Introduction to Rhetorical
Devices
Rhetorical device #1: Parallelism
Parallelism: A repetition of a set of grammatical
structures to show that a pair or list of ideas
have equal weight or share equal importance.
"Veni, vidi, vinci " - Julius Caesar ("I came, I saw, I
conquered")
Parallelism Examples
• "We have seen the state of our Union
•
in the endurance of rescuers, working
past exhaustion. We've seen the
unfurling of flags, the lighting of
candles, the giving of blood, the
saying of prayers -- in English,
Hebrew, and Arabic" - George W.
Bush, after 911
"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I
may remember. Involve me and I will
learn" - Benjamin Franklin
President Bush’s 911 Speech
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjarV_m
N3QY
• Now try your own example of parallelism, and
remember that there will be some repetition
because you are repeating grammatical
structure.
Rhetorical Device #2: Antithesis
• Antithesis: The rhetorical contrast of ideas by
means of parallel arrangements of words,
clauses, or sentences (as in “action, not
words” or “they promised freedom and
provided slavery”).
• Antithesis:
Two opposing
ideas are
placed together
and structured
similarly in order
to draw
attention to their
contrasting
assertions
While I relished it, he retched onto his plate.
Antithesis: Definition-1.opposition;contrast
2. The placing of a sentence or one of its parts against another
to which it is opposed to form a balanced contrast of ideas.
Examples: "Give me liberty or give me death.“ "You're easy on
the eyes, hard on the heart."
• Antithesis has to do
with two opposite
or contrasting ideas.
But wait, aren’t
these all
examples of
parallelism?!?
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere."
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from
Birmingham Jail
Dr. King makes the point that no one's justice
is safe as long as injustice is being practiced at
any location. He contrasts justice with
injustice, and anywhere with everywhere.
"We should never forget that everything
Adolf Hitler did in Germany was 'legal' and
everything the Hungarian freedom fighters
did in Hungary was 'illegal'."
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from
Birmingham Jail
Out of sight, out of mind,"
"Penny wise, pound foolish,"
"A bird in the hand is worth
two in the bush”
• Well, yes. The definitions of
parallelism and antithesis are
not mutually exclusive
(parallelism has to do with the
grammatical structure;
antithesis has to do with the
contrast of the two ideas).
In fact most antithesis
will be set up in
parallel form, as is this
classic examples from
Patrick Henry
Another example of both parallelism
and antithesis is…
• "I have a dream that my four
little children will one day live in
a nation where they will not be
judged by the color of their skin
but by the content of their
character"
• -- Martin Luther King, Jr.
The contrast of the pair makes it antithesis
The grammatical similarity makes it parallelism
Gimmie More Antithesis!!!!
•
•
•
•
•
•
"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools" Martin Luther King, Jr
"Reasonable men adapt to the world. Unreasonable men adapt the
world to themselves . That's why all progress depends on unreasonable
men" - George Bernard Shaw
"No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by
making the other poor bastard die for his country" - General George
Patton
"That's one small step for a man , one giant leap for mankind" --Neil
Armstrong
"To be or not to be , that is the question" - William Shakespeare (Hamlet)
“The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of
our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity ...” Barack Obama
Time for you to make some
ANTITHESIS
• Come up with two contrasting ideas
• Set them up in parallel form
•
•
•
•
Hot/cold
Tasty/disgusting
Life/death
Tired/energized
Now let’s look at MLK’s Letter from
Birmingham Jail
• Do you see any examples of antithesis or
parallelism in his speech?
• Underline any examples you see.
Rhetorical Device #3: Rhetorical Question
• Rhetorical Questions:
Definition for your notes:
•
•
•
•
RHETORICAL QUESTION. A QUESTION that expects no answer.
The answer may be self-evident (If she doesn't like me why
should I care what she thinks?)
Or immediately provided by the questioner (What should be
done? Well, first we should …). The question is often asked for
dramatic effect.
Rhetorical questions are sometimes announced with such a
phrase as I ask you (when nothing is in fact being asked):
Since a rhetorical question has
the answer built into it, it
could actually be the answer to
a real question…
• Hey, would you like
to go to lunch with
me?
• Is the sky blue?
Geico Rhetorical question
commercials
http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=Dtp_mq2fO24
Well, then, why couldn’t you just say
• Because one of the powers of rhetorical questioning is
that it reinforces the obviousness of the answer, as if
the other person should have known it all along.
• There is an underlying sarcasm or playful
condescension to it.
Sometimes you can answer
rhetorical questions:
•
•
Friend 1: Why do I always get stuck dating these losers?
(rhetorical question, not meant to be answered)
Friend 2: Because you are a terrible person, and you attract
terrible people.
• Friend 1: But hey, who’s counting? (rhetorical question)
• Friend 2: I am. The answer is 42.
•
•
Friend 1: Do I look like I was born yesterday? (rhetorical question)
Friend 2: Not at all. Judging by those forehead wrinkles and bags
under your eyes, I’d say its been a whole lot of years since you
were born.
Classic examples of rhetorical
questions
• You really didn’t expect me to go along with
this crazy plan of yours, did you?
• Can't you do anything right?
• Do you expect me to stay home and be
trapped here forever?
Who doesn’t like rhetorical questions?
This is the actual
(unofficial)
punctuation mark
for a rhetorical
question, a slight
change from the
classic question
mark. (don’t use
this on essays,
though).
These are not meant to be answered!
• Man, can
this day
get any
worse?
How does this affect us?
•
•
A carefully crafted question can, if delivered well,
persuade an audience to believe in the position(s)
of the speaker.
“Can we forge against these enemies a grand and
global alliance, North and South, East and West,
that can assure a more fruitful life for all
mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?” –
JFK Inaugural Address
•
Former President Kennedy includes this rhetorical
question to call the audience to action. By asking if
they will join in the historic effort, Kennedy forces the
audience to think about what they are willing to do for
their country and at the same time, he inspires them
to be more American.
This billboard demonstrates the power of the rhetorical Rhetorical Question
question. These two questions are not supposed to be
answered. They make a point. They reinforce what the
audience is already predisposed to believe, and they do
so in a striking and forceful fashion. The rhetorical
question elicits a response from the audience. It makes
the audience own the answer.
Placing this statement in question form is more
powerful than just leaving it as a statement. The two
questions are better and more forceful in question
form than if the billboard were to say, "Obama's hope
and change sucks!" or "I really miss George
Bush!" Inviting audience participation makes the
comment resonate on a personal level.
in action
Time for you to make some
RHETORICAL QUESTIONS
• THINK OF A STATEMENT THAT IS REALLY
OBVIOUS.
• REPHRASE IT AS A QUESTION IN A WAY THAT
SOUNDS LIKE THERE IS ONLY ONE ANSWER.
Now let’s look at MLK’s Letter from
Birmingham Jail Again
• Do you see any examples of rhetorical
questions in his speech?
• Highlight any examples you see.
Rhetorical Device #4: Repetition
• Repetition, repetition, repetition,
repetition, repetition, repetition,
repetition, repetition, repetition,
repetition, repetition, repetition,
repetition, repetition, repetition,
repetition, repetition
Strap yourselves in for some serious
technical jargon:
• The following three slides show various forms
of repetition used in speechmaking (and
stories, and poetry). They are high-end
academic terms meant to frighten and
confuse you.
• Just remember that they are all versions of
repetition, and that it is more important that
you see their function and value, than for you
to remember what they are precisely called…
Repetition special maneuver
1:Antistrophe
The repetition of a word or a phrase at the END of
successive phrases, clauses or lines.
•
*We are born to sorrow, pass our time in sorrow,
end our days in sorrow.
•
"A day may come when the courage of men fails,
when we forsake our friends and break the bonds
of fellowship, but it is not this day . An hour of
wolves and shattered shields, when the age of
men comes crashing down, but it is not this day.
This day we fight!" - King Aragorn (from the movie
'The Return of the King'),
•
•
Repetition special maneuver
2:Anaphora
The repetition of a word or phrase
at the BEGINNING of successive
phrases or clauses.
*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
"I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I
be, we shall fight on the beaches, needed a vacation, I needed a home in the
we shall fight on the landing
country. What I had was a coat, a hat and a gun" grounds, we shall fight in the fields Raymond Chandler (Farewell, My Lovely)“
and in the streets, we shall fight in
the hills. We shall never surrender.
The “I havedeclaring
a dream…”
in MLK’s
famous speech is an example of Anaphora.
~Churchill,
war
against
Arrghh, but isn’t this parallelism, too?
• “For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and
travelled across oceans in search of a new life. For us,
they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured
the lash of the whip and ploughed the hard earth. For us,
they fought and died, in places like Concord and
Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn” - Barack Obama
YES! The above example is part parallelism, part repetition. When the words are exactly
repeated, that part is repetition; when the words match in grammatical form (though the
words themselves change), that part is parallel.
The phrases “endured the lash” and “ploughed the hard earth,” for instance, are
definitely in parallel form.
Repetition special maneuver
3:ANADIPLOSIS
• When the author repeats a word or phrase at the
end of one phrase or sentence and uses them to
begin another.
•
•
•
•
"I am Sam, Sam I am" - Dr. Seuss (Green Eggs and Ham)
"The love of wicked men converts to fear ,
That fear to hate, and hate turns one or both
To worthy danger and deserved death" - William Shakespeare
"Men in great place are thrice servants: servants of the sovereign or
state; servants of fame; and servants of business" - Francis Bacon
"They call for you: the general who became a slave ; the slave who
became a gladiator; the gladiator who defied an Emperor" - Joaquin
Phoenix (from the movie Gladiator )
Time for you to make some
REPETITION
• COME UP WITH A COOL WORD OR PHRASE
• SAY IT OVER AND OVER
Now let’s look at MLK’s Letter from
Birmingham Jail Again
• Do you see any of these examples of
repetition in his speech?
•
•
•
•
Box any examples you see.
Then label the specific kind of repetition:
Antistrophe, Anaphora, Anadiplosis
If not one of the above, then don’t label it.
Rhetorical Device #5: ANALOGY
• ANALOGY is a kind of extended METAPHOR or
long SIMILE in which a comparison is made
between two things in order to develop a line of
reasoning. While it is similar to simile, similes are
generally more artistic and brief, while an analogy
is longer and explains a thought process.
• "Knowledge always desires increase: it is like fire,
which must first be kindled by some external
agent, but which will afterwards propagate
itself" - Samuel Johnson
Another look at analogy:
•
•
Shrek: Ogres are like onions.Donkey: They stink?Shrek:
Yes. No!Donkey: They make you cry?Shrek: No!Donkey:
You leave them out in the sun, they get all brown, start
sprouting little white hairs?Shrek: No! Layers! Onions
have layers!
So if it isn't blatantly obvious what is meant, it has to be
explained, and then ...... the simile becomes an analogy.
So an analogy is an extended simile, or a simile with an
explanation tagged on to it. This is a very effective way to
explain something complex in simple, familiar terms.
#4 ANSWER: B. A regular dose of laxatives is like a gift you give yourself.
Analogy in Persuasion: It’s a cool comparison technique that uses
one idea to draw our attention to a similar (usually more complicated)
idea by the characteristics they share.
You see ANALOGY to explain or persuade all the time…
To win the big game in sports, you need to strengthen your
muscles through training and practice. You need to run and push your
limits to grow—any athlete can tell you this. Your brain is just like any
of your muscles. Reading and writing challenging assignments is like
going to the gym for your brain. Read every day—stories that make
you think and keep you engaged—and you build endurance and muscle
memory. And here…the “big game” is LIFE!
Reading/Writing = Working out our brains
When have you used ANALOGY before?
The big game = life
Comparisons, metaphors
Similes, allegories
Analogies are everywhere. We use them to explain
complicated ideas in a simple, visual way. (teachers love
them!)
FREUD: “The structure of the
human mind is like an iceberg”
From TV
•
•
For example, in the TV program House, Hugh
Laurie often has to explain complex medical
conditions in simple terms non-medical people
can understand.
For example, if he just said "The liver is like a
cruise ship taking in water," he would be using
a simile. But it wouldn't make sense to 99% of
people. It needs elaboration.
So he turns it into an analogy by adding, "As it starts to sink, it
sends out an SOS. Only instead of radio waves, it uses enzymes.
The more enzymes in the blood, the worse the liver is. But once
the ship has sunk, there's no more SOS. You think the liver's
fine, but it's already at the bottom of the sea"
Analogies can often be full, complex
stories:(Here…designing a product is like building a tree swing)
HOWEVER, Be Careful of False Analogy!
This is the real logical fallacy…
Allusions
• Allusion- when an author makes a reference to
something the audience should know to compare
what they are speaking about to the reference.
For example: Biblical allusion, Shakespearean
allusion, mythological allusion, or historical
allusion.
• “Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the
Macedonian call for aid.” – MLK Jr., “Letter from
Birmingham Jail”
• Unlike analogy, the reference is not explained.
FALSE ANALOGY is the real fallacy
• There’s nothing wrong with analogy…except
when it is built wrong and manipulates us
towards an illogical conclusion.
• If a writer uses a comparison that is very
weak, inappropriate, or based on a
misunderstanding, then s/he is using false
analogy.
People are like dogs. They respond best
to clear discipline.
• The problem is that people are being falsely
compared to dogs to convince you to think about
them in a certain way.
Common FALSE ANALOGY AS A LOGICAL FORMULA
• A has X and Y
• B has A's X, so B must also have A's Y.
IF…
if the comparison is based on just a few
similarities (ignoring heaps of differences) or if
the comparison is based on a
misunderstanding of a term or idea
(ambiguity), we then have a false analogy.
"College is much like high school. Each has 50 minute classes. Each has a different
teacher for different subjects. So there is no difference between them."
• Employees and nails are the same; they hold a project together. As
it is necessary to hit nails on the head in order to make them work,
the same must be done with employees.
• “Bill Clinton has no experience of serving in the military. To have
Bill Clinton become president, and thus commander in chief of
the armed forces of the United States, is like electing some
passer-by on the street to fly the space shuttle.”
• Clogged arteries require surgery to clear them. If this is
true for arteries, so must it be true for our clogged
highways which need measures that are as drastic.
• Most extremists follow Islam. Therefore, Islam is
religion that propagates extremism.
• Governing a country is like governing a business.
Therefore as businessmen are concerned about the
bottom line, so must be government officials.
Time for you to make some
ANALOGY
• Compare to different ideas and make a
conclusion based off your comparison.
• Make sure that you are not creating a false
comparison.
Now let’s look at MLK’s Letter from
Birmingham Jail One Last Time…
• Do you see any examples of analogies in his
speech?
• Circle any examples you see.
Rhetoric Summary
• Repetition: say same words over and over
• Parallelism: different words but in same
grammar pattern
• Antithesis: two contrasting ideas set up
parallel
• Rhetorical Questions: ask a question that is
really a statement
• Analogy: an extended metaphor used to
explain
Brainstorming for
future rhetorical
devices
Rhetorical Device #6
• Asyndeton: The practice of omitting
conjunctions between words, phrases, or
clauses.
Normally, before the last thing in a list
of three or more, we would have an
“and”…
NORMAL: He went to the store and bought milk, eggs, and cheese.
ASYNDETON: He went to the store and bought milk, eggs, cheese.
• *"He was brave, fearless, afraid of nothing."
• *“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 Speech
This has an interesting stylistic effect
on a list.
But, in a larger sense,
we cannot dedicate, we
cannot consecrate, we
cannot hallow this
ground.
~ Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
Rhetorical Device #7
• Polysyndeton: a stylistic device in which
several coordinating conjunctions are used in
succession in order to achieve an artistic
effect.
Uses of coordinating conjunctions like “and”, “or”,
“but” and “nor” (mostly and and or) which are used to
join successive words, phrases or clauses in such a way
that these conjunctions are even used where they
might have been omitted.
•
"In years gone by, there were in every community men and women who spoke the
language of duty and morality and loyalty and obligation."-- William F. Buckley
•
"And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind,
cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind:and it was
so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind,and cattle after their
kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw
that it was good."-- Genesis 1:24-25 (KJV)
•
"They all tasted to me like undersexed morons who had blundered ortrickled into
the wrong beds in automatic response to sexy advertisements, or to make
themselves feel modern and emancipated,or to reassure themselves about their
virility or their "normalcy," or even because they had nothing else to do."-- C.S.
Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
Rhetorical Device Final Thoughts
•
There are dozens of these, all of which help you use language to
strengthen the force and elegance of your arguments.
•
In fact, there are whole classes you can take in college to build
and polish your skill at rhetoric.
•
It is much more important for you to see how they are used and
make them a part of your writing, than to remember their
names for a quiz. However, on the AP test, you will be expected
to know them by name.
•
Often more than one of these devices is happening at the same