Definition of Rhetoric – the art of persuasive speaking or writing
Aristotle’s Rhetorical Triangle:
SPEAKER
AUDIENCE
SUBJECT
GENRES
Poem
Letter (Epistle) epistolary novel?
Speech
Fiction
Essay
Personal Narrative
Creative Non-Fiction
Fictional Memoir (meta-fiction)
Autobiography
Biography
MODES OF DISCOURSE
1. Exposition
2. Description
3. Narration
4. Argumentation
5. Reflection
6*. Meditation
Rhetorical strategies and stylistic devices
Rhetorical Forms
-Narrative (first-person vs. third person)
-Compare & Contrast
-Cause & Effect
-Extended Definition
-Division & Classification
-Process Analysis
Diction – word choice
(“diction conveys meaning”)
- Latin phrases = formality vs.
slang = informality
- scientific jargon conveys
objectivity?
- mixed diction = mixed feelings?
Ex: Barry Lopez calls the vandals
“infidels,” which likens the preservation
of the desert to a holy war.
Tone – attitude of the author (diction
helps create tone)
*You have a whole cheat sheet for tone
in the packet
Syntax – word order
-Long vs. short sentences (or
fragments)
-passive voice (“Her head was
leaned..”)
-polysyndeton & asyndeton
-Inverted syntax: antithesis (ask not
what your country can do for you but
what you can do for your country…)
Repetition (anaphora) - (It can be
recovered…It can be recovered)
Figurative Language, Imagery
Metaphor, Simile, Personification –
Ethos – ethical appeal (right & wrong;
also, establishing credibility)
Pathos – emotional appeal
Logos – logical appeal
Irony
Wild card
Ex. The more Orwell humanizes the
elephant, the more he conveys his
shame.
The image of…conveys the author’s…
Don’t just say what the image is; say
what it does and why.