RHETORICAL STRATEGIES

RHETORICAL STRATEGIES

ALLITERATION = the same sound repeated at the beginning of several words in close proximity. Ex: “Moping melancholy mad” (A. E. Housman, This Is Stupid Stuff)

ASSONANCE = the same or similar vowel sounds are repeated in the stressed syllables of words that are close to each other. Ex: “Gun, drum, trumpet, blunderbuss, and thunder.” (Alexander Pope, Imitations of Horace)

3. ANAPHORA = the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of following phrases. EX: “We shall not fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France. . . . We shall not surrender.” -Winston Churchill

4. EPISTROPHE = repetition of the same word or phrase at the end of following clauses. EX: In 1931, ten years ago, Japan invaded Manchukuo—without warning. In 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia—without warning. In 1938, Hitler occupied Austria—without warning. - Franklin D. Roosevelt

ASYNDETON = lack of conjunctions between coordinate phrases. Ex: “That government of the people, by the people, for the people . . . (Lincoln, “Gettysburg Address”)

6. POLYSYNDETON = the unusual repetition of the same conjunction Ex: “And it was dark and there was water standing in the street and no lights and windows broke and boats all up in the town . . .” -Ernest Hemingway

CHIASMUS = two corresponding pairs arranged not in parallels (a-b-a-b) but in inverted order (a-b-b-a). Ex: “Fair is foul and foul is fair.” (a) (b) (b) (a)

INVERSION= the usual word order is rearranged, often for emphasis Ex: “Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,/ And often is his gold complexion dimmed.” -Shakespeare, “Sonnet 18”

PARALLELISM = repetition of identical or similar syntactical elements (word, phrase, or clause) Ex: “Women represent the triumph of matter over mind, just as men represent the triumph of mind over morals.” -Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

10. APOSTROPHE = the speaker addresses a person who is absent—or an abstract object. Ex: “Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him.” -Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

11. ZEUGMA = ONE VERB CONTROLS TWO OR MORE OBJECTS THAT HAVE DIFFERENT SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC RELATIONS TO IT. Ex: “The addict kicked the habit then the bucket.”

12. ANTITHESIS = opposition, or contrast of ideas or words in a parallel construction Ex: “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” -Shakespeare, Brutus in Julius Caesar

13. OXYMORON = a self-contradictory combination of words or smaller units (Greek for “sharp-dull”) Ex: bittersweet, pleasing pains, loving hate

14. PARADOX = a daring statement which unites seemingly contradictory words but which has unexpected meaning and truth Ex: "War is peace." "Freedom is slavery." "Ignorance is strength." (George Orwell, 1984)

15. PUN = wordplay, using words that are written similarly or identically, but have different meanings Ex: “I always say beauty is only sin deep.” -Saki, “Reginald’s Choir Treat”

16. IRONY = EXPRESSION OF SOMETHING THAT IS CONTRARY TO THE INTENDED MEANING Ex: “Yet Brutus says [Caesar] was ambitious; / And Brutus is an honourable man.” -Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

17. METONYMY = one word is substituted on the basis of material, causal, or conceptual relation. Ex: He is a man of the cloth.

SYNECDOCHE= THE USE OF PART FOR THE WHOLE OR WHOLE FOR THE PART Ex: “Give us this day our daily bread.” -Matthew 6

19. LITOTES = understatement; meiosis; an idea is deliberately expressed as less important than it actually is (often involves negation or the word “not”). Ex: “Last week I saw a woman flayed, and you will hardly believe how much it altered her appearance for the worse.” -Jonathan Swift, Tale of a Tub

HYPERBOLE= gross exaggeration for emphasis or effect Ex: She couldn’t possibly walk and chew gum if her life depended on it!

PERSONIFICATION = Attribution of personality to an impersonal thing Ex: "The operation is over. On the table, the knife lies spent, on its side, the bloody meal smear-dried upon its flanks. The knife rests."(Richard Selzer, "The Knife")

22. SYNAESTHESIA= description of one kind of sensation in terms of another; mixing of sensory words Ex: “If music be the food of love, play on . . .” -Shakespeare, Twelfth Night

METAPHOR = implied comparison achieved through a figurative use of words Ex: “Life’s but a walking shadow; a poor player . . .” –Shakespeare, Macbeth

SIMILE = an explicit comparison between two things using comparison words (like, as, than, etc.) Ex: “Youth like summer morn, age like winter weather.” -Shakespeare, The Passionate Pilgrim

TONE = the author’s attitude toward his/her subject; the style or manner of speaking/writing Examples of tonal words—terse, sarcastic, sympathetic, biting, indifferent

26. STYLE—the manner in which a writer addresses a matter, revealing his personality or voice; results fromsentence structure, diction, and figures of thought. Examples of style words: symbolic, allusive, analytical, journalistic, romantic, disjointed.

27. DICTION = choice of words, especially in regards to correctness, clarity, or effectiveness. Examples of diction words: concrete, colloquial, denotative, elevated, lofty, simplistic.

Appeals 28. LOGOS = logical appeal—an author/speaker uses words/phrases which appeal to a person’s sense of logic Example: use of statistics, factual anecdotes, or historical allusions.

29. ETHOS = ethical appeal—an author/speaker establishes his credibility or uses words/phrases to appeal to someone’s morals or sense of duty. Example: use of words such as “obligation,” “patriotism,” “right,” or the use of images that appeal to ideals.

30. PATHOS = pathetic appeal—use of words/phrases which appeal to someone’s emotions. Example: use of sad stories, images of children, etc.

RHETORICAL STRATEGIES