Transcript Rhetorical Devices and Structures

Rhetorical Devices and Structures
or
How to sound really convincing and eloquent to win
people over to your side!
Rhetoric
• Definition:
Using language effectively to please or
persuade.
wordnetweb.princeton.edu
Rhetorical Structures
• How an author or speaker arranges what they
will say in order please or persuade better.
• Two Types:
– Repetition
– Parallelism
Repetition
• Using the same words frequently to emphasize a
message or point
Parallelism
• Repeating a grammatical structure or set of words
Example: Martin Luther King “I Have a Dream” Speech
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true
meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all
men are created equal.’”
“I have a dream that one day the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former
slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together
at the table of brotherhood.”
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation
where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the
content of their character.”
Rhetorical Devices
• Techniques used to persuade better
• Two Types:
– Analogy
– Restatement
Analogy
• Shows a comparison between two unlike things
• Can be metaphors “table of brotherhood” MLK
• Can be similes “freedom is like a beautiful kite
that can go higher with the breeze” GH Bush
• Can be SAT problems:
Hat is to head as shoe is to _____.
Restatement
• Expresses the same idea but in different words to
help explain a point better
• Example: “The United States will continue to offer any
assistance we can as Japan continues to recover…”
• “We are heartbroken by the unfolding tragedy in Japan.”
Obama, 14 March 2011
• Different words, same message: restated like your
conclusion paragraphs!
Summary
• Repetition: Using the same words frequently
to emphasize a message or point
• Parallelism: Repeating a grammatical structure
or set of words
• Analogy: Shows a comparison between two
different things
• Restatement: Expresses the same idea but in
different words to help explain a point better