TEN BIG DAWG RHETORICAL DEVICESmslangstonswritingclassrooms.weebly.com/uploads/2/8/4/8/...Paralipsis...

TEN BIG DAWG RHETORICAL DEVICESMr. PogrebaAP LanguageHelena High School

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Sunday, January 22, 2012

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You, empowered with the knowledge of rhetoric.

The AP Exam


Antithesis

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Antithesis4

Antithesis is the use of contrary ideas expressed in a balanced sentence. It is the juxtaposition of two words, phrases, clauses, or sentences contrasted or opposed in meaning in such a way as to give emphasis to their contrasting ideas and give the effect of balance.


Contrary ideas in a Balanced Sentence

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"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


Contrary ideas in a Balanced Sentence

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"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would

rather that my spark should burn out in a

brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by

dryrot. I would rather be a superb meteor,

every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a

sleepy and permanent planet. The proper

function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall

not waste my days in trying to prolong them.

I shall use my time."

--Jack London


ANAPHORA

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ANAPHORA8

Anaphora occurs when the speaker repeats the same words at the start of successive sentences or clauses.

It generally serves two purposes:

--a hammering effect that is certain to be noticed

--the creation of an involuntary rhythm


Repetition of the same words at the start of successive clauses/sentences

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“The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.” Exodus 15:9


Repetition of the same words at the start of successive clauses/sentences

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In time the savage bull sustains the yoke,

In time all haggard hawks will stoop to lure,

In time small wedges cleave the hardest oak,

In time the flint is pierced with softest shower.

— Thomas Kyd, The Spanish Tragedy, I, vi. 3


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Kyd

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Kyd

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spanish_Tragedy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spanish_Tragedy

EPISTROPHE

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Epistrophe12

Epistrophe occurs when the speaker repeats the same words at the end of successive sentences or clauses.

While it serves many of the same purposes of anaphora, the effect is often more subtle.

It creates a cumulative effect.


Repetition of the same words at the end of successive clauses/sentences

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"A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of woes and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight!"

--Aragorn, The Return of the King (film)


Repetition of the same words at the end of successive clauses/sentences

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Where affections bear rule, their reason is subdued, honesty is subdued, good will is subdued, and all things else that withstand evil, for ever are subdued.

--Thomas WilsonSunday, January 22, 2012

Chiasmus

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Chiasmus16

Chiasmus occurs when words or other elements are repeated with their order reversed.

Chiasmus amounts to an ABBA pattern.

A chiasmus need not repeat the same words in order. It can instead just consist of a structural reversal.

A good chiasmus has the benefits of emphasis, euphony, and rhythm.


Repetition with the order of elements reversed

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"In peace sons bury their

fathers, but in war fathers bury

their sons."

--Croesus


Repetition with the order of elements reversed

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"America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense, it is the other way round. Human rights invented America." --Jimmy Carter


polysyndeton

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Polysyndeton20

Polysyndeton is the repeated use of conjunctions.

Polysyndeton is used to create rhythm, regulate the pace of an utterance, give the impression the speaker is making up the list as she goes on, or emphasize the large number of items in a list.


Repeated use of Conjunctions

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“A German daily is the slowest and saddest and dreariest of the inventions of man.”

-Mark Twain, A Tramp Abroad


Repeated use of Conjunctions

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“...I’ll chase him round Good Hope, and round the Horn, and round the Norway Maelstrom, and round perdition’s flames before I give him up.”

--Captain Ahab, in Melville’s Moby Dick


Asyndeton

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Asyndeton24

Asyndeton means leaving out a conjunction where it might have been expected to appear.

Asyndeton can create emphasis, give independent force to each item, show close relationship, improve the “music” of a sentence, or create a sense of acceleration.


Omission of an expected conjunction

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“I came, I saw, I conquered.”

--Julius Caesar


Omission of an expected conjunction

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"I have found the warm caves in the woods,

filled them with skillets, carvings, shelves,

closets, silks, innumerable goods"

--Anne Sexton, "Her Kind"


Litotes

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Litotes28

Litotes “occurs when a speaker avoids making an affirmative claim directly and instead denies its opposite” (Farnsworth, p. 204).

The effect of litotes depends on its use. It may create a sense of understatement, aid in discretion, or enhance satire.

George Orwell would warn you to use this device only when necessary. It can become cliched and awkward.


denial of an Opposite for Effect

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“That sword was not useless to the warrior now.”

--from Beowulf


Denial of an Opposite for Effect

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“Thus I consent, sir, to this Constitution,

because I expect no better, and

because I am not sure that it is not the

best.”

--Benjamin Franklin, speech in favor of

ratifying the Constitution, 1787


Hypophora

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Hypophora32

Hypophora occurs when the speaker asks a question and then answers it.

Hypophora heightens interest by creating suspense, supplies a motive for offering the answer, creates involvement with the listener, creates empathy and a sense of dealing with the audience openly, and preempts a more forceful objection.


Asking and answering a Question

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"You ask, what is our policy? I will say it is to wage war, by sea, land, and air, with all our might and all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalog of human crime. That is our policy.

--Winston Churchill


http://file://localhost/Users/dpogreba/Desktop/United_States_Navy_Band_-_God_Save_the_Queen.ogg

http://file://localhost/Users/dpogreba/Desktop/United_States_Navy_Band_-_God_Save_the_Queen.ogg

Asking and Answering a Question

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The gentleman asks, When were the colonies emancipated? I desire to know when were they made slaves?

--William Pitt, speech to Parliament (1766)


Prolepsis

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Prolepsis36

Prolepsis occurs when a speaker anticipates an objection and then comments on it.

It is distinct from hypophora because no question is asked.

A hypothetical objection may be suggested and then answered, potentially leading to manipulation.


Anticipating an Objection and Commenting on it

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"But there are only three hundred of us,' you object. Three hundred, yes, but men, but armed, but Spartans, but at Thermoplyae: I have never seen three hundred so numerous" - Seneca


Anticipating an Objection and Commenting on it

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It may be objected, that very wise men have been notoriously avaricious. I answer, Not wise in that instance. It may likewise be said, That the wisest men have been in their youth immoderately fond of pleasure. I answer, They were not wise then.

Henry Fielding, Tom Jones


Paralipsis

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Paralipsis 40

Paralipsis generally occurs when the speaker describes what she will not say and so says it, or at least a bit of it.

Paralipsis is used to gain credit for discretion, to enhance the force of a sentiment by not expressing it,to limit debate over a controversial utterance, or to amuse.

It’s usually used to express negative ideas about others, but can be used to give the impression of modesty by the speaker about positive features.


Saying you won’t say it, but saying it by saying you won’t

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“Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it [Caesar's will];!It is not meet you know how Caesar loved you.!You are not wood, you are not stones, but men;!And, being men, bearing the will of Caesar,!It will inflame you, it will make you mad.!‘Tis good you know not that you are his heirs;!For, if you should, O, what would come of it!”

--Mark Antony, in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar


Saying you won’t say it, but saying it by saying you won’t

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“I’m not saying I’m responsible for this country’s longest run of uninterrupted peace in 35 years! I’m not saying that from the ashes of captivity, never has a Phoenix metaphor been more personified! I’m not saying Uncle Sam can kick back on a lawn chair, sipping on an iced tea, because I haven’t come across anyone man enough to go toe to toe with me on my best day!”

--Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man


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