INTRO TO
RHETORICAL DEVICES
ELIZABETH I & ABRAHAM LINCOLN
FAMILIAR WITH…
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Imagery
Diction
Connotation
Denotation
Figurative language
Analogy
Metaphor
JUXTAPOSITION
•  The fact of two things being seen or placed close
together with contrasting effect.
• helps make a logical appeal
• Elizabeth I
• “We have been persuaded by some that are careful of our
safety…but I assure you I do not desire to live to distrust my
faithful and loving people” (Lines 2-3)
Abraham Lincoln
• Second Inaugural Address vs. First, four years earlier
• “Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make
war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would
accept war rather than let it perish” (Lines 18-20)
ANTITHESIS
• a person or thing that is the direct opposite of
someone or something else.
• used to make a logical or emotional appeal
• Often a contrast in diction (hot is the antithesis of cold)
• Lincoln
• “While the inaugural address was being delivered from this
place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war,
insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it
without war” (Lines 15-17)
PARALLELISM
• repeated syntactical similarities introduced for
rhetorical effect
•  used for emotional and logical appeals
• Elizabeth I
• “…I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general”
(Lines15-16)
Lincoln
Parallelism galore in GETTYSBURG ADDRESS (just wait ;-)
REPETITION
• is the simple repeating of a word, within a sentence, phrase,
or larger text, with no particular placement of the words, in
order to provide emphasis
• used to make an ethical or emotional appeal
• Elizabeth I
• “to lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and my people, my honour, and
my blood” (Lines 9-11)
• “…not doubting but by your obedience to my general, by your concord in the
camp, and your valour in the field” (Lines 21-22)
• Lincoln
• Paragraph 3, repetition of plural pronouns at beginning of sentence
“Neither,” “Each,” “Both”
• Shows unity
POLYSYNDETON
• The use of several conjunctions in close succession
• Increases the rhythm of prose (speeds or slows its
pace)
• Creates a childlike enthusiasm
• Creates a sense of being overwhelmed
• Elizabeth I
• “to lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and my people, my
honour, and my blood” (Lines 9-11)
ANAPHORA
• Specific type of repetition
• Repetition of one or more words at the head of
consecutive phrases, clauses, or sentences
•  Used to make an emotional appeal
• Lincoln
• “With malice toward none, with clarity for all, with firmness in
the right as God gives us to see the right” (Lines 54-55)
• “…to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall
have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to
do all which may achieve and cherish…” (Lines 56-57)
CHIASMUS
• A reversal of grammatical order from one phrase
to the next (think mirror image)
• Used to make an emotional or logical appeal
• Lincoln
• “…but let us judge not, that we be not judged” (Lines 36-37)
ALLUSION
• an expression designed to call something to mind
without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or
passing reference.
• Used to make an ethical, emotional, and/or
logical appeal
• Lincoln
• “…but let us judge not, that we be not judged” (Lines 36-37)
• Paraphrased Matthew 7:1
• Paragraph 3---Biblical Allusions (ethos)
SAMPLE THESIS
Queen Elizabeth I vows to “live
and die amongst her people”
even though she is merely “a
weak and feeble woman,” and
as a result, she humbles herself
to her people.
TIPS FOR THE ANALYSIS
1. Address the prompt
2. Make a claim about the purpose/exigence of the essay.
• What do they want and how do they do it?
3. Establish how they do this with specific examples of rhetorical
devices/diction/syntax.
4. Don’t show the reader how well you know the rhetorical terms, show them how
well you can analyze the essay. You must show that you “get it.”
5. Fully develop your claims (what)/warrant (how)/impact (why).
6. Use the essay.
7. Tie ideas/points back to your thesis/claim.