Rhetorical devices and their effects Spotlight on allusion, antithesis, anaphora, erotema and hypophora. Rhetorical devices and their effects

When considering the effects of rhetorical devices… Ask yourself…is this being used to… Emphasize or amplify? Contrast? Connect?

Rhetorical question – AKA erotema Let’s start basic – what is a question? Why ask one? When a writer asks a question in a persuasive essay, the answer is implied. So, if the writer already knows the answer and the reader does also (if the reader gets the implication) then why ask? Can you tell me? ;)

Rhetorical question – What is the effect? In Composition, Literary and Rhetorical, Simplified (1850), David Williams states that a rhetorical question is designed “to awaken attention to the subject of discourse, and is a mode of address admirably calculated to produce a powerful impression of the truth of a subject, as it challenges the impossibility of contradiction.” A well-structured erotema will lead the audience to the conclusion that the speaker wants them to reach and the reader (or listener) will feel like a participant instead of simply an observer (or reader.) Since the listener/reader feels pulled into the conversation with rhetorical questions, they can be used very effectively to build consensus.

D’oh! Lisa Simpson and her grandmother (singing Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind”): “How many roads must a man walk down, before you can call him a man?” Homer Simpson: “Seven!” Lisa: “No, Dad, it’s a rhetorical question.” Homer: “Rhetorical, eh? … Eight!” Lisa: “Dad, do you even know what ‘rhetorical’ means?” Homer: “Do I know what ‘rhetorical’ means?”

Hypo what? The speaker appears confident and in control. Hypophora – Asking a rhetorical question and immediately answering it. And the effect? There is a sense that the speaker is having a dialogue with the audience. The answer is usually one that is on the minds of his listeners already. Asking the question arouses the curiosity of the audience about the answer. A well-timed pause between the question and answer can heighten this curiosity and completely engage the audience. The speaker appears confident and in control. The question or questions in a hypophora will often be used to set up a long answer, which contains an important point that the speaker wishes to make.

Hypophora “You ask, what is our policy? I will say: It is to wage war, by sea, land, and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be.” — Winston Churchill, 4 June 1940 “There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, ‘When will you be satisfied?’ We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating “For Whites Only.” We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.” — Martin Luther King, Jr., 28 August 1963

Antithesis The opposition or contrast of words in a parallel structure. This can create a contrast to emphasize the differences between the parts. It can also call attention to the relationship between the parts.

Anaphora This type of repetition can add emphasis and make the part of the speech more memorable and quotable. It can give the speech a musical quality and add unity.

Allusion This can give a speech depth and help establish the speaker’s ethos. It may refer to something that represents values the speaker shares with the audience, and the audience shares with each other.