Terms for Literary and
Rhetorical Analysis
Devices, Strategies, and
Techniques for AP
English Language and
Composition
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Pick a category...
Rhetorical
devices
Structures
and types
of
arguments
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Literary
and
figurative
devices
Syntax
Tone
and
style
Back to categories
Rhetorical Techniques
Rhetorical
appeals
Anticipated
Argument
Syllogism
Logical
fallacies
Identify
Lines of
Proof
Back to rhetorical techniques
Rhetorical Appeals
Ethos
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Pathos
Logos
Ethos—invoking character
“We believe good men more fully and more readily
than others” -Aristotle
Establish the morality of the speaker, or
Show that the speaker has good intentions, or
Show that speaker is credible or is an authority
Common ethical appeals:
God and religion
Claim something is the RIGHT thing to do
Personal history that reflects good deeds
Use “we” to imply unity with audience
Use expert testimony to support self
Ask yourself:
What character is the speaker presenting?
How?
Is that character reliable enough that you can
accept her/his argument?
Back to Rhetorical Appeals
Ethos
In an argument promoting
strict standards for toxic
emissions, Al Gore might:
Establish his own twenty year
crusade to protect the
environment
Cite evidence from credible
PhDs and organizations that
have conducted studies that
support his claim
In a speech to announce her
candidacy for Governor of
North Carolina, Libby Dole
might:
Reference her work with the red cross
Establish her selfless goals to benefit
the population of the state
Tell an anecdote about attending church
with her family
Pathos—emotional appeal
Stir the emotions of the audience
Use audience’s anger, fear, patriotism, sympathy to
call them into action
Use CHARGED DICTION—words with emotional
connotation
Tell emotional anecdotes
Create imagery that inspires emotion
Back to Rhetorical Appeals
Pathos
In a speech rousing an
army to fight courageously,
a general might:
Allude to soldiers of the past
who have demonstrated
courage
Reference a recent event that
evokes anger
Remind soldiers of the families
they hope to protect by
winning their war
In a letter encouraging county
commissioners to invest in a
poverty-stricken area of town, a
person might:
Describe sympathetic images of
suffering in the community
Narrate an anecdote about a man who
died from heat stroke because he could
not afford an air conditioner
Logos—logical appeals
Use logical explanations
Use reasons to support ideas
Substantiate/support your claims
Deductive reasoning
Syllogism
Enthymeme
Logos
In an editorial arguing in
favor of wire tapping
without warrants, a writer
might:
Cite a survey that shows a
high percentage of public
support for the program
Provide evidence that such a
program can reduce the threat
of terrorism
In a discussion convincing your parents
to allow you a later curfew, you might:
Establish the conditions under which a person
ought to be permitted adult responsibilities
Show evidence that your responsible friends
are permitted later curfews and have not broken
them or been harmed during later hours
Deductive Logic
If a fact is generally true
about a group, then it is
true about parts of that
group.
For example, if all students
are unique, then Kandes is
unique.
Used when a believable truth
or principle can be used to
determine truth for a specific
case
Syllogism
Deductive Logic—Syllogism
Major premise: a definition or
statement of truth
Must be general enough to be
accepted as true
Should be specific enough to
prepare the minor premise and
conclusion
It’s like the transitive
property of equality:
if A=B
and B=C
then A=C
Minor premise: an example of that
definition or statement
Generally requires evidence
Conclusion: What logically makes
sense following the major and
minor premises
So deductive logic is
mathematical
Syllogism example
Major Premise
Minor Premise
Conclusion
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All humans are mortal.
Socrates is human.
Socrates is mortal.
Syllogism example
Rules that restrict free
speech are unconstitutional.
The dress code restricts
students from expressing
themselves freely.
The dress code is
unconstitutional.
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Back to Structures
Back to Rhetorical Appeals
Syllogisms—some suggestions
Use syllogisms to prove a specific case.
Start by figuring out what you want to prove (for example:
the dress code is unfair)
Then figure out what major premise you can use to make
your point (for example: rules that stifle individuality are
unfair)
Write and support your minor premise with examples,
statistics, etc.
Identify
Back to rhetorical techniques
Speaker attempts to identify or connect with the
audience by alluding to what they have in common:
Shared history
Shared heros
Shared values
Shared religion
Shared beliefs
Shared mythos
Sometimes use of 1st person plural (we, us, our) can
help speaker identify with audience.
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Back to rhetorical techniques
Lines of Proof
Socrates--Plato--Aristotle--Alexander the
Great
Ancient Greek philosopher, scientist, etc.
Wrote Rhetorica
Analytical thinker--classified everything into
categories, subcategories, etc.
Categorized 64 lines of proof
Structures for logical argumentation used
commonly by people constructing arguments.
Motives of
Self Gain
Correlative
Ideas
Presence and
Absence of
Cause and
Effect
Consistency
with Past
Action
Analogy
Logical
Division
A Fortiori
Causes
Produce the
Same
Results
Back to Lines of Proof
Motives of Self Gain
If a person can gain or can
prevent loss, then they are
likely to act in order to do
so.
If Ellen were to cheat, she
would avoid failing 10th grade.
Ellen probably cheated.
Back to Lines of Proof
Correlative Ideas
If an act is good or likely to
happen, then it is right or
likely that a person cause it
to happen.
If it is acceptable for children
to be paddled for misbehavior,
then it should be acceptable for
teachers to paddle them when
they misbehave.
Back to Lines of Proof
Presence and Absence
of Cause and Effect
If a cause is present, then
the effect is also present.
If a cause is absent, then
the effect is also absent.
The teacher’s excessive
homework assignments were
the cause of my failure. If she
would stop giving so much
homework, I would pass.
Back to Lines of Proof
Consistency with Past Action
If a behavior or fact has
generally existed in the
past, then it is likely or
good that it exists in the
present.
America has always been a
land of opportunity for people of
all ethnicities.
America should continue to
offer citizenship to people of
Arab nations.
Back to Lines of Proof
Causes Produce the Same Results
If two results are the same,
then their causes are the
same.
Jessie’s parents valued
education, and Jessie
succeeded in school. Martha
also succeeded in school, so it
is likely that her parents valued
education.
Back to Lines of Proof
A Fortiori
Latin: “from the stronger”
If X is true in a less likely
case, then X must also be
true in a more likely case.
We consider Bethany, who has
only killed one person in her
life, an immoral monster, so we
must consider Walker, who has
murdered many times, immoral
as well.
Back to Lines of Proof
Logical Division
If result X has several
possible causes (A, B, C),
but all but one of those
causes (B & C) can be
eliminated, then the
remaining cause (A) must
exist as the sole cause of
the result.
You can fail because of poor
attendance or low grades. Your
grades are A’s, so you must
have missed school too many
days.
Back to Lines of Proof
Analogy
Two situations that are
alike in most observable
ways will tend to be alike in
other ways.
The Soviet Union and China
both had communist
revolutions…
Soviet dictators corrupted
communist priciples, so China
probably did, too.
Back to rhetorical techniques
Anticipated Argument
Two kinds of anticipated
When a writer predicts an
opponent’s argument and argument:
addresses them in his own
argument.
But doesn’t it harm his
argument?
If he doesn’t, then the
opponent’s position is
presented unopposed and
is assumed to be true.
Concession
Refutation
Concession
Conceding or
admitting
validity or truth
in opponent’s
argument.
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In an argument promoting the war
against terror, President Bush
might admit that his opponents are
correct when they argue for peace,
because war is only a last resort.
Refutation
Acknowledging
your opponent’s
argument and
explaining why it is
invalid, illogical, or
false
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Back to rhetorical techniques
In an argument promoting
the war against terror,
President Bush might
acknowledge his
opponent’s call for peace
but argue that peace will
not generate itself when
violent terrorists are
attacking. Peace will be
made only when war can
be ended.
Back to rhetorical techniques
Logical fallacies
An argument that is, either deliberately or accidentally,
flawed in its logic.
The Informed Argument isolates 15 logical fallacies.
Several fallacies are defined in the slides that follow.
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Faulty
Analogy
Ad
Hominem
Post Hoc
Ergo
Propter
Hoc
False
Dilemna
NonSequitor
Slippery
Slope
Begging
the
Question
Equivocating
Faulty
Generaliz
ation
Red
Herring
Opposing
a Straw
Man
Back to Logical Fallacies
Faulty Analogy
Making an argument by comparing two
scenarios, situations, or events.
The analogy becomes faulty when the
comparison is unreasonable to the
audience.
Employees are like nails.
Just as nails must be hit in
the head in order to make
them work, so must
employees.
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Back to Logical Fallacies
Ad Hominem Argument
“To the man”
Rather than arguing an issue,
the speaker directs an argument
toward the individual.
President Roosevelt’s New Deal was
not a sound policy. His upper-class
background made him an incapable
representative for the poor.
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Back to Logical Fallacies
Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc
“After, therefore because of”
An argument that suggests that
because one event followed
another, then it must have
happened as a result of the event.
The economy was in great shape
when President Clinton was in office,
but it fell apart when President Bush
took office. He must be the cause.
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Back to Logical Fallacies
Begging the Question
Eating McDonald’s is
bad for you because it’s
unhealthy
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“Circular Reasoning”
When the premise from which an
argument is presented is only
believable to someone who already
believes conclusion.
Usually, premise and conclusion
are essentially the same.
Back to Logical Fallacies
Equivocating
Using vague or ambiguous language to
mislead an audience.
Eg. freedom, justice, real, right, society,
power.
America is a land of truth
and justice, and justice is
what will be dealt to any
nation supporting the
terrorists.
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Back to Logical Fallacies
Opposing a Straw Man
A straw man is an artificial or imagined
opponent with positions that are easy to
refute.
Speakers will sometimes refute the
“straw man” rather than debating the
actual opponent.
Pretending to oppose your opponent by Students will argue that XSTOP prevents them from
refuting only an extreme position from
obtaining research they need
the opposing point of view.
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for their courses, but research
of pornographic images and
offensive rap lyrics is hardly
pertinent to their studies.
Back to Logical Fallacies
False Dilemma
Posing only two options (as solutions,
etc.) when other possibilities exist.
But officer, I had to
speed; otherwise, I
would have missed
curfew, which is illegal,
too.
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Back to Logical Fallacies
Non-Sequitur
“It does not follow”
Presenting a conclusion that does not
follow logically from the evidence or
explanation.
It is important to question the
assumptions, or warrants, being used in
these arguments.
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Little Nicky stars Adam
Sandler, one of the
funniest comedians of
our time. The movie
has to be hilarious.
Sliding Down a Slippery Slope
Arguing that one small
step will inevitably lead
to extreme
consequences.
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If we permit cloning of cells for
medical purposes, then, before you
know it, we’ll have armies of
cloned humans, an Aryan Nation,
perhaps, as Hitler once conceived.
Back to Logical Fallacies
Faulty Generalization
Arguing that if something is
generally true about a group, then
it must be true about any part of
that group.
The generalization becomes faulty
when it is too broad or fails to
recognize the possibility of
variation within a group.
This fallacy is a reminder that
premises must be believable.
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Democrats defend a
woman’s right to abort
a pregnancy.
Felicia is a democrat;
therefore, she must be
pro-choice.
Back to Logical Fallacies
Red Herring
A red herring is a stinky fish, often used to
throw dogs off a trail.
As a logical fallacy, a red herrings is when
you make an argument that does not relate
to the issue at hand in an effort to lead your
reader off the actual topic.
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The school newspaper should not be
protected by the 1st Amendment. The
advisor is irresponsible and the students
like to play with spinny chairs.
Back to categories
Literary & Figurative Devices
Imagery
Personification
Allusion
Simile
Apostrophe
Symbolism
Metaphor
Back to literary devices
Imagery
Using concrete
language to create
sensory details.
Frequently visual
images.
Also:
Smell
Taste
Touch
Sound
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Here and there, where the
vaporish clouds had rolled apart
to reveal a clump of trees or a
bare, jagged, fang-like snag of
rocks, the reverberations of
their haunting melody sang out
like a choir of brass in an
orchestra. Henry Miller
Miller calls on concrete imagery to create
a sense of mysterious beauty for his
setting, the Greek island of Corfu.
Back to literary devices
Allusion
A reference, usually
subtle or indirect, to
another work of art or
literature
Most common are
Biblical allusions,
references to the
characters and stories
of the Bible
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In Ayn Rand’s Anthem
Equality renames himself
Prometheus when he
discovers the value of the
self and the word “ego.”
The name Prometheus alludes to Greek
mythology and suggests the character’s ability to
deliver new knowledge to the masses, even at the
risk of offending the gods, which the Greek
Prometheus did by brining fire from Mt. Olympus
to humans.
Back to literary devices
Simile
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In the early afternoon it was
A comparison of one
always quiet, the whole place
thing (character,
event, object, setting) tossing slowly in tropical
with something it is
repose, as if the building
not.
itself swung on a
miraculous hammock...
Comparison uses
“like” or “as” to
•from Americana by Don DeLillo
indicate similarity.
DeLillo emphasizes the relaxed, post-lunch
atmosphere of the office by comparing the feeling
to that of swinging on a hammock.
Back to literary devices
Metaphor
An association of one
thing (character,
event, object, setting)
with something it is
not.
Says one thing IS
another. Does not say
it is similar or like...
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The moon is full tonight
an illustration for sheet music,
an image in Matthew Arnold
glimmering on the English Channel,
or a ghost over a smoldering battlefield
in one of the history plays
from “Moon” by Billy Collins
Collins gives the reader as sense of the moon’s mystery
and artistic quality by associating it with other images,
particularly that of a ghost over a battlefield.
Back to literary devices
Personification
Assigning human
or human-like
qualities to nonhuman and
inanimate objects.
Through one of the broken
panes I heard the rain impinge
upon the earth, the fine incessant
needles of water playing in the
sodden beds.
from “Araby” by James Joyce
Joyce adds life, perhaps even willpower,
to the rain by choosing the action verb
“playing” instead of falling or plunging
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Back to literary devices
Apostrophe
Similar to
personification
Addressing or
speaking to
inanimate objects as
if they are human
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Douglass speaks to the
sailboats as if they are free
men, comparing them to
himself, a slave
contemplating escape.
“You are loosed from your
moorings, and are free; I am fast in
my chains, and am a slave! You
move merrily before the gentle
gale, and I sadly before the bloody
whip! You are freedom’s softwinged angels, that fly round the
world; I am confined in bands of
iron!”
from Narrative of the Life of
Frederick Douglass by Frederick
Douglass
Back to literary devices
Symbolism
The use of a physical object, character, or
setting to represent an abstract idea or to
parallel a character.
Colors can also be symbolic
Allegory: when a story consists of a series of
symbols and is symbolic in itself
GREEN
with
ENVY
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= KNOWLEDGE
Back to categories
Syntax
Length
Simple
Compound
Complex
Declarative
Imperative
Interrogative
Exclamatory
Syntax
devices
Sentence length
The average
sentence ranges
from 12-20 words.
Sentences that are
significantly shorter
or longer than that
average range
might imply
rhetorical intent.
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Long sentences:
Tend to imply elaboration and
increased complexity
Might suit a more academic or
educated audience
But could imply unpunctuated
rambling
Tend to slow pacing
Pacing is the rate at which an author’s prose flow. A faster pace implies
intensity, whereas slower pacing might imply contentment or calm or might serve as
contrast to a building pace/intensity.
Sentence Length Example
DURING the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless
day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds
hung oppressively low in the heavens, had been
passing alone, on horseback, through a
singularly dreary tract of country, and at length
found myself, as the shades of the evening drew
on, within view of the melancholy House of
Usher.
from Edgar Allen Poe’s “Fall of the House of Usher”
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Back to syntax
Sentence length
Short sentences:
Suggest simplicity
Emphasize a definitive, blunt point, esp. in the context of
longer sentences.
In succession, tend to increase pacing. The same is true,
perhaps moreso, of series of short clauses and phrases
within sentences.
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Sentence Length Example
They should've buried Lance Armstrong this time.
They had him laid out like a yard sale on a Pyrenees
road. Had him sick, white-mouthed and dizzy. Had
him riding in the weeds, riding borrowed bikes and
cracked bikes. Hell, once they had him carrying his
bike. Had him scabbed and swollen, hip throbbing,
saddle sores mounting, out of water and luck and
hope. But they didn't bury him. Couldn't.
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Sentence complexity
Simple sentences
Sentences
containing one
independent
clause--that is
one subject and
one predicate.
Tend to imply
simple ideas.
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Jonah ate cake.
Hiding beneath his bed, Jonah
devoured glorious mounds of birthday
cake.
Sentence complexity
Compound
sentences
Contain two
independent
clauses, that is two
sets of
subject/predicate
pairings.
Two clauses are
combined with:
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comma + conjunction
semicolon
Show relationships
between ideas
Jonah ate cake, and Betty nibbled on
carrots.
Hiding beneath his bed, Jonah
devoured glorious mounds of birthday
cake, but his mother could not find him.
Back to syntax
Sentence complexity
Complex sentences
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An independent
clause with one or
more dependent
clauses.
Tend to imply
complex ideas.
Show relationships
between ideas
Dependent/subordi
nate clause
receives less
significance than
main clause.
Jonah snuck upstairs to eat cake when
no one was looking.
Because his parents restricted his diet
364 days per year, Jonah devoured
glorious mounds of birthday cake beneath
the safe confines of his bed.
Types of sentences
Declarative
Statements of fact
Implies an assertion of
knowledge.
Most common sentence
type.
“Marmeladov fell silent,
as though his voice had
failed him.”
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Imperative
Statements that command or
instruct
Often implies speaker’s
authority, superiority, certainty
or command over audience.
Often “you” is understood
subject.
“Do me a favor, don’t speak of
it”
examples quoted from Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment
Back to syntax
Types of sentences
Interrogative
Questions
May imply uncertainty,
investigation, or range
of possibility.
May be rhetorical
“Who am I to help
anyone? Do I have any
right to help? Let them
all gobble each other
alive--what is it to me?”
Exclamatory
Sentences that exclaim (and
tend to be punctuated with
exclamation marks!)
Implies zeal, enthusiasm,
vigor, intensity.
“Now is the kingdom of reason
and light and ...and will and
strength... and now we shall
see! Now we shall cross
swords!”
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examples quoted from Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment
Back to syntax
Syntax Devices
Devices of
comparison
Interrogative
devices
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Devices of
repetition
Devices of
distinction
Devices of
exaggeration
Back to syntax devices
Syntax devices of comparison
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Analogy
Antithesis
Juxtaposition
Oxymoron
Parody
Contrast
Back to comparison
Analogy
An explicit comparison between two things (events,
ideas, people, etc.)
Purpose is to further a line of reasoning or allow
audience to associate recognizable traits of compared
item with the item being discussed..
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“Our men in uniform are like the college football players.
While the struggle is impending, they are observing the
rules of training that they may be fit to fight. But when the
game has been won, the temptation to break training and
make up for the restraints of the past months and years
will be a mighty one.
John D. Rockefeller, Jr. War Campaign Address
Back to comparison
Antithesis
A contrasting of opposing ideas in adjacent (usually
parallel) phrases, clauses or sentences
The world will little note, nor long remember,
what we say here, but it can never forget what
they did here”
Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
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Back to comparison
Juxtaposition
When two contrasting things (ideas, words, images)
are placed beside each other for comparison
“...A mango tree on broadway...”
Meena Alexander
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Back to comparison
Oxymoron
Two words with contrary or apparently contradictory
meanings occurring next to each other, which evoke
some measure of truth
“Safe sex--now there’s an oxymoron. That’s like tactical
nuke or adult male.”
Tim Curry in Lover’s Knot
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Back to comparison
Parody
A humorous imitation of a work of art or style of an
artist, often in an effort to mock it.
Space Balls=Star Wars
Scary Movie=Scream (and other horror films)
Austin Powers trilogy=James Bond films
65
Back to comparison
Contrast
A general term for the use of images, words, ideas, or
characters that serve as opposites to each other.
Use of contrast tends to emphasize the item being
contrasted.
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Back to syntax devices
Syntax Devices of Repetition
Repetition
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Text
Epistrophe
Anaphora
Back to devices of repetition
Repetition
Repeated use of any word, phrase, image, or idea
used to emphasize or elaborate upon the idea.
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Back to devices of repetition
Epistrophe
Repetition of final word or group of words in
successive phrases or clauses
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“I said you’re afraid to bleed. [As] long
as the white man sent you to Korea, you
bled. He sent you to Germany, you bled.
He sent you to the South Pacific to fight
the Japanese, you bled. You bleed for
white people. But when it comes time to
seeing your own churches being bombed
and little black girls being murdered, you
haven’t got no blood.”
Malcolm X, Message to the Grassroots
Back to devices of repetition
Anaphora
Repetition of initial word or group of words in
successive phrases or clauses
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“To raise a happy, healthy, and hopeful
child, it takes a family; it takes teachers; it
takes clergy; it takes business people; it
takes community leaders; it takes those
who protect our health and safety. It takes
all of us.”
Hillary Clinton, 1996 Democratic
National Convention
Back to syntax devices
Syntax Devices of Distinction
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Parallelism
Asyndeton
Polysyndeton
Distinctio
Enumeration
Apposition
Periodic
sentence
Back to devices of
distinction
Parallelism
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A means of arranging a series of
related words, phrases or clauses in
which each item in the series is
grammatically equal.
Let every nation know, whether
it wishes us well or ill, that we
shall pay any price, bear any
burden, meet any hardship,
support any friend, oppose any
foe to assure the survival and
the success of liberty.”
John F. Kennedy, Inaugural
Address
Back to devices of
distinction
Asyndeton
A series of words or phrases not separated by
normally occurring conjunctions (and, or, yet, but, so)
Emphasis added to series, esp. to final item in series.
We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these
words as the backbone of a life defending something.
You use them as a punch line.
delivered by Jack Nicholson, A Few Good Men
73
Back to devices of
distinction
Polysyndeton
Deliberate and excessive use of
conjunctions (and, but, yet, or, so) in
series of words, phrases or clauses
Tends to isolate and add impact to
each item in list
Tends to emphasize abundance of
items
“In years gone by, there were in every
community men and women who spoke
the language of duty and morality and
loyalty and obligation.”
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William F. Buckley
Back to devices of
distinction
Periodic sentence
Sentence in which the most important idea (of the
sentence) occurs at the end.
Places key idea or term foremost in audience’s mind,
thus emphasizing that idea.
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Back to devices of
distinction
Distinctio
Explicit definition of or elaboration upon the
meaning of a word or set of words set off by an
introductory reference:
“by X I mean”
“which is to say that”
“that is”
Tends to isolate and add impact to each item in
list
Tends to emphasize abundance of items
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“I’ve been in football all my life, really, and I want to say this-that it’s a great game, and it’s a Spartan type of game. I mean by
that it takes Spartan qualities in order to be a part of it, to play it.
Vince Lombardi
Back to devices of
distinction
Enumeration
To enumerate
The listing or detailing of the parts of something.
“We formed in 1979, June, in Washington D.C. the Moral
Majority, with a handful of people...which has grown now to
over a hundred thousand priests and rabbis and pastors and
blacks and whites and young and old and all kinds.”
What other device is at
work in this example?
77
Back to devices of
distinction
Apposition
Use of an appositive, a noun
or noun phrase that renames
another noun
Adjacent nouns or noun
phrases with one elaborating
on the other
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I, Barbara Jordan, am a
keynote speaker.
Barbara Jordan, 1976
Democratic Convention
Address
Back to syntax devices
Syntax devices of exaggeration
Apotheosis
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Euphemism
Understatement
Hyperbole
Back to devices of
distinction
Apotheosis
When a character or thing is elevated to such a high
status that it appears godlike
To apotheosize is to deify in literature
Emphasizes/exaggerates traits of character
Oscar Schindler rose up, as if from death, hovering above
the weakened workers, and from him shone an ethereal
light, which all would follow as if salvation depended on it.
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Back to devices of
distinction
Euphemism
A mild or pleasant sounding expression used to
convey an unpleasant idea
Tends to mollify the intensity and disguise negative
connotation of charged terms
The community whispered behind her back that she was in
a family way.
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distinction
Understatement
When an author assigns less significance to an event
or thing than it deserves.
Frequently used for humorous effect
Hurricane Floyd drizzled on Eastern North Carolina,
sprinkling the trees and flowers with new life.
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distinction
Hyperbole
Intentional exaggeration for rhetorical effect
Tends to intensify or exaggerate significance of item
being exaggerated.
Frequently used for emotion (or pathetic, as in pathos)
appeal.
“Why you got scars and knots on your head from the top of
your head to the bottom of your feet. And every one of those
scars is evidence against the American white man.
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Back to syntax devices
Interrogative Syntax Devices
Rhetorical
question
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Hypophora
Back to Interrogative
Devices
Rhetorical question
Sentence which asks a question, not for the purpose
of further discussion, but to assert or deny an answer
implicitly
A question whose answer is obvious or implied. A
question for argument
“Until someone can prove the unborn child is not a life,
shouldn’t we give it the benefit of the doubt and assume it
is?”
Ronald Reagan
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Devices
Hypophora
Figure of reasoning in which one
or more questions is/are asked
and then answered, by the same
speaker
Raising and responding to one’s
own question(s)
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“When the enemy struck on that June day of 1950, what did
America do? It did what it always has done in all its times of peril. It
appealed to the heroism of its youth.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower, “I Shall Go to Korea”
Back to categories
Tone and Style
Tone
definition
Tone words
Humor
Back to Tone
Tone
The attitude an author conveys toward his subject, or
toward characters or events
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Back to Tone
Tone Words
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Angry
Celebratory
Pedantic
Conceited
Whimsical
Ironic
Sarcastic
Enraged
Surreal
Euphemistic
Arrogant
Back to Tone
Humor
Authors may use humor to convey tone
Humor can take many forms
Verbal wit
Mockery
Slapstick
The ridiculous
The grotesque
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Structure and types of argument
Toulmin
Model
Deductive
Classical
Rogerian
Inductive
Back to Structures
Claim: Assertion or conclusion
speaker intends to prove
Data: Evidence supporting the claim.
Also called reasons
Informalthat
model
for logical argumentation developed by
Warrant: Assumption
connects
Stephen
the data with the
claim Toulmin.
Acknowledges that logic is based on PROBABILITY
more than CERTAINTY.
Consists of three parts
Toulmin Model
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Toulmin Model
Claim: Tina may vote in the next election.
Data: Tina is an eighteen-year-old citizen of the US.
Warrant: US citizens eighteen and older are
permitted to vote in elections.
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Back to Structures
Deductive
see The Informed Argument, p. 134
Developing an argument from broad, general truth to a
specific conclusion
General truth
Specific details
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Go to Deductive Logic
Back to Structures
Inductive
see The Informed Argument, p. 132
Drawing a conclusion based on evidence presented.
Specific evidence is presented first.
A conclusion of general truth is drawn based on
evidence.
Consider these suggestions:
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Arrange evidence so that reader anticipates the same
Specific details
conclusion you wish to draw.
Consider how your evidence will affect your reader.
Decide how much evidence to use.
Interpret/explain the evidence to your audience. Don’t
wait for them to do it.
General truth
Classical Arrangement
Introduction: Capture reader’s attention, introduce issues, urge
audience to consider care you are about to present
Background: Present/narrate key events behind your case, focus
on presenting information, so audience will understand the case
Proposition: Divide information portion of argument from
reasoning part, outline major points to be followed, state position,
indicate lines rest of argument will follow
Proof: Present heart of argument, make your case, discuss reasons
and cite evidence to support evidence
Refutation: Anticipate and refute opposing views by showing
errors or explaining flaws in logic
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Conclusion:
Summarize more important points, make final appeal
to values and feelings to leave audience favorably disposed toward
your case
Back to Structures
Rogerian
Rogerian
see Informed Argument, pp. 127-132
Carl Rogers
Psychotherapist, focused on listening for
understanding
Influenced a more open-minded approach
to rhetoric
Contrasts tendencies to:
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Avoid opponent’s position altogether
Assert own claims rather than seeking
truth
Assert first and anticipate opponent’s
argument later
Focuses more on concession than
refutation
Go to Anticipated
Argument
Introduction: State the problem you hope to resolve, expressing
need for solution, desire for positive (win/win) change
Summary of Opposing Viewpoints: Make accurate and objective
statement of opponent’s views, reveal attitude of fairness and openmindedness
Rogerian
Statement of Understanding: Concede acceptance of opponent’s
views, esp. that they be valid under certain circumstances,
Statement of Your Position: Explain your own position/solution
to the problem
Statement of Contexts: Explain the context/situation under which
your assertion is best, show merit of your position within those
contexts, limit yourself to those contexts and avoid absolutes
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Statement
of Benefits: Appeal to interests/values of those
beginning to adopt your position, show benefits of your solution,
conclude with positive message