw, I conquered.”
--Julius Caesar
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Omission of an
expected
conjunction
"I have found the warm caves in the
woods,
filled them with skillets, carvings,
shelves,
closets, silks, innumerable goods"
--Anne Sexton, "Her Kind"
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Litotes
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Litotes
Litotes “occurs when a speaker avoids making an
affirmative claim directly and instead denies its
opposite” (Farnsworth, p. 204).
The effect of litotes depends on its use. It may
create a sense of understatement, aid in
discretion, or enhance satire.
George Orwell would warn you to use this device
only when necessary. It can become cliched and
awkward.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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denial of an Opposite
for Effect
“That sword was not useless
to the warrior now.”
--from Beowulf
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Denial of an Opposite
for Effect
“Thus I consent, sir, to this Constitution,
because I expect no better, and
because I am not sure that it is not the
best.”
--Benjamin Franklin, speech in favor of
ratifying the Constitution, 1787
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Hypophora
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Hypophora
Hypophora occurs when the speaker asks a
question and then answers it.
Hypophora heightens interest by creating
suspense, supplies a motive for offering the
answer, creates involvement with the listener,
creates empathy and a sense of dealing with the
audience openly, and preempts a more forceful
objection.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Asking and
answering a
Question
"You ask, what is our policy? I will say it
is to wage war, by sea, land, and air,
with all our might and all the strength
that God can give us; to wage war
against a monstrous tyranny, never
surpassed in the dark, lamentable
catalog of human crime. That is our
policy.
--Winston Churchill
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Asking and
Answering a
Question
The gentleman asks, When were the
colonies emancipated? I desire to know
when were they made slaves?
--William Pitt, speech to Parliament
(1766)
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Prolepsis
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Prolepsis
Prolepsis occurs when a speaker anticipates an
objection and then comments on it.
It is distinct from hypophora because no question
is asked.
A hypothetical objection may be suggested and
then answered, potentially leading to
manipulation.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Anticipating an
Objection and
Commenting on it
"But there are only three
hundred of us,' you object.
Three hundred, yes, but men,
but armed, but Spartans, but
at Thermoplyae: I have never
seen three hundred so
numerous" - Seneca
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Anticipating an
Objection and
Commenting on it
It may be objected, that very wise men
have been notoriously avaricious. I
answer, Not wise in that instance. It may
likewise be said, That the wisest men
have been in their youth immoderately
fond of pleasure. I answer, They were
not wise then.
Henry Fielding, Tom Jones
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Paralipsis
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Paralipsis
Paralipsis generally occurs when the speaker
describes what she will not say and so says it, or
at least a bit of it.
Paralipsis is used to gain credit for discretion, to
enhance the force of a sentiment by not
expressing it,to limit debate over a controversial
utterance, or to amuse.
It’s usually used to express negative ideas about
others, but can be used to give the impression of
modesty by the speaker about positive features.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Saying you won’t say
it, but saying it by
saying you won’t
“Have patience, gentle friends, I must not
read it [Caesar's will]; It is not meet you
know how Caesar loved you. You are not
wood, you are not stones, but men; And,
being men, bearing the will of Caesar, It will
inflame you, it will make you mad. ‘Tis good
you know not that you are his heirs; For, if
you should, O, what would come of it!”
--Mark Antony, in Shakespeare’s Julius
Caesar
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Saying you won’t say
it, but saying it by
saying you won’t
“I’m not saying I’m responsible for this
country’s longest run of uninterrupted
peace in 35 years! I’m not saying that
from the ashes of captivity, never has a
Phoenix metaphor been more
personified! I’m not saying Uncle Sam
can kick back on a lawn chair, sipping
on an iced tea, because I haven’t come
across anyone man enough to go toe to
toe with me on my best day!”
--Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Sunday, January 22, 2012