Transcript Rhetorical Techniques Notes

Rhetorical Techniques and Devices
allusion
an indirect or implied reference to a person,
place, event, or idea already known by the
reader/audience from history, literature, religion,
politics, sports, or popular culture
allusion
When creating an allusion, the writer/speaker does NOT
describe in detail the person, book, idea, movie, etc. to which
the allusion refers. It is often a passing comment or used as
metaphor or simile and the writer expects us to possess
enough knowledge to spot the allusion and grasp its importance
in a text.
Example: Some administrators fear that having no dress code
could upon up a Pandora’s box of poor choices when it comes
to school fashion.
allusion to a Greek myth
allusion
What’s tricky about allusion is that
because its indirect, if we don’t know
what the writer/speaker/artist is alluding
to, we miss the allusion.
Bonus point if you know what this
satirical iPhone cartoon is alluding to!
allusion
Allusion to a very famous scene
from Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film
2001: A Space Odyssey
What’s tricky about allusion is that
because its indirect, if we don’t know
what the writer/speaker/artist is alluding
to, we miss the allusion.
Bonus point if you know what this
satirical iPhone cartoon is alluding to!
Allusion vs. Direct Reference
Direct Reference:
As they say in The Hunger Games— “May the
odds be ever in your favor!”
Allusion:
Hey, “May the odds be ever in your favor!” during
your next basketball game.
With a direct reference, a speaker or writer will
mention or refer to the original source directly.
allusion
The force was with him the
day he took the English III test.
visual allusion
allusion
“I Have a Dream Speech” by Martin Luther King, Jr.
•“Five score years ago, a great American, in whose
symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation
Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great
beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had
been seared in the flames of withering injustice.”
•Allusion to - Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address,
which opened “Four score and seven years ago…” In
that speech, which was given during the Civil War, Lincoln
promotes the idea of human equality, the very idea King
promoted in his famous speech.
allusion
• “There can be little doubt that Office is
Microsoft's Achilles heel. Without it, why would
anyone buy Windows?”
• Allusion to - Greek Mythology. An Achilles
heel is now often referenced when, despite
overall strength, a person or thing possesses a
weakness that could lead to downfall.
• The writer uses the allusion as a metaphor to
argue that while the MS Office software is a
great strength to the company, if people should
ever stop using it, Microsoft will be in big trouble
because they have no other strengths.
Don’t confuse
allusion with illusion
metaphor
• a figure of speech which makes a direct or implied
comparison between two things or ideas that are poles
apart from each other but where the writer notices a
shared characteristic between them
metaphor
Direct Metaphor: In times of crisis, my
friend Steve is a rock.
Indirect Metaphor: “Nothing's spoiled by
giving them this lie that were not rotten long
before.” ~John Proctor to Elizabeth in Act IV when he
tries to justify lying to save his life
Indirect Metaphor: The girl lured Connor
into her web.
rhetorical question
• a question asked for an effect—often to make an
argument—that doesn’t actually require an answer
rhetorical question
• A rhetorical question
implies its own
answer; it’s a way of
making a point.
• Aren’t you ashamed
of yourself?
• Am I going to need to
stop this car and pull
over?
• Are you kidding me?
rhetorical question
How many roads must a man walk down
before you call him a man?
Yes, an’ how many seas must a white
dove sail before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, an’ how many times must the
cannon balls fly before they’re forever
banned?
~Bob Dylan song “Blowin’ in the Wind”
repetition
• the repetition of words, phrases, and
ideas for emphasis or impact
"She's safe, just like I promised. She's all
set to marry Norrington, just like she
promised. And you get to die for her, just
like you promised."
~Captain Jack Sparrow - The Pirates of the Caribbean
repetition
“Because it is my name!...How may
I live without my name? I have
given you my soul; leave me my
name!” ~John Proctor, The Crucible
repetition
• A week after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf
Coast in 2005, the president of Jefferson Parish, Aaron
Broussard, gave an emotional interview with CBS News:
• "Take whatever idiot they have at the top of
whatever agency and give me a better idiot.
Give me a caring idiot. Give me a sensitive
idiot. Just don’t give me the same idiot."
ANAPHORA—
a specific type of repetition
• repetition of the same word or group of words at the
beginning of successive clauses, sentences, or lines
• “We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We
shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and
oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and
growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island,
whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches,
we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in
the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We
shall never surrender.” ~Winston Churchill speech during WW II
parallel structure/parallelism
• using the same grammatical structure or pattern
of words, phrases, or clauses to show that two
or more ideas have the same level of
importance
This is specific type of
parallelism known as
a TRICOLON (three
parallel words,
phrases, or clauses
repeating). This is a
very popular
persuasive tool. A list
of three can have a
powerful effect on an
audience or reader.
“…government
of the people,
by the people,
for the people
shall not
perish from the earth.”
parallel structure
Nonparallel structure looks like this:
• After school we went
,
, and
• After school we ate nachos, learned
Greek, and then we did back flips off a
roof.
Parallel structure looks like this:
• After school we ,
,
, and
.
• After school we ate nachos, learned
Greek, and chugged Dr. Pepper.
parallel structure
"Our transportation crisis will be solved
by a bigger plane or a wider road,
mental illness with a pill,
poverty with a law,
slums with a bulldozer,
urban conflict with a gas,
racism with a goodwill gesture."
~Philip Slater, The Pursuit of Loneliness.
parallel structure
"Our transportation crisis will be solved
by a bigger plane or a wider road,
comparative adjective/noun
comparative adjective/noun
mental illness with a pill,
poverty with a law,
slums with a bulldozer,
urban conflict with a gas,
noun/prepositional
phrase structure
repeats. These two
are slightly less
parallel because the
writer added an
adjective modifier
before the noun.
racism with a goodwill gesture."
parallel structure
"Humanity has advanced, when
it has advanced, not because it
has been sober, responsible,
and cautious, but because it
has been playful, rebellious,
and immature.
Notice – parallel structure is not
about merely repeating words.
All the words can be
different. It’s the grammatical
pattern that repeats.
~Tim Robbins,
actor/writer/director
parallel structure
"Humanity has advanced, when it
has advanced, not because it has
been sober, responsible, and
cautious, but because it has been
playful, very rebellious, and
sometimes dominated by a state of
immaturity.”
Here is a NONPARALLEL version of the same quote.
Why is it not parallel?
antithesis
• two opposite ideas are juxtaposed in a
sentence with parallel structure to
emphasize the contrast
Example: “That’s one small step for man;
one giant leap for mankind.”
~Astronaut, Neil Armstrong
Example: “It was the best of times, it was the
worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it
was the age of foolishness…”
~Opening of Charles Dickens’s novel A Tale of Two Cities
anecdote
• a short interesting or amusing
account/story of an incident used by a
speaker or writer to illustrate a point or
advance an argument
• In The Crucible when John Proctor is trying
to show Rev. Hale why he doesn’t respect
Rev. Parris, he tells the anecdote about
the golden candlesticks to make his point
• Not to be confused with an antidote-something used to counteract the effects of
a poison or other undesirable element.
aphorism
• A brief cleverly-worded statement, usually
one sentence long, that expresses a general
principle or truth about life.
• Examples of aphorisms Ben Franklin
wrote:
- “Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon
and wise too late.”
- “We are all born ignorant, but one must
work hard to remain stupid.”