Syntax, tone, and diction . . . Oh my!

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A few more rhetorical devices . . .
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1) Expletive: a single word or short phrase used to lend
emphasis. ("I would like, if I may, to take you on a strange
journey.“ )
2) Apostrophe: a sudden 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.”
3) Epistrophe: Ending a series of lines, phrases, clauses, or
sentences with the same word or words. (type of repetition . .
. “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny
compared to what lies within us." —Emerson )
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4. Antithesis: opposition, or contrast of ideas or
words in a balanced or parallel construction.
(“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap
for mankind”-Neil Armstrong)
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5. aphoristic: a short statement containing a
general truth . . . OR, a sentence that alludes to
an aphorism. (Every cloud has a silver lining. OR
A penny saved is a penny not spent.)
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6. Chiasmus: a figure of speech based on
inverse parallelism (Fair is foul and foul is fair.)
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Tone is that unique quality of a speech or a piece
of writing that reveals the attitudes and
presuppositions of the author or speaker.
There are many words to define tone.
(see hand-out for variety)
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So what is diction?
Diction is an author’s particular word choice.
Specific words that authors use, along with their
syntactical style, help the reader establish the
tone of a piece.
Take a look at this paragraph on diction.
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Using the “Style and Rhetorical Appeals” Graphic
Organizer, you are going to analyze the
structure, syntax, diction, etc . . . . of “A Model Of
Christian Charity”.
Please organize your analysis using the
guidelines of the Graphic Organizer.
Cite exactly from the text when necessary.
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