Rhetorical Devices Notes 2021 PDF

Unit 3 Rhetorical devices, literary devices, and figurative language What are rhetorical devices? Rhetorical device - a linguistic tool that employs a particular type of sentence structure, sound, or pattern of meaning in order to evoke a particular reaction from an audience -sound devices and...

Unit 3 Rhetorical devices, literary devices, and figurative language What are rhetorical devices? Rhetorical device - a linguistic tool that employs a particular type of sentence structure, sound, or pattern of meaning in order to evoke a particular reaction from an audience -sound devices and figurative language can be rhetorical devices as well Anaphora (pronounced /əˈnaf(ə)rə/) the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences Example: “With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right,...” Anecdote a short amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person Anastrophe (pronounced /əˈnastrəfē/) a figure of speech in which the normal word order of the subject, the verb, and the object is changed. -I taste the ice cream delicious; it flows smoothly like water. -Powerful you have become; the dark side I sense in you. (Yoda, Star Wars) Antithesis (pronounced /anˈtiTHəsəs/) figure of speech in which a contrast of ideas is expressed by parallelism of words that are the opposites of, or strongly contrasted with, each other “hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins” “Money is the root of all evils: poverty is the fruit of all goodness.” Charged language words and phrases that have strong positive or negative connotations and are used to help listeners connect to the speaker through emotion rather than logic Example: “tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace” Connotation and Denotation Con: all the meanings, associations, or emotions that a word suggests “My brother is such a chicken every time we would watch horror films.” Den: dictionary definition “The girl was blue.” You mean the girl was quite literally the color blue. Metonymy a figure of speech in which the name of an idea or object is substituted for another name that the original name is closely associated with “count heads (or noses)” for “count people” Paradox a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true “If I know one thing, it's that I know nothing.” "If this sentence is true, then Santa Claus exists." Parallelism arranging phrases, sentences, and paragraphs in the same grammatical manner to balance one element with another of equal importance and similar wording.The repetition of sounds, meanings, and structures serves to order, emphasize, and point out relations. “I came, I saw, I conquered.” “We punched, kicked, and screamed.” Proverb a short pithy saying in general use, stating a general truth or piece of advice Example: The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Repetition the use of the same word or phrase multiple times to emphasize key concepts Example” MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech when he repeats “let freedom ring” Restatement the expression of similar ideas in different words to clarify and emphasize ideas and to add urgency Example: “we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship” Rhetorical question a question that is asked not to elicit a response but to make an impact or call attention to something. “Isn’t she great?” Synecdoche (pronounced /səˈnekdəkē/) a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole “Cleveland won by six runs. “ (meaning “Cleveland's baseball team”). ABCs for alphabet Appeals - three modes/types of persuasion Ethos - the ethical appeal- to convince an audience of the author's credibility or character. Ex: A commercial about a specific brand of toothpaste says that 4 out of 5 dentists use it. Pathos - or the emotional appeal- to persuade an audience by appealing to their emotions. Ex: Advertisement about donating to a charity includes scenes of emaciated children and the words, "For just $1.00 a day, you can feed a starving child." Logos - the appeal to logic- to convince an audience by use of logic or reason. -data, statistics, or common sense Logical Fallacies - Beware!!! Fallacies are common errors in reasoning that will undermine the logic of your argument. Fallacies can be either illegitimate arguments or irrelevant points and are often identified because they lack evidence that supports their claim. Avoid these common fallacies in your own arguments and watch for them in the arguments of others. Slippery Slope: This is a conclusion based on the premise that if A happens, then eventually through a series of small steps, through B, C,..., X, Y, Z will happen, too, basically equating A and Z. So, if we don't want Z to occur, A must not be allowed to occur either. Example: If we ban Hummers because they are bad for the environment eventually the government will ban all cars, so we should not ban Hummers. Logical Fallacies - Beware!!! Hasty Generalization: This is a conclusion based on insufficient or biased evidence. In other words, you are rushing to a conclusion before you have all the relevant facts. Example: Even though it's only the first day, I can tell this is going to be a boring course. In this example, the author is basing his evaluation of the entire course on only the first day, which is notoriously boring and full of housekeeping tasks for most courses. To make a fair and reasonable evaluation the author must attend not one but several classes, and possibly even examine the textbook, talk to the professor, or talk to others who have previously finished the course in order to have sufficient evidence to base a conclusion on. Logical Fallacies - Beware!!! Ad hominem: This is an attack on the character of a person rather than his or her opinions or arguments. Example: Green Peace's strategies aren't effective because they are all dirty, lazy hippies. In this example, the author doesn't even name particular strategies Green Peace has suggested, much less evaluate those strategies on their merits. Instead, the author attacks the characters of the individuals in the group. Figurative language Definition: language that is used imaginatively rather than literally Three common ones: Simile: a direct comparison using like or as to show similarities between two things that are actually different Metaphor: a comparison between two unlike things that doesn’t use an explicit comparison word Extended metaphor: a metaphorical comparison that extends beyond a single line or image and could continue throughout an entire work Literary devices Imagery: using words or phrases to appeal to one or more of the senses Sight Sound Touch Taste Smell Literary devices and other notes Alliteration: the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words Satire: a work that ridicules individuals, ideas, institutions, social conventions, and humanity in general to improve society in some way Social commentary: writing that criticizes institutions or behaviors Tone: author’s attitude toward the subject and reader Hyperbole: deliberate exaggeration or overstatement Understatement: deliberate minimizing of the seriousness of an event or idea Stylistic devices Asyndeton: the words in a list are separated by commas, and no conjunctions are used to join the words in a list “Without looking, without making a sound, without talking” Polysyndeton: uses conjunctions after every word or term--can be with or without commas “He eats and sleeps and drinks.” *Both are used to control the rhythm of a section of text and both are ungrammatical and used for effect* Sound devices Assonance: repetition of vowel sounds in a phrase or sentence--Example: I'm reminded to line the lid of my eye. Consonance: the recurrence of similar sounds, especially consonants, in close proximity *alike consonant sounds can appear at the beginning, middle, or end of words, and consonance is created when these words appear in quick succession Alliteration (a type of consonance): repetition of consonant sounds at the start of words that are close together (FYI--The repetition of the same word does NOT count)