Rhetorical
Devices/Smil
ey Face
Tricks of the writing trade to help you
meet andTricks
exceed writing expectations.
Ideas developed by Mary Ellen Ledbetter
Powerpoint created by Gwen S. Thibadeau
Revised and Editted by T. Bowman
Why use Smiley Face Tricks???
These writing techniques are
common tools that ALL authors
use.
They are proven to add personality,
voice, style, and reader interest.
Tricolon (Magic 3)
A technique using
three words,
phrases, or clauses
written in parallel
form and in
succession.
Also referred to as
Parallel Structure.
Tricolon
A Tricolon (sometimes called the 'Rule of
Threes') is really more of a general principle
than a rhetorical technique, but it is very
effective.
 For some reason, the human brain seems to
absorb and remember information more
effectively when it is presented in threes.
 There's a reason there were three Musketeers,
why Goldilocks didn't meet four bears in the
woods, why Charlie didn't employ only two
Angels and why Curly, Larry & Mo didn't
have 'and George' tagged on.

Tricolon--Example
After school each day, I
typically drive home
with my children,
complete homework,
and talk about the day.
One Of President Obama's Favorites

There are twenty two Tricolon examples used in his inauguration
speech alone and fourteen in his speech in Prague (to take two
speeches at random)! Here are a few:

“I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the
trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our
ancestors.”
“Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use;
our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of
our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint."
“Few would have imagined that the Czech Republic would become a
free nation, a member of NATO, a leader of a united Europe.”
“Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished. Words must
mean something”



Tricolon – Example
Before: We watched the confetti.
 After: “We watched the confetti fall from
the sky, skip across the ground in the
breeze, and tumble into the canal.”

(Green, The Fault in Our Stars, 163)
 Your
Turn: We watched.
Hyphenated Modifier
A compound
adjective or adverb
created by
hyphenating
multiple words
together that work
as one word.
HM--Example
Some of her students sat
in their why-do-I-have-tobe-here postures while
others exuded eagerness.
Hyphenated Modifier
Literary Example: “I slumped seated
against a wall, heaving watered-down
coughs.” (Green, The Fault in Our Stars,
200)
 Your turn: I slumped.

Imagery/Specifi
c Details
Also known as
imagery, this
technique appeals
to the senses and
includes enough
detail to allow the
reader to identify
with the
description.
Imagery/SD--Example
“The autumn leaves blew over the moonlit
pavement in such a way as to make the girl who
was moving there seem fixed to a sliding walk,
letting the motion of the wind and the leaves
carry her forward. [...] The trees overhead made
a great sound of letting down their dry rain.”
― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
Imagery/SD--Example
“The greatest of funeral fires wound up to the
clouds, it roared in front of the mound.
Heads melted, wounds burst open, while
blood gushed forth from the gashes in the
bodies. […] Their mightiest men had
departed.”
(unknown, Beowulf)
Imagery/SD--Example
It was about forty yards to the gallows. I watched the bare brown back of
the prisoner marching in front of me. He walked clumsily with his bound arms, but
quite steadily, with that bobbing gait of the Indian who never straightens his knees.
At each step his muscles slid neatly into place, the lock of hair on his scalp danced
up and down, his feet printed themselves on the wet gravel. And once, in spite of
the men who gripped him by each shoulder, he stepped slightly aside to avoid a
puddle on the path.
It is curious, but till that moment I had never realized what it means to destroy a
healthy, conscious man. When I saw the prisoner step aside to avoid the puddle, I
saw the mystery, the unspeakable wrongness, of cutting a life short when it is in full
tide. This man was not dying, he was alive just as we were alive. All the organs of
his body were working--bowels digesting food, skin renewing itself, nails growing,
tissues forming--all toiling away in solemn foolery. His nails would still be growing
when he stood on the drop, when he was falling through the air with a tenth of a
second to live. His eyes saw the yellow gravel and the gray walls, and his brain still
remembered, foresaw, reasoned--reasoned even about puddles. He and we were a
party of men walking together, seeing, hearing, feeling, understanding the same
world; and in two minutes, with a sudden snap, one of us would be gone--one mind
less, one world less.
("A Hanging" by George Orwell)
Imagery/SD
Your turn: Expand using imagery/specific
details for effect.
-Write about a favorite holiday memory.
Repetition for Effect
As a rhetorical device,
it could be a word,
phrase, full sentence,
or a poetical line,
repeated to emphasize
its significance in the
entire text.
Rep. for Effect: Anaphora


Anaphora: A rhetorical device that repeats the same
word or words at the beginning of two+ successive
phrases or clauses, often alongside PARALLELISM and
using a TRICOLON.
“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)
Anaphora

"But one hundred years later, the Negro still
is not free. One hundred years later, the life
of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the
manacles of segregation and the chains of
discrimination. One hundred years later, the
Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the
midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.
One hundred years later, the Negro is still
languished in the corners of American society
and finds himself an exile in his own land" –
(Martin Luther King, Jr.)
Rep. for Effect: Epiphora
(also
known as Epistrophe):


Definition: A rhetorical device that repeats the
same word or phrase at the end of two+
successive phrases or clauses.
"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’)
Rep. for Effect: Epiphora
(also
known as Epistrophe):

"It was a creed written into the founding
documents that declared the destiny of a
nation: Yes, we can. It was whispered by
slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail
towards freedom through the darkest of
nights: Yes, we can. It was sung by immigrants
as they struck out from distant shores and
pioneers who pushed westward against an
unforgiving wilderness:Yes, we can.”

(Barack Obama)
Epiphora--Example
When all of my friends made fun of me
for falling down the stairs, you didn’t.
When everyone else had left me out of
the game, you didn’t. When the team
made me sit on the bench, you didn’t.
When all of the soldiers came home
from the war, you didn’t.
Rep. for Effect
Your turn: Use anaphora & epiphora to
add emphasis to your writing.
 Describe a someone who is a hero to you.

Figurative Language
 This
technique finds new and
creative ways to describe people,
places, things, and ideas.
 Similes—metaphors—hyperbole—
personification, etc.
 It incorporates fresh and creative
similes and metaphors, not clichés.
FL- Example
She graduated. It was not
until then that she realized
what freedom really was.
Finally, she was soaring
through the air, wings
spread wide.
Figurative Language

“Night came walking through Egypt
swishing her black dress.”
― Zora Neale Hurston, Moses, Man of the
Mountain
Figurative Language
Your turn:
-Write a sentence personifying one of the
following:
 peace
 death
 morning
Elaboration/
Expanded Moment
This technique
involves the writer
leaving the main
story line to go into
the
character’s/reader’
s mind and explain
a related experience
or idea.
Elaboration/EM
Example
After the car accident, I held my father’s
head cradled in my lap. I talked to him and
tried to keep him conscious for as long as
possible. I reminded him of the time we
went fishing, and as we tried to load the
boat onto the trailer, he slipped and fell,
scattering fish all in the mud on the edge of
the lake. I stood by the truck and laughed
as he struggled to stand up. Suddenly, I
heard the police sirens, and I told my father
as he struggled to keep his eyes open that
help was almost here. He died before the
police arrived.
Elaboration/Expanded Moment
Speak
Count to twenty. Now imagine walking into Starbucks. As you make your way up to the
counter, the delicate smell of brewing coffee arouses your senses. You politely ease your
way through the herd of people gathered in front of the register and meet the eyes of
the cashier. She acknowledges your presence with a slight nod as irritable grunts set in
around you. You open your mouth to begin speaking, but nothing comes out. Silence.
You continue to stand there, lips spread wide. Embarrassment overtakes you as the herd
glares in your direction. The cashier remains motionless, unsure of how to cope with the
silence. As time stretches onwards, your cheeks burn with shame. The herd begins to
giggle uneasily, and some even go as far as to point. Twenty seconds pass before you
are able to break the silence with a mumbled, "M-M-M-M-May I h-h-have a g-g-grande ll-l-latte?" With an awkward smile, the cashier reaches for your gift card, and you retreat
with your head tucked deep into your chest.
It was moments like these that made me truly ashamed of who I was. Ever since the
age of six, I have stuttered. And before I traveled to Munich this past summer, I wished
every morning that I would wake up without my stutter. I would often avoid answering
the phone, even conversing with my family, anything to abstain from speaking. I was
terrified of what other people would think of me when I stuttered, and so in an attempt
to escape humiliation, I would simply keep quiet. Yet, I could no longer live my life
running from the opportunities I so fervently desired to experience. I craved to be
myself, to do the things that I wanted to do, regardless of my stutter. And so I gathered
the courage to spend three weeks alone in Germany.
Elaboration/Expanded Moment
See also: Weisel, Night (pp. 57-58)
Your turn: Describe a time of deep emotion
in your life, whether it was a time of deep
pain, deep regret, deep fear, deep joy,
etc. Slow down and expand the moment
for your reader.
Elaboration/Expanded Moment
Exercise: Write a scene where you wake
up in a dark house after hearing an odd
sound. Expand the moment to build
suspense.
Humor
Writers use humor for
many reasons... not only to
create a connection with
the reader and cause
him/her to laugh, but also
to lighten the mood in a
tense or serious situation.
Humor—Example
Sitting at the funeral home
waiting for the services to begin,
the old man knew what he would
miss most about his wife of sixty
years: her lying in bed waving the
covers up and down, giggling as
she vented her toot.
Humor—Example
"And you—yes, you, Justin—were the
guilty party who, after I took off my
shoes to enjoy the hot pavement in
early spring, put a frog in them. Of
course, I didn't look at the shoes
when I put them back on; it was the
squish that gave your prank away."
(Liz)
Humor

Exercise: Write a paragraph that places a
character in an environment or situation
you wouldn't expect him to be. Example:
A city boy in a ballet class or a pig in a
chicken coop. Exaggerate the
circumstances to create humor.
Full Circle Ending
Writers will often
begin a piece of
writing with a key
word or phrase,
develop the
piece, and will
bring the reader
back to the key
word or phrase at
the ending.
FCE--Example
She was fat and happy. The day she gave
birth to her first child was
amazing. Everything was perfect. The
child had a beautiful head of hair, all ten
fingers and toes, and slept rather than
crying like most babies do. Now, as an old
woman sitting in her favorite chair visiting
with three of her great grandchildren,
again she was fat and happy.
Full-Circle Ending
Title: Seeing With the Heart
 Concluding sentence: “You never realize
how terrific a moment can be until you
see it with your heart.” (Meeker, Seeing with the

Heart)
Full-Circle Ending
Introduction: “One of the cool things
about being Mike Weir is that you get to
do whatever you want on Mike Weir Day,
which Utah governor Michael Leavitt
declared on May 12, 2003.”
 Conclusion: “Weir was happy with his
game as he left Chicago, but he was
happier to be heading home, where every
day is Mike Weir Day.”(Sports Illustrated)

Full-Circle Ending
Your turn:
Revise a Quick Write in your working
portfolio to include a full-circle ending.
Rhetorical Question

Definition: A
rhetorical question is
asked just for effect
or to lay emphasis on
some point discussed
when no real answer
is expected
Rhetorical Question

“What made you think of love and tears
and birth and death and pain?” (Stewart,
Creation)
 “Will no one tell me what she sings?”
(Wordsworth, The Solitary Reaper)
Practice Makes Perfect!!!

For the remainder of class
ASSIGNMENT: A 300-400 word
descriptive narrative essay about a time in
your life when you made a choice that did
not make you feel good. You may want/need
to embellish (to improve by adding details;
often fictitious details.) the story a bit. The
idea is for you to tell a story that is both
descriptive and entertaining. Use 5-7
Smiley Face Tricks in your essay. Have
fun with this. Remember, the first step in
writing an essay is to BRAINSTORM.
Methods of brainstorming: stream of
consciousness writing and list-making
Asyndeton
Definition: a stylistic device used to
intentionally omit conjunctions between
words, phrases, or clauses.
 “He was a bag of bones, a floppy doll, a
broken stick, a maniac.” (Kerouac, On the Road)
