Rhetorical Terms
Presentation 3
By:
Dylan Videto
Ian Green
Jimmy Turner
AP Comp 2nd Hour
In Medias Res
• Latin for “in the midst of things.” A
narrative technique that involves
starting at a crucial event in the
narrative and telling the story from
there, providing background
information through flashbacks. In
the middle of a series of events.
Often used in epics.
Examples of In Medias Res
• Dylan was running from the police; he had not known that the
firecrackers would ignite the combination gas station and bunny
store.
• At Nerf gunpoint, Julia began to cry. Her eyes filling with tears
over a life wasted.
• “Shalika, the teacher tells me afterward, “will go to college” (pg.
36) Kozol starts in the middle of a story and works his way from
the middle to the end and beginning.
• “This was the year in which the members of the United States
Congress, who do not bother to read the actual bills they pass,
spent weeks poring over instant messages sent by a pervert. This
was the year in which the vice president of the United States
shot a lawyer, which turned out to be totally legal in Texas.” That
Blasted Year Dave Barry
Ambiguity
• Doubtfulness or
uncertainty of meaning or
intention. an unclear,
indefinite, or equivocal
word, expression,
meaning, etc.
Examples of Ambiguity
• "John enjoys painting his models nude." Who is nude?
• Ian and Julia started to cry. The hostage was released.
• “‘These are the kids most in need,’ says Edward Flanery, the
principal of one of the low-income schools, ‘and they get the
worst teachers.’” – Savage Inequalities
• “I look at all of you today and I cannot help but see myself
twenty-five years ago, at my own Barnard commencement. I
sometimes seem, in my mind, to have as much in common with
that girl as I do with any stranger I might pass in the doorway of a
Starbucks or in the aisle of an airplane. I cannot remember what
she wore or how she felt that day. But I can tell you this about her
without question: she was perfect.” ANNA QUINDLEN'S
COMMENCEMENT SPEECH MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE
MAY 23, 1999
Amplification
• Repeating a word or
expression while adding
more detail to it, in order
to emphasize what might
otherwise be passed over
Examples of Amplification
• “I smell a smelly smell that smells smelly.”
• “First, we’re losing thousands of dollars in our heating bills
because of faulty windows and because the heating system
cannot be controlled. So I’d renovate the building and install a
whole new heating system and replace the windows. We’ve
had fire damage but I see that as a low priority as well. I’d
settle for a renovation of the typing rooms and new
typewriters. The highest priorities are to subdivide the school
and add a modern wind, then bring the science laboratories
up to date. Enlarge the library. Buy more books. The books
I’ve got, a lot of them are secondhand. I got them from the
catholic high school when it closed. Most of all, we need a
building renovation. That is what I’d do to start with, if I had
an extra $20 million.” – Savage Inequalities.
Examples of Amplification Cont.
• Her cries haunted him for days. Every time he
closed his eyes her cries ranged through his head.
• “He must learn them again. He must teach
himself that the basest of all things is to be afraid;
and, teaching himself that, forget it forever,
leaving no room in his workshop for anything but
the old verities and truths of the heart, the old
universal truths lacking which any story is
ephemeral and doomed - love and honor and pity
and pride and compassion and sacrifice.”
Faulkner’s Nobel Prize Speech
Coherence
•Statements that are
unified and follow
each other in a
logical manner.
Examples of Coherence
• “We couldn't think of an example. We were pressed for
time so we just wrote this down.”
• Ian is severely lacking in coherence. It may have
something to do with being dropped on her head at birth.
• Jonathan Kozol uses great coherence in Savage
Inequalities because all of the paragraphs and chapters
flow well together.
• “I can't send books, either -- you can find them in a
bookstore or a library. Many children assume that a writer
owns (or even makes) his own books. This is not true –
books are made by the publisher. If a writer wants a copy,
he must buy it. That's why I can't send books.” Letter From
EB White
Colloquialism
•A word or phrase used
everyday in plain and
relaxed speech, but
rarely found in formal
writing.
Examples of Colloquialism
• “Just sayin' we covered it in glitter and
junk.”
• I can’t, like, understand why you’re taking
me hostage dude.
• “So the trash is comin’ at us this direction.
The chemicals is comin’ from the other. We
right in the middle.” – Savage Inequalities.
• 'I'm afraid you may put off your bazaar for
this night of Our Lord.' Araby James Joyce
Denotation
• The minimal, strict
definition of a word as
found in a dictionary,
disregarding any
historical or emotional
connotation.
Example of Denotation
• “Holocaust- to sacrifice by fire. But in historical
context it refers to the genocide launched but Nazi
Germany in WW2”
• “I love this pot.” The literal definition of pot is a
vessel used to cook noodles.
• “’Five of those seven,’ says the principal, ‘get
reduced-price lunches, because they are classified as
only “poor” not “destitute.”’”
• This “abounding, ebullient, effervescent emotion”
Incapable of Being Indifferent Kay Redfield Jamison,
Ph.D.
Dialect
•The language of a
particular district,
class, or group of
persons.
Examples of Dialect
• “Yo Yo Yo Home diggity dawg skillet! What be
up in da hood?”
• “Howdy ya’ll!” -Morgan Cummings
• Jonathan Kozol skillfully captures the different
voices, dialects and accents of the residents,
differentiating between young and old, male
and female from East St. Louis in Savage
Inequalities.
• “There is always the chance of your being laid
up.” Proper Place for Sports Theodore Roosevelt
Epiphany
• A sudden, intuitive perception
of or insight into the reality or
essential meaning of
something, usually initiated by
some simple, homely, or
commonplace occurrence or
experience.
Examples of Epiphany
• Google's Epiphany- Good videos are hard to make.
• Maybe we shouldn’t have made peanut lobster at
the Americans with Allergies convention
• “What startled me most – although it puzzles me
that I was not prepared for this – was the
remarkable degree of racial segregation that
persisted almost everywhere.” – Savage
Inequalities.
• “Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a
creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes
burned with anguish and anger.” Araby James Joyce
Epigraph
•A quotation or
inscription at the
beginning of a book,
chapter, etc.,
suggesting its theme.
Examples of Epigraph
• “In the dark recesses of the mind, a disease known as FEAR feasts
upon the souls of those who cannot overcome its power.”
Adventure Time.
• John 12:24. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall
into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth
forth much fruit.“ From the Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov
• The prologue in Savage Inequalities.
• “I look at all of you today and I cannot help but see myself twentyfive years ago, at my own Barnard commencement. I sometimes
seem, in my mind, to have as much in common with that girl as I do
with any stranger I might pass in the doorway of a Starbucks or in
the aisle of an airplane. I cannot remember what she wore or how
she felt that day. But I can tell you this about her without question:
she was perfect.” ANNA QUINDLEN'S COMMENCEMENT SPEECH
MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE
MAY 23, 1999
Foil
• A character who serves as
a contrast to another
perhaps more primary
character, so as to point
out specific traits of the
primary character.
Examples of Foil
• Squidward and Spongebob
• Claire serves to highlight Ian’s happy-golucky attitude with her constant
complaining. (And she likes Twilight.)
• Jonathan Kozol and Cliffie from Amazing
Grace by Jonathan Kozol.
• Aunt and Uncle from Araby – James
Joyce
Hyperbole
•Exaggeration
or
overstatement
Examples of Hyperbole
• “There was so much blood I will never forget what I saw
there; the smell was so overpowering like year old
mayonnaise and burning hair and the sounds of the
damned souls erupting from hell. I will never go back to
my Grandmas house again.”
• “I am the best person ever. I am so awesome. You wish
you were as amazing as I am but you are not.”- Ian Green
• “Every time I cross that bridge I feel that I am getting off a
plane within a different country.” –Savage inequalities.
• “Dan Rather, who stopped anchoring the evening news in
2005, announces his retirement from CBS after a career
spanning 44 years and several galaxies.” – That Blasted
Year Dave Barry
Hypophora
•Raising one or more
questions and then
proceeding to answer
them, usually at some
length.
Examples of Hypophora
• “People often ask me, “am I extremely attractive?” Of
course, I answer yes.
• Who could have done such a terrible thing? The answer
is Calvin.
• “Where did I get the idea for Stuart Little and for
Charlotte's Web? Well, many years ago I went to bed one
night in a railway sleeping car, and during the night I
dreamed about a tiny boy who acted rather like a mouse.
That's how the story of Stuart Little got started.” Letter
From EB White
• “Keisha has been fighting with her classmate. Over what?
As it turns out, over a crayon.” –Savage inequalities.
Invective
• Speech or writing that
attacks, insults, or
denounces a person, topic,
or institution, usually
involving negative
emotional language.
Examples of Invective
• “You know who's the man? Lady Gaga literally.”
• We were going to write something about someone in the
class, but we didn’t. You‘re welcome. (Just kidding,
Claire’s mean.)
• “The city, which by night and day is clouded by the fumes
that pour from vents and smokestacks at the Pfizer and
Monsanto chemical plants, has one of the highest rates of
child asthma in America.” (pg. 7) Using harsh language to
criticize the Pfizer and Monsanto chemical plants.
• Local authorities rule the shooting was an accident, noting
that if the vice president were going to intentionally shoot
somebody, it would be Nancy Pelosi. – That Blasted Year
Dave Barry
Litotes
• A deliberate understatement,
used for subtle emphasis.
Way of making a statement
not by saying the statement
itself, but denying the
opposite of the statement.
Examples of Litotes
• “AP Comp doesn't interfere much with our
free time.”
• Claire only likes Twilight a little bit.
• “The shock of going from one of the poorest
schools to one of the wealthiest cannot be
overstated.” (Pg. 2)
• “Three years after I started writing it, it was
published. (I am not a fast worker, as you can
see.)” Letter from EB White
Mood
•Feeling, emotional state,
or disposition of mind-especially the
predominating
atmosphere or tone of a
literary work.
Examples of Mood
• “He stared at the dark, depressing, dreary sky, realizing
his extreme insignificance and could only drown his
sorrows by eating a double down from KFC.”
• “It was a sad day at Dylan’s funeral. His massive
coronary brought on by eating too many double
downs from KFC.”
• “Children get used to feeling constant pain. They go to
sleep with it. They go to school with it.” (Pg. 20) Mood
is sad, sympathetic because that’s what the reader is
feeling.
• Mood of insignificance and disappointment in Araby
James Joyce.
Metabasis
• A transition from one subject
to another. It involves a brief
statement that includes what
the subject has been thus far
and what the subject will be.
It keeps a discussion clear,
provides a link.
Examples of Metabasis
• “You have heard how the proposed plan will fail; now
consider how an alternative might succeed.“
• “Now you know how Dylan made those school
children cry. Listen to our plan about blowing him
up.”
• “It startles me to hear her words… I would like to
comment on that.” (pg. 35) Not Kozol’s Metabasis
directly, but he uses the girl wanting to comment to
clearly transition to the next statement.
• In other sports highlights, Italy defeats France in a
World Cup final match. – That Blasted Year Dave Barry
Oxymoron
•An image of
contradictory
term
Examples of Oxymoron
• Bittersweet, jumbo shrimp.
• “Apple Tech Support, Airline Food,
Educational TV, French Deodorant.”
• “terrible joke” (pg. 35) Terrible meaning
appalling, bad, dreadful, is used in
conjunction with joke, which is associated
with happiness, laughter, and joy.
• “Uninhabited house” Araby by James Joyce
Parody
•Imitates the serious
manner and
characteristic features of
a particular literary work
in order to make fun of
those same features.
Examples of Parody
• “Yoda” a parody of “Lola” and
“Canadian Idiot” a parody of
“American Idiot”. Both by Weird Al.
• The “Scary Movie” movies.
• “One of the nicest buildings in the
whorehouse” (pg. 14)
• That Blasted Year Dave Barry
Purpose
•Why you are writing
about the topic and
why you are saying
what you say.
Examples of Purpose
• “The purpose of The Inconvenient Truth was to educate people
about global warming.”
• Our purpose for making this presentation is to educate all you
ignorant folks.
• “I decided, early in my journey, to attempt to listen very
carefully to children and, whenever possible, to let their voices
and their judgments and their longings find a lace within this
book—and maybe, too, within the nation’s dialogue about their
destinies.” (Pg. 6) Kozol’s purpose is nearly stated by saying he
would like people to consider children’s destinies—“nation’s
dialogue”
• “The poet’s voice need not merely be the record of man, it can
be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.”
Faulkner’s Nobel Prize speech
Rhetoric
•The art of
persuasive
argument through
writing or speech
Examples of Rhetoric
• “These people have been taking advantage of us for decades.
Just look at how we are living. Then look at them. They all live
in mansions. Am I wrong? Think about it. If we don't do
something about this, it will just get worse.”
• “Company strategists often frame competitors and the
general business environment in very alarming terms in order
to shock managers into accepting their radical ideas.”
• “Almost anyone who visits in the schools of East St. Lous, even
for a short time, comes away profoundly shaken. These are
innocent children, after all. They have done nothing wrong.
They have committed no crime. They are too young to have
offended us in any way at all.” (pg. 40) Kozol is using rhetoric
to attempt to gain the reader’s sympathies. Faulkner’s Nobel
Prize Speech
Rhetorical Question
• Question that is not
answered and used for
effect, emphasis, or
provocation, or for drawing
a conclusionary statement
from the facts at hand.
Rhetorical Question
• “Is this really a rhetorical question?”
• “Who really wants to take this
class?”
• “Why is it this way?” asks Shalika in a
softer voice again. (pg. 36)
• “There is only the question: When
will I be blown up?” Faulkner’s Nobel
Prize speech.
Simple Sentence
•Structure single,
independent
clause
Examples of Simple
Sentence
• “This is a simple sentence.”
• “The cat goes meow.”
• “The street is calm.” (Pg.
14)
• “That’s why I can’t send
Books.” Letter from EB
Tone
•The author’s
attitude toward
his subject.
Examples of Tone
• “Goddamn money. It always ends up making you blue as
hell.”
• “I love fluffy ponies they make me feel all warm and
cuddly”
• “East St. Louis will likely be left Justas it is for a good
many years to come: a scar of sorts, an ugly metaphor
of filth and overspill and chemical effusions, a place for
blacks to live and die within, a place for other people to
avoid when they are heading for St. Louis” (Pg. 39)
Kozol’s use of dark, negative word choice establishes his
tone.
• Though I knew my stay was useless- author is degrading
himself Araby James Joyce.