Lit Terms 2
Rhetorical Analysis
Anecdote
• A brief account of or a story about an
individual or an incident
• Tolstoy was a great pacifist and was once
lecturing on the need to be nonresistant and
nonviolent towards all creatures. Someone in
the audience responded by asking what
should be done if one was attacked in the
woods by a tiger. Tolstoy responded, "Do the
best you can. It doesn't happen very often."
Argumentation
• The form of writing that takes a stand on an
issue and attempts to convince readers by
presenting a logical sequence of points
supported by evidence.
• Romantic love is a poor basis for marriage.
Exemplification
• The pattern of development that uses a single
extended example or series of shorter
examples to support a thesis.
Syllogism
• A basic form of deductive reasoning. Includes
three parts: a major premise that makes a
general statement, a minor premise that
makes a related but more specific statement,
and a conclusion drawn from these two
premises.
Syllogism Example
• "On Meet the Press, . . . [Tim] Russert reminded
[George W.] Bush, 'The Boston Globe and the
Associated Press have gone through some of
their records and said there's no evidence that
you reported to duty in Alabama during the
summer and fall of 1972.' Bush replied, 'Yeah,
they're just wrong. There may be no evidence,
but I did report. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been
honorably discharged.' That's the Bush syllogism:
The evidence says one thing; the conclusion says
another; therefore, the evidence is false."
(William Saletan, Slate, Feb. 2004)
Exemplification Example
• Children’s cartoons have traditionally contained much
violence, and this situation is something we have learned to
accept as normal. Consider how much a part of our
landscape the following situations are. (EX1)The coyote
chases the roadrunner and finds himself standing in midair
over a deep chasm. For a fraction of a second he looks
pathetically at the audience; then he plunges to the
ground. (EX2)Elmer Fudd puts his shotgun into a tree where
Buggs Bunny is hiding. Buggs bends the barrel so that,
when Elmer pulls the trigger, the gun discharges into his
face. (EX3)A dog chases Woody Woodpecker into a sawmill
and, unable to stop, slides into the whirling blade of a
circular saw. As the scene ends, the two halves of the dog
fall to the ground with a clatter.
Metonymy
• Substituting the name of one object for
another object closely associated with it.
• He is a man of the cloth.
Synecdoche
• Using one part of an object to represent the
entire object.
• Sam finally traded in his old jalopy and got
himself a new set of wheels.
Asyndeton
• A construction in which elements are
presented in a series without conjunctions.
• I skated, I shot, I scored, I cheered—what a
glorious moment of sport!
• “The government of the people, by the
people, for the people, shall not perish from
the earth.”
Asyndeton Example
• "Why, they've got ten volumes on suicide alone. Suicide by
race, by color, by occupation, by sex, by seasons of the year,
by time of day. Suicide, how committed: by poisons, by
firearms, by drowning, by leaps. Suicide by poison,
subdivided by types of poison, such as corrosive, irritant,
systemic, gaseous, narcotic, alkaloid, protein, and so forth.
Suicide by leaps, subdivided by leaps from high places, under
the wheels of trains, under the wheels of trucks, under the
feet of horses, from steamboats. But Mr. Norton, of all the
cases on record, there's not one single case of suicide by
leap from the rear end of a moving train."
(Edward G. Robinson as insurance agent Barton Keyes in
Double Indemnity)
Juxtaposition
• The arrangement of two or more ideas,
characters, actions, settings, phrases, or words
side-by-side or in similar narrative moments
for the purpose of comparison, contrast,
rhetorical effect, suspense, or character
development.
• Placing two elements side by side to present a
comparison or contrast.
Juxtaposition
• The scene with the gardeners in Richard II
relates symbolically to the fact that Richard, as
king, is not tending his own little Eden, the isle
of Britain.
Juxtaposition Examples
•
•
•
•
youth and old age;
servants and nobles;
love-sick Romeo and fiery Tybalt;
the noisy public feast and the private whispers
of the lovers;
• Romeo's infatuation and Juliet's wit;
• the old nurse and young Juliet; and so on.
Non Sequitur
A logical fallacy that involves looking back at two
events that occurred in chronological
sequence and wrongly assuming that the first
event caused the second.
• Only experts have sufficient knowledge to
assess the solution to this dilemma
• Only the college educated can lead the state
of Georgia.
Lit Terms Rhetorical Analysis
Metonymy
• A figure of speech
• One thing is represented by
another that is commonly
and often physically
associated with it.
• to someone’s writing as
“hand”
Synecdoche
• Figure of speech
• In which part of something
is used to represent the
whole or, occasionally, the
whole is used to represent
the part.
• To refer to a boat as a “sail”
• Wheels for “car”
Terms
Asyndeton
• Lack of conjunctions
juxtaposition
• Next to each other
?
• PURINA ONE WHOLESOME ENTREES:These
high-quality, nutritionally-complete meals give
your dog the nutrients he needs to help
promote a lifetime of good health.
Terms
Non sequitur
• It does not follow
• Logical fallacy
• A logical fallacy that
involves looking back at two
events that occurred in
chronological sequence and
wrongly assuming that the
first event caused the
second.
Anecdote
• A brief account of or a story
about an individual or an
incident.
Terms
Zeugma
• A figure of speech
• The same word (verb or
preposition) is applied to
two others in different
sense
• Miss. Bolo went home in a
flood of tears and a taxi.
• She looked at the object
with suspicion and a
magnifying glass.
Litotes
• A figure of speech
• Which contains an
understatement for
emphasis, and therefore the
opposite of hyperbole.
• With a negative assertion.
Terms
chiasmus
• Rhetorical device in which
certain words, sounds,
concepts, or syntactic
structures are reversed or
repeated in reverse order.
• Faire is foul and foul is fair.
• Flowers are lovely, love is
flowerlike.
Logos
• Fact, objective
• Citations from experts and
authorities
• Informed opinions
• Evokes a cognitive, rationale
response
?
• Give us this
day our daily
bread.
• In Romeo and Juliet,
Shakespeare often
places two contrasting
characters (Tybalt and
Benvolio) together for
effect.
?
• “Last week I saw a woman flayed, and you will
hardly believe how much it altered her
appearance for the worse.”
Jonathan Swift, “Tale of a Tub”
?
• “Sail” for boat
• He labors without
complaining and
without bragging
rests.
?
• In 1831, Edgar Allan Poe was allegedly
expelled from West Point for neglecting the
dress code during public parade. It is said that
he mocked the dress instructions by appearing
naked, with a rifle over his shoulder, wearing a
white belt and gloves. He was released from
the academy for "gross neglect of duty".
?
• CHAOS/CALM
The end of Jack's (Lost t.v. show) flashback to
the plane is chaotic and destructive, with
people being hurled around the plane, and
everyone terrified. The next shot is of a calm
ocean, with a thoughtful and introspective
Jack looking out over it.
?
• High school graduates should take a year off
before entering college.
?
• If you buy this car, your family will
be safer.
?
• Tolstoy was a great pacifist and was once
lecturing on the need to be nonresistant and
nonviolent towards all creatures. Someone in
the audience responded by asking what
should be done if one was attacked in the
woods by a tiger. Tolstoy responded, "Do the
best you can. It doesn't happen very often."
?
• A few
unannounced
quizzes are not
inconceivable.
?
• "War is peace.“
• "Freedom is slavery.“
• "Ignorance is strength.“
(George Orwell, 1984)
?
• Roosevelt was often bored by the tedious small
talk that was required of him at social functions.
He often felt as if those with whom he conversed
were seldom paying attention to what was said.
To prove his point, sometimes Roosevelt would
begin a conversation by saying, "I murdered my
grandmother this morning." Often these words
were met with polite approval. On one occasion,
however, an attentive listener gave the witty
reply, "I'm sure she had it coming to her."
?
• the pen is mightier than the
sword
?
• "Some day you will be old enough to start
reading fairy tales again."
(C.S. Lewis to his godchild, Lucy Barfield, to
whom he dedicated The Lion, the Witch and
the Wardrobe)
?
• "Why, they've got ten volumes on suicide alone. Suicide
by race, by color, by occupation, by sex, by seasons of
the year, by time of day. Suicide, how committed: by
poisons, by firearms, by drowning, by leaps. Suicide by
poison, subdivided by types of poison, such as
corrosive, irritant, systemic, gaseous, narcotic,
alkaloid, protein, and so forth. Suicide by leaps,
subdivided by leaps from high places, under the wheels
of trains, under the wheels of trucks, under the feet of
horses, from steamboats. But Mr. Norton, of all the
cases on record, there's not one single case of suicide
by leap from the rear end of a moving train."
(Edward G. Robinson as insurance agent Barton Keyes in
Double Indemnity)
?
• Ziggy is walking on a hill at night with many
stars in the sky; then Ziggy says “they say that
the stars can make some people feel
insignificant. . . They sure make me feel that
way. . . Especially BRAD PITT!”
?
• Both parents should assume equal
responsibility in raising a child.
?
• war is not healthy for children and
other living things
?
• General Motors announced cutbacks
?
• "But Ted Lavender, who was scared, carried
34 rounds when he was shot and killed
outside Than Khe, and he went down under
an exceptional burden, more than 20
pounds of ammunition, plus the flak jacket
and helmet and rations and water and toilet
paper and tranquilizers and all the rest, plus
an unweighed fear."
(Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried)
?
• In the 2010 Winter Olympics, Canada won 14
gold medals.
?
• “Eros is bold, enterprising, strong, a mighty
hunter, always weaving some intrigue or
other, keen in the pursuit of wisdom, fertile in
resources; a philosopher at all times, terrible
as an enchanter, sorcerer, sophist.”
Plato
?
• Dr. House: Words have set meanings for a
reason. If you see an animal like Bill and you
try to play fetch, Bill's going to eat you,
because Bill's a bear.
Little Girl: Bill has fur, four legs, and a collar.
He's a dog.
Dr. House: You see, that's what's called a
faulty syllogism; just because you call Bill a
dog doesn't mean that he is . . . a dog.
("Merry Little Christmas, House, M.D.)
?
• You will do what I say because you are my
wife!'"