RHETORICAL DEVICES

English III

Rhetorical Devices

Tools a writer/speaker uses to communicate clearly to his/her audience.

Used for persuasion or argumentation

Rhetorical Questions

Definition: A question that needs no answer.

The answer might be obvious, or the speaker assumes everyone agrees: “Do we want to go out there and give up?”

The question might lead the audience to think seriously about an issue the speaker will address: “I ask you, why then has Great Britain

stationed an army off our coast, if not to prepare for war?”

Antithesis

Definition: contrasting ideas presented in parallel structure for the sake of emphasis.

Examples: “It would be dreadful to suffer this wrath

one moment, but you must suffer it to all eternity.”

“it is a question of freedom or slavery” “judged not by the color of their skin, but

by the content of their character”

Simile and Metaphor

Definition: A comparison to an unlike item (using “like” or “as” for simile)

Used to help an audience understand a concept or a situation by comparing it to something more familiar

Ex: “We must avert the storm that is

coming” “Much as one holds a spider over the

fire” “The bow of God’s wrath is bent”

Allusion

Definition: a reference to a familiar person, event, etc. in mythology, history, or the Bible

Used to help an audience relate to the topic

Might make the situation seem more important

Ex: “betrayed by a kiss” “a Herculean task”

Repetition

Definition: using the same phrase or structure over and over

Used to emphasize an author’s main point: “in the hands of an angry god” “I have a dream”

Used to provide predictable structure for key points: “there is nothing of your own, nothing that

you have ever done, nothing you can do..” “work together, pray together, struggle

together”

Parallelism

Definition: using the same grammatical structure in a series of verbs, nouns, or phrases

Used to make an argument balanced and add easy to follow points of emphasis.

Ex:“the devil is waiting for them, hell is gaping

for them”“We have waited, watched, and hoped for

too long. Now is the time for action!”

Rhetorical Devices

Rhetorical Questions Antithesis Simile and Metaphor Allusions Repetition Parallelism

Match the Quote to the Rhetorical Device being used.

1. “We are apt to shut our eyes to a painful truth and listen to the song of the siren.”

2. “We have done everything to avert the storm that is coming.”

3. “Give me liberty, or give me death!”

4. “We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated…”

A. AntithesisB. MetaphorC. AllusionD. Parallelis

m

Match the Quote to the Rhetorical Device(s) being used.

1. Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

2. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

3. I have a dream that one day the sons of former slaves and former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

A. AntithesisB. MetaphorC. AllusionD. Parallelism

Hint: More than one device is being used!