Rhetorical
Techniques Part II
TONE
What is TONE?
• the author’s (or speaker’s) attitude toward the subject
What is TONE NOT?
• It is not MOOD – how the
writer or speaker wants us
to feel
• Think about the character
Dwight on The Office. His
TONE is often very serious,
determined, and even
angry…
• but the MOOD the writers
are trying to create for us is
humorous.
What is TONE NOT?
• It’s not the SUBJECT of the passage; it’s the
author/speaker’s ATTITUDE towards that particular
subject.
Opening stanza of the poem “Because I Could Not Stop for
Death” by Emily Dickinson
Because I could not stop for Death—
He kindly stopped for me—
The Carriage held but just Ourselves—
And Immortality
The subject of this poem
is death. But, what does
Dickinson compare death
and dying to in this
opening stanza? How do
these choices effect the
TONE?
HOW DO WE FIGURE OUT AN
AUTHOR’S TONE?
While there are many author choices to
consider, let’s focus on three main
elements:
• Diction: specific word choices
• Imagery: words and phrases that appeal to
any of our five senses
• Figurative Language: language that
communicates ideas beyond the literal
meaning of words.
DICTION – the words
the writer chooses
Words have a DENOTATION--the literal
meaning (s) we find in a dictionary
A common definition of terrorist: any one
who attempts to further his views by a system of
coercive intimidation
DICTION – the words
the writer chooses
But words also have a CONNOTATION--the
ideas and emotions we associate with a word,
which can be subjective and can change over
time
Presently, there is great debate about when to use
the term “terrorist” because of ideas, images, and
feelings we associate with this word.
terrorist vs. revolutionary vs. rebel vs. radical
vs. extremist—these words have different
connotations
DICTION – the words
the writer chooses
Consider a word’s CONNOTATION (the ideas
and emotions we associate with a word—which
can be subjective and can change over time)
• pruning the bushes vs. slashing the bushes
• the politician’s stance vs. the politician’s spin
• assertive vs. pushy
• childish vs. youthful
• chatty vs. conversational
• lovely vs. a knockout
• mutt vs. dog
DICTION – the words
the writer chooses
Formal
Informal
Colloquial (Slang)
police officer
cop
the Fuzz
significant other
boyfriend/girlfriend
home skillet/bae
elegant apparel
dressed up
fancy pants
IMAGERY
“There is no retreat but in submission and
slavery! Our chains are forged! Their
clanking may be heard on the plains of
Boston!” ~Patrick Henry in his speech to the Virginia
Convention
• Which of our five senses (taste, touch, sound,
sight, smell) do Henry’s choices appeal to?
• What are the connotations—the feelings we
associate with these images?
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
• “Sir, we have done everything that could
be done, to avert the storm which is now
coming on.” ~Patrick Henry in his speech to the Virginia
Convention
• What is being compared to what in this indirect
metaphor?
• What is the connotation—the feelings we
associate with the figurative language Henry has
chosen?
What signals a
TONE shift?
• BUT! Always be on the lookout for “buts” and any
other transition words that signal a change, such as
yet, nevertheless, however, etc.
• Changes in syntax. After a really long sentence, does
the author emphasize a shift with a really short
sentence?
• Contrast and juxtaposition (of images, ideas, words,
etc.)
• A new paragraph
parallel structure/parallelism
• using the same grammatical structure or pattern
of words, phrases, or clauses to show that two or
more ideas have the same level of importance
“…government
of the people,
by the people,
for the people
shall not
perish from the earth.”
This is specific type of
parallelism known as
a TRICOLON (three
parallel words,
phrases, or clauses
repeating). This is a
very popular
persuasive tool. A list
of three can have a
powerful effect on an
audience or reader.
parallel structure
Nonparallel structure looks like this:
• After school we went
,
, and
• After school we ate nachos, learned
Greek, and then we did back flips off a
roof.
Parallel structure looks like this:
• After school we ,
,
, and
.
• After school we ate nachos, learned
Greek, and chugged Dr. Pepper.
parallel structure
"Our transportation crisis will be solved
by a bigger plane or a wider road,
mental illness with a pill,
poverty with a law,
slums with a bulldozer,
urban conflict with a gas,
racism with a goodwill gesture."
~Philip Slater, The Pursuit of Loneliness.
parallel structure
"Our transportation crisis will be solved
by a bigger plane or a wider road,
comparative adjective/noun
comparative adjective/noun
mental illness with a pill,
poverty with a law,
slums with a bulldozer,
urban conflict with a gas,
noun/prepositional
phrase structure
repeats. These two
are slightly less
parallel because the
writer added an
adjective modifier
before the noun.
racism with a goodwill gesture."
parallel structure
"Humanity has advanced, when
it has advanced, not because it
has been sober, responsible,
and cautious, but because it
has been playful, rebellious,
and immature.
Notice – parallel structure is not
about merely repeating words.
All the words can be
different. It’s the grammatical
pattern that repeats.
~Tim Robbins,
actor/writer/director
parallel structure
"Humanity has advanced, when it
has advanced, not because it has
been sober, responsible, and
cautious, but because it has been
playful, very rebellious, and
sometimes dominated by a state of
immaturity.”
Here is a NONPARALLEL version of the same quote.
Why is it not parallel?
antithesis
• two opposite ideas are juxtaposed in a
sentence with parallel structure to
emphasize the contrast
Example: “That’s one small step for man;
one giant leap for mankind.”
~Astronaut, Neil Armstrong
Example: “It was the best of times, it was the
worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it
was the age of foolishness…”
~Opening of Charles Dickens’s novel A Tale of Two Cities
anecdote
• a short, interesting or amusing
account/story of an experience used by
a speaker or writer to illustrate a point or
advance an argument
• In The Crucible when John Proctor is trying
to show Rev. Hale why he doesn’t respect
Rev. Parris, he tells the anecdote about
the golden candlesticks to make his point
• Not to be confused with an antidote-something used to counteract the effects of
a poison or other undesirable element.
aphorism
• A brief cleverly-worded statement, usually
one sentence long, that expresses a general
principle or truth about life.
• Examples of aphorisms Ben Franklin
wrote:
- “Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon
and wise too late.”
- “We are all born ignorant, but one must
work hard to remain stupid.”