RHETORICAL DEVICES

Rhetoric:

•The art of using language in speaking or writing.

•Rhetorical devices are language techniques used to strengthen a writer’s main point

•Help to persuade the reader of the veracity of the writer’s claim(s).

•They should be used thoughtfully but sparingly.

Balanced Sentence:

•Used to express two or more equal or parallel ideas.

Examples:

“The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.” -Viscount Grey of Fallodon

“Children sweeten labours, but they make misfortunes more bitter: they increase the cares of life, but they mitigate the remembrance of death.” -Francis Bacon.

Hondas are reliable cars; they rarely break down.

Chiasmus (reversals): A special balanced structure in which the second part of the construction is presented in reverse order.

Never let a fool kiss you,Or a kiss fool you!

"Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." -Matthew 23: 11-12

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.“

"All I can say is that I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me." -Winston Churchill

"And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."-John F. Kennedy

"The Ideal man should always say much more than he means, and always mean much more than he says.“

"Life imitates art far more than art imitates life."-Oscar Wilde

"I'd rather be looked over than overlooked." -Mae West

Periodic Sentence:

•Withholding an important piece of information until the end of a sentence.

•Ideally, the sentence does not make complete sense until the last words.

He was born of an American mother and a noble English father, was a war hero in the Boer War, Lord of the Admiralty in the First World War, and finally British prime Minister during WWII; one of the greatest historical figures of the twentieth century would have to be Winston Churchill.

Considering the free health care, the cheap tuition fees, the low crime rate, the comprehensive social programs, and the wonderful winters, I am willing to pay slightly higher taxes for the privilege of living in Canada.

Irony:

• Expression of something which is contrary to the intended meaning; the words say one thing but mean another.

•The literal meaning is the opposite of the intended meaning.

Sarcasm is a crude form of irony.

IRONY

“Nothing that is so, is so.” -Feste in Twelfth Night

“It is impossible to say just what I mean!”

from The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot

“Seinfeld is a show about nothing.”

Climactic Parallelism:

•A list of examples organized from least to most important.

• The bank robbery went perfectly: the plan, the stakeout, the hold-up, and finally, the clean getaway.

• There are many very useful rhetorical devices including balanced sentences, chiasmus, periodic sentences, irony and climactic parallelism.

Metaphor:

•Compares two different things by speaking of one in terms of the other.

• A comparison without using “like” or “as”.

•Unlike a figurative comparison or an allusion, metaphor asserts that one thing is another thing, not just that one is like another.

•Very frequently a metaphor is invoked by the “to be” verb.

““Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life.”” -John 6:35

“Thus a mind that is free from passion is a very citadel; man has no stronger fortress in which to seek shelter and defy every assault. Failure to perceive this is ignorance; but to perceive it, and still not to seek its refuge, is misfortune indeed.” Marcus Aurelius

“The mind is but a barren soil; a soil which is soon exhausted and will produce no crop, or only one, unless it be continually fertilized and enriched with foreign matter.” -Joshua Reynolds

Metonymy (Synecdoche): A form of metaphor in which the thing chosen for the metaphorical image is closely associated with, or even a part of, the subject.

The orders came directly from the White House.

You can't fight city hall.

This land belongs to the crown.

Figurative Comparison(often a simile):

•Used to enhance the description of a subject by relating it to another thing that has similarcharacteristics.

•A comparison using “like” or “as”

He raced like a formula one car at the beginningof the marathon, but stalled like a Hyundai at the end.

“O my love's like a red, red rose That's newly sprung in June; O my love's like the melody That's sweetly played in tune.”

–Robert Burns

Allusion: A metaphoric image that compares the subject to a strong historical, literary, mythological or religious image.

He has Herculean strength and Newtonian wisdom.

If you take his parking place, you can expect World War II all over again.

“Plan ahead: it wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.”-Richard Cushing

Rhetorical Question:

• A question whose answer is obvious or obviously desired, and usually just a yes or no.

•It is used for effect, emphasis, or provocation, or for drawing a conclusionary statement from the facts at hand.

But how can we expect to enjoy the scenery when the scenery consists entirely of garish billboards?

Are you joking?

“For if we lose the ability to perceive our faults, what is the good of living on?” -Marcus Aurelius

Repetition:

Not simply a poetic device; canbe used in prose as well to emphasize a desired point.

Red shoes, red socks and red pants make quite an outfit.

“The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.” -Winston Churchill

Exaggeration (hyperbole):

•Often used to make a humourous point or to ridicule.

I’ve told you a million times never to exaggerate.

“Seriousness is the only refuge of the shallow.” –Oscar Wilde

Alliteration:

As with repetition, not simply a poetic device.

• The repetition of consonant soundsAt the beginning of two or more words

•Used by prose writers to emphasize a point.

“Here is the answer which I will give to President Roosevelt...We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire. Neither the sudden shock of battle nor the long-drawn trials of vigilance and exertion will wear us down. Give us the tools and we will finish the job.”

-Winston Churchill

Rhyme:

•Rare, but sometimes invoked by prose writers as well.

“Goodbye picnics at noon, cry of the raccoon,hide and seek by the light of the moon.”

-Harry Bruce

Onomatopoeia:

•Words that sound like their definitions.

The fire cracked, hissed and sizzled.