Rhetorical Devices

1. Rhetorical Devices Juniors Patrick Henry’s Speech in the Virginia Convention

2. Rhetorical Question • A rhetorical question is asked just for effect or to lay emphasis on some point discussed when no real answer is expected. • Ex: Are you stupid?

3. Parallelism • It refers to the grammatical structure of phrases or sentences to give structural similarity.

4. Antithesis • Antithesis, literal meaning opposite, is a rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect. • Antithesis uses parallelism • Money is the root of all evil: poverty is the fruit of all goodness.

5. Repetition • Repetition is a literary device that repeats the same words or phrases a few times for emphasis. • Ex: MLK Jr’s “I Have a Dream”

6. Allusion • An allusion is a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance. It does not describe in detail the person or thing to which it refers. It is just a passing comment and the writer expects the reader to possess enough knowledge to spot the allusion and grasp its importance in a text. • Ex: This place is like a Garden of Eden!

7. What Strategy is This? • “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” (Dickens).

8. What Strategy is This? • “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” (Churchill).

9. What Strategy is This? • “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools” (King).

10. What Strategy is This? • Do pigs fly?

11. What Strategy is This?

12. What Strategy is This? • I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.