Rhetorical DevicesHow to Make Your Arguments Sizzle

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE: language that is deliberately different from the way people normally speak or write

WHY USE IT? - an important part of what brings richness and beauty to

poetry, writing, and speech- people don't generally talk this way so it’s memorable

CHIASMUSA reversed order of the grammar in two or more clauses in a sentence

“He knowingly led and we blindly followed”(A B A B) or parallelism

(Subject, adverb, verb, conjunction (cross), subject, adverb, verb.)

Changes to:

"He knowingly led and we followed blindly"(A B B A) - chiasmus

(Subject, adverb, verb, conjunction (cross), subject, verb, adverb.)

Why use chiasmus? What does it do for us?

To craft a line that is rhythmic, evocative, and memorable

"Pleasure's a sin, and sometimes sin's a pleasure"  - Lord Byron

"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.“ – John F. Kennedy

What else can it do???

A vehicle for expressing Great Truths

"Love makes time pass, time makes love pass.“

- French proverb[The second part of each expression complements the first in a memorable and thought-provoking way. And, in each case, both thoughts seem equally true.]

Robert Frost

"Love is the irresistible desire to be desired irresistibly.“

Antithesis

• the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas, usually in a balanced way.

• the bringing out of a contrast in ideas by an obvious contrast in the words

Antithesis Examples

• Man proposes, God disposes.• Give every man thy ear, but few thy

voice.• Many are called, but few are chosen.

• Listen, young men, to an old man to whom old men were glad to listen when he was young.

ZEUGMA TWO+ PARTS OF A SENTENCE JOINED WITH

SINGLE COMMON VERB OR NOUN

"You are free to execute your laws, and your citizens, as you see fit.” From Star Trek: The Next Generation

"She was a thief, you got to believe: she stole my heart and my cat.“ From the film So I Married an Axe Murderer

ANASTROPHE INVERTED WORD ORDER

Good, it is. Strong in the force, you are. (Star Wars' Yoda)

- meaning of a sentence retained while creating a little attention-causing confusion - the listener spends a little more time than usual working out what is being said

ANAPHORA- repetition of word or expression at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses,

sentences

Steve Jobs (Stanford Com. Speech – June 12, 2005)My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor’s code for prepare to die.It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months.It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family.It means to say your goodbyes.

Why Use It???

• Anaphora is used more for its emphatic and unifying characteristics

• When used with “Rule of Three” – can be powerful – see previous example

EPISTROPHEEnding a series of lines, phrases,

clauses, or sentences with same word or words

• OPPOSITE OF ANAPHORA

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny compared to what lies within us.“

 —Emerson

SYNECDOCHEA whole is represented by naming one

of its parts, or vice versa

The rustler bragged he'd absconded with five hundred head of longhorns.

"He shall think differently," the musketeer threatened, "when he feels the point of my steel."

WHY USE THIS ONE???

• convey meanings in a more vivid and impressive manner

• use word association to convey emotion and mood 

• It just sounds clever – seriously clever + witty

RULE OF THREEcombination of pattern and brevity results in

memorable content

• Three is smallest number that creates a pattern

• Humans process information through pattern recognition

• We APPEAR to respond favorably to patterns of threes

3 IS A MAGIC NUMBER

http://youtu.be/aU4pyiB-kq0

LITERATURE

“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”“Government of the people, by the people, for the people”

“Friends, Romans, Countrymen”“Blood, sweat and tears”

“Location, location, location”“Father, Son and Holy Spirit”

POLYSYNDETONEmploying many conjunctions between

clauses

• Slows tempo + gives impression of “many”• Is almost always the most effective when you link three

or in some cases four elements• Modern readers do not expect even two conjunctions “When it was announced that the vending machines were going to have

apples instead of Cheetos, and orange juice instead of Coke, the employees cried and bawled and sobbed and complained and whined and protested.”

ASYNDETONomitting conjunctions between words,

phrases, or clauses. • Is useful for strong and direct climactic

effect• Can give the impression that the list is

perhaps not complete• Generally offers the feeling of speed and

concision to lists and phrases and clausesThey spent the day wondering, searching,

thinking, understanding.She likes pickles, olives, raisins, dates, pretzels.

ANTHROPOMORPHISMthe giving of human characteristics to non-

human animals or things, phenomena, concepts, etc…

• Named the “hobble skirt bottle” and “Mae West bottle”

• the bottle exhibited an anthropomorphic form, mimicking feminine curves + projected association with health, vitality, sexiness, and femininity.

• Coca-Cola sold like hot cakes

THE 4 PRIMARY USES OF ANTHROPOMORPHIC FORM

1. Keeping things the same (products like Coke bottles)2. Explaining the unknown 3. Reflecting society’s attributes4. Projecting human valuesGeorge Orwell’s Animal FarmAesop’s Fables