1. What are they and why are they used?
Rhetorical Devices
What are they and why are they used?

2. Rhetorical Devices What is a rhetorical device?
A technique an author uses to evoke an emotional response
Why do authors use rhetorical devices?
Emphasis, association, clarification, focus, organization, transition, arrangement, decoration, variety.
In other words, works would be much more boring without them.

3. Rhetorical Devices Notice the difference.
"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." Winston Churchill
Without rhetorical devices, this might be summarized as “We will fight everywhere.”
What impact do the descriptions give you?

4. Rhetorical Devices
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Neil Armstrong
Think about these famous lines: Would it be more effective to say, “We took a big step”?

5. Rhetorical Devices
Rhetorical devices add “spark” and interest to writing.
They also function on different levels
Individual Sounds Level
Word Level
Sentence/Phrase Level
All Others

6. Individual Sounds Level
Alliteration: The same consonant sound repeated at the beginning of several words or syllables in close proximity
Mary sat musing on the lamp-flame at the table" from The Death of the Hired Man by Robert Frost

7. Individual Sound Level
Assonance: The same or similar vowel sounds repeated in words within close proximity
Slow things are beautiful: The closing of the day, The pause of the wave That curves downward to spray
From Elizabeth Coatsworth “Swift Things Are Beautiful”

8. Individual Sounds Level
Assonance
But he grew old,
This knight so bold,
And o'er his heart a shadow
Fell as he found
No spot of ground
That looked like Eldorado.
From “Eldorado” by Edgar Allan Poe

9. Individual Level Sounds
Onomatopoeia: The sound of the word imitates the sound of the object itself
Baa Baa Black Sheep
To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells From the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells- From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells. From Edgar Allan Poe

10. Individual Sounds Level
Onomatopoeia
The rusty spigot Sputters, Utters A splutter, Spatters a smattering of drops, Gashes wider; Slash, Splatters, Scatters, Spurts, Finally stops sputtering And plash! Gushes rushes splashes Clear water dashes. By: Eve Merriam

11. Word Level
Anaphora: A word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses or lines
“How they are provided for upon the Earth,
How dear and dreadful they are to the Earth.”
From Walt Whitman

12. Word Level
Anaphora
“Let us march to the realization of the American dream. Let us march on segregated hosuing. Let us march on segregated schools. Let us march on poverty. Let us march on ballot boxes.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.

13. Word Level
Antimetabole: The repetition of certain words in reverse order
“Whether it is better to be loved rather than feared or feared rather than loved”
Machiavelli

14. Word Level
Climax/Gradation: Arrangement of words or phrases in order of ascending power
“Some men are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” (Shakespeare, Twelfth Night)

15. Word Level
Epistrophe: A word or expression is repeated at the end of successive phrases, clauses or lines. The reverse of anaphora.
“Of the people, by the people, and for the people” From Abe Lincoln
"If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were lov'd by wife, then thee;
If ever wife was happy in a man, Compare me
with ye women if you can." From Anne
Bradstreet

16. Word Level
Oxymoron: Similar to antithesis. Brings together two contradictory forms
Jumbo Shrimp
Civil War

17. Word Level Synonym: Use of words with the same or similar meanings
“I hate inconstancy-I loathe, detest,
Abhor, condemn, abujure, the mortal made
Of such quicksilvery clay.
From Lord Byron, Don Juan

18. Sentence/Phrase Leve
Anadiapolis: Repeat at the beginning of the sentence the last word or phrase of the preceding sentence.
Joseph Mazzini said, “And love, young men, love and venerate the ideal. The ideal is the word of God.”

19. Sentence/Phrase Level
Chiasmus: The grammatical structure of the first clause or phrase reversed in the second, sometimes repeating the same words.
And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country” (John F. Kennedy, Jr.)

20. Sentence/Phrase Level
Ellipsis: A word or phrase in a sentence is omitted though implied by the context
“A mighty maze! But not without a plan” From Pope, An Essay on Man

21. Sentence/Phrase Level
Epanalepsis: The repetition at the end of a clause of the word that occurred in the beginning.
Blood hath brought blood, and blows answer’d blows:
Strength match’d with strength, and power confronted power
(Shakespeare, King John II.I)

22. Sentence/Phrase Level
Inversion: The usual word order is rearranged, often for the effect of emphasis or to maintain the meter
“There’ll be dancing in the street
A chance new folk to meet”
From Martha and the
Vandellas

23. Sentence/Phrase Level
Hyberbole: Obvious exaggeration for emphasis or effect
“There did not seem to be brains enough in the entire nursery, so to speak, to bait a fishhook with.” From Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
Why does a boy who’s fast as a jet
Take all day—and sometimes two—
To get to school?
—John Ciardi, "Speed Adjustments"

24. Sentence/Phrase Level
Imagery: Sensory pictures that a piece of literature evokes
Can be tactile words (relating to touch, smell, sight, hearing, and taste)
Can be similes and metaphors that evoke pictures
“A red wheelbarrow
glazed with rainwater
beside the white chickens”
From William Carlos Williams

25. Sentence/Phrase Level
Parallelism: The repetition of identical or similar elements
The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, that they should not eat too much, and that they should do some warm-up exercises before the game.

26. Sentence/Phrase Level
Tricolon: Division of an idea into three harmonious parts, usually of increasing power.
In a larger sense, we cannot didicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow this ground.” (Abe Lincoln)

27. Sentence/Phrase Level
Paradox: A daring statement which unites seemingly contradictory words but which upon closer examination proves to have unexpected meaning and truth
“He worked hard at being lazy.”

28. Sentence/Phrase Level
Personification: Animals, ideas, abstractions or inanimate objects are endowed with human characteristics
To fit its sides, and crawl between, Complaining all the while In horrid, hooting stanza; Then chase itself down hill
The Train by Emily Dicksinson

29. All Others Diction: Word Choice Denotation/Connotation
Words in unusual combinations
Degree of difficulty or complexity of a word
Level of formality of a word
Tone of a word (emotional charge it carries)

30. All Others Syntax: Sentence arrangement or word order
Type of Sentence: Simple or complex
Type of Sentence: Questions, exclamations, declarative, commands, rhetorical questions
Length of sentence
Subtle shifts of abrupt changes in sentence lengths and patterns
Punctuation Use
Use of repetition
Language patterns/cadence/rhyme
The use of active or passive voice

31. All Others
Allusion: A reference in a work of literature to something outside the work of literature, especially to a well-known historical or literary event, person or work
In the room the women come and go Talking of Michelangelo.
From T.S. Eliot
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

32. All Others
Antithesis: Opposition or contrast of ideas or words in a parallel construction; explores and then refutes
“Not that I have loved Caesar less, but that I love Rome more”
From Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar

33. All Others
Apostrophe: Addressing an absent person, a god, or a personified abstraction.
Roll on thou dark and deep blue ocean." from "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" by Lord Byron
"Ingratitude! thou marble-hearted fiend, / More hideous when thou show'st thee in a child / Than the sea-monster." from King Lear by William Shakespeare

34. All Others Connotation: Feelings the word evokes Smells, scent, etc.
House is a neutral word. Home has a positive connotation, which brings about warm fuzzies.

35. All Others Denotation: Dictionary Definition
House is a dictionary definition. Home is a positive connotation. Hovel is a negative connotation.

36. All Others
Devices of Sound: These devices are used for many reasons, including creating a pleasant or discordant effect or reflect a certain meaning. They are defined at other places in this presentation.
Rhyme
Alliteration
Assonance
Consonance
Onomatopoeia

37. All Others
Euphemism: Substitution of an agreeable or at least non-offensive expression for one whose other meaning might be harsh or unpleasant
Die becomes “pass away”
Euphemism for FAT: chubby, plump, big-boned, chunky, fluffy Euphemism for THIN: stick, twiggy, pretzel, bread stick, celery stick Euphemism for MONEY: bread, clams, fiver, ten spot, Washington, green back Euphemism for TV: idiot box, electronic babysitter

38. All Others
Figurative Langauge: These are used to mean something other than the literal meaning.
Metaphor: Comparison not using like or as
Simile: Comparison using like or as
Irony: Opposite of what you think

39. All Others
Juxtaposition: The arrangement of two or more ideas, characters, actions, settings, phrases or words side by side in order to compare/contrast the two

40. All Others
Narrative Techniques: The methods involved in telling a story
Point of View
A single Character or Multiple Characters
First Person
Third Person
Omniscient: The narrator can know, see and report whatever he chooses.
Manipulation of Time
Dialogue
Interior Monologue

41. All Others
Rhetorical Question: A question asked merely for effect with no answer
expected.
It is really time to ask ourselves, ‘How can we allow the rich and powerful,
not only to rip off people as consumers, but to continue to rip them off as
taxpayers? (Ralph Nader, 2000 NAACP Convention Address)

42. All Others
Satire: Writing that seeks to arouse a reader’s disapproval of an object by ridicule, holds up to contempt the faults of individuals or groups

43. Setting: Time and place

44. All Others
Structure: The arrangement of materials within a work, the relationship of the parts of a work to the whole, the logical divisions of a work. The most common units of structure are play: scene, act; novel: chapter; poem: line, stanza.

45. All Others
Style: The mode or expression in language. Stylistic techniques refer to such things as diction, syntax, figurative language, imagery, selection of detail, sound effects and tone.

46. All Others
Symbol: Something that is simultaneously itself and a sign of something else.
Winter, darkness, and cold are real things, but they also may be used as symbols of death.
The color green is real and yet it might represent environmental issues or money.

47. All Others
Theme: The main thought expressed by a work. What is the message the author is trying to give us?
To Kill a Mockingbird—empathy or loss of innocence

48. All Others
Tone: Writer’s ability to create an attitude toward the subject matter. Tone is the result of things like allusion, diction, figurative language, imagery, irony, symbol, syntax, and style, among others.

49. All Others Understatement: An attempt to minimize something.
“It isn’t very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on my brain.”
The Catcher in the Rye. J.D. Salinger

50. The End
Look for these rhetorical devices as a way that authors add meaning to their works.
Literature and poetry become much more fascinating studying them from the perspective of the writer.