1 terms for literary and rhetorical analysis devices, strategies, and techniques

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Terms for Literary and Rhetorical Analysis

Devices, Strategies, and Techniques

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Rhetorical devices

Rhetorical Techniques

Rhetorical appeals

Syllogism

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Rhetorical Appeals

LogosPathosEthos

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Ethos—invoking character

“We believe good men more fully and more readily than others” -AristotleEstablish the morality of the speaker, orShow that the speaker has good intentions, orShow that speaker is credible or is an authorityCommon ethical appeals:

God and religionClaim something is the RIGHT thing to doPersonal history that reflects good deedsUse “we” to imply unity with audienceUse expert testimony to support self

Ask yourself:What character is the speaker presenting?How?Is that character reliable enough that you can accept her/his argument?

EthosIn an argument promoting strict standards for toxic emissions, Al Gore might:

Establish his own twenty year crusade to protect the environment

Cite evidence from credible PhDs and organizations that have conducted studies that support his claim

In a speech to announce her candidacy for Governor of North Carolina, Libby Dole might:Reference her work with the red crossEstablish her selfless goals to benefit

the population of the stateTell an anecdote about attending

church with her family

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Pathos—emotional appeal

Stir the emotions of the audience

Use audience’s anger, fear, patriotism, sympathy to call them into action

Use CHARGED DICTION—words with emotional connotation

Tell emotional anecdotes

Create imagery that inspires emotion

PathosIn a speech rousing an army to fight courageously, a general might:

Allude to soldiers of the past who have demonstrated courage

Reference a recent event that evokes anger

Remind soldiers of the families they hope to protect by winning their war

In a letter encouraging county commissioners to invest in a poverty-stricken area of town, a person might:Describe sympathetic images of

suffering in the communityNarrate an anecdote about a man who

died from heat stroke because he could not afford an air conditioner

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Logos—logical appeals

Use logical explanations

Use reasons to support ideas

Substantiate/support your claims

Deductive reasoningSyllogism

Enthymeme

LogosIn an editorial arguing in favor of wire tapping without warrants, a writer might:

Cite a survey that shows a high percentage of public support for the program

Provide evidence that such a program can reduce the threat of terrorism

In a discussion convincing your parents to allow you a later curfew, you might:Establish the conditions under which a person

ought to be permitted adult responsibilities

Show evidence that your responsible friends are permitted later curfews and have not broken them or been harmed during later hours

Deductive LogicIf a fact is generally true about a group, then it is true about parts of that group.

For example, if all students are unique, then Kandes is unique.

Used when a believable truth or principle can be used to determine truth for a specific case

Syllogism

Deductive Logic—Syllogism

Major premise: a definition or statement of truth

Must be general enough to be accepted as true

Should be specific enough to prepare the minor premise and conclusion

Minor premise: an example of that definition or statement

Generally requires evidence

Conclusion: What logically makes sense following the major and minor premises

It’s like the transitive property of equality:

if A=B

and B=C

then A=C

So deductive logic is mathematical

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Syllogism example

All humans are mortal.

Socrates is human.

Socrates is mortal.

Major Premise

Minor Premise

Conclusion

Syllogisms—some suggestions

Use syllogisms to prove a specific case.

Start by figuring out what you want to prove (for example: the dress code is unfair)

Then figure out what major premise you can use to make your point (for example: rules that stifle individuality are unfair)

Write and support your minor premise with examples, statistics, etc.

Back to Rhetorical AppealsBack to Structures

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IdentifySpeaker attempts to identify or connect with the audience by alluding to what they have in common:

Shared history

Shared heros

Shared values

Shared religion

Shared beliefs

Shared mythos

Sometimes use of 1st person plural (we, us, our) can help speaker identify with audience.

I like Jesus. Do you?

Yeah. Jesus rocks. Let’s be friends.

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Faulty AnalogyMaking an argument by comparing two scenarios, situations, or events.

The analogy becomes faulty when the comparison is unreasonable to the audience.

Employees are like nails. Just as nails must be hit in the head in order to make them work, so must employees.

Back to Logical Fallacies

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Ad Hominem Argument

President Roosevelt’s New Deal was not a sound policy. His upper-class background made him an incapable representative for the poor.

“To the man”

Rather than arguing an issue, the speaker directs an argument toward the individual.


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Begging the Question

Eating McDonald’s is bad for you because it’s unhealthy

“Circular Reasoning”

When the premise from which an argument is presented is only believable to someone who already believes conclusion.

Usually, premise and conclusion are essentially the same.


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Equivocating

America is a land of truth and justice, and justice is what will be dealt to any nation supporting the terrorists.

Using vague or ambiguous language to mislead an audience.

Eg. freedom, justice, real, right, society, power.


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Opposing a Straw Man

A straw man is an artificial or imagined opponent with positions that are easy to refute.

Speakers will sometimes refute the “straw man” rather than debating the actual opponent.

Pretending to oppose your opponent by refuting only an extreme position from the opposing point of view.

Students will argue that X-STOP prevents them from obtaining research they need for their courses, but research of pornographic images and offensive rap lyrics is hardly pertinent to their studies.


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False DilemmaPosing only two options (as solutions, etc.) when other possibilities exist.

But officer, I had to speed; otherwise, I would have missed curfew, which is illegal, too.


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Non-SequiturLittle Nicky stars Adam Sandler, one of the funniest comedians of our time. The movie has to be hilarious.

“It does not follow”

Presenting a conclusion that does not follow logically from the evidence or explanation.

It is important to question the assumptions, or warrants, being used in these arguments.


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Faulty Generalization

Democrats defend a woman’s right to abort a pregnancy.Felicia is a democrat; therefore, she must be pro-choice.

Arguing that if something is generally true about a group, then it must be true about any part of that group.

The generalization becomes faulty when it is too broad or fails to recognize the possibility of variation within a group.

This fallacy is a reminder that premises must be believable.


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Red HerringThe school newspaper should not be protected by the 1st Amendment. The advisor is irresponsible and the students like to play with spinny chairs.

A red herring is a stinky fish, often used to throw dogs off a trail.

As a logical fallacy, a red herrings is when you make an argument that does not relate to the issue at hand in an effort to lead your reader off the actual topic.

Notice that in this case, the red herring looks much like an ad hominem argument.


Literary & Figurative Devices

Imagery Allusion Simile Metaphor

Personification Apostrophe Synechdoche

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Symbolism

Metonymy

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ImageryUsing concrete language to create sensory details.

Frequently visual images.

Also:Smell=olfactory

Taste=gustatory

Touch=tactile

Sound=auditory

Here and there, where the vaporish clouds had rolled apart to reveal a clump of trees or a bare, jagged, fang-like snag of rocks, the reverberations of their haunting melody sang out like a choir of brass in an orchestra. Henry Miller

Miller calls on concrete imagery to create a sense of mysterious beauty for his

setting, the Greek island of Corfu.

Back to literary devices

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AllusionA reference, usually subtle or indirect, to another work of art or literature

Most common are Biblical allusions, references to the characters and stories of the Bible

In Ayn Rand’s Anthem Equality renames himself Prometheus when he discovers the value of the self and the word “ego.”

The name Prometheus alludes to Greek mythology and suggests the character’s ability to deliver new knowledge to the masses, even at the

risk of offending the gods, which the Greek Prometheus did by bringing fire from Mt.

Olympus to humans.


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SimileA comparison of one thing (character, event, object, setting) with something it is not.

Comparison uses “like” or “as” to indicate similarity.

In the early afternoon it was always quiet, the whole place tossing slowly in tropical repose, as if the building itself swung on a miraculous hammock...•from Americana by Don DeLillo

DeLillo emphasizes the relaxed, post-lunch atmosphere of the office by comparing the feeling

to that of swinging on a hammock.


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MetaphorAn association of one thing (character, event, object, setting) with something it is not.

Says one thing IS another. Does not say it is similar or like...

The moon is full tonight

an illustration for sheet music,

an image in Matthew Arnold

glimmering on the English Channel,

or a ghost over a smoldering battlefield

in one of the history plays

from “Moon” by Billy Collins

Collins gives the reader as sense of the moon’s mystery and artistic quality by associating it with other images,

particularly that of a ghost over a battlefield.


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PersonificationAssigning human or human-like qualities to non-human and inanimate objects.

Through one of the broken panes I heard the rain impinge upon the earth, the fine incessant needles of water playing in the sodden beds.

from “Araby” by James Joyce

Joyce adds life, perhaps even willpower, to the rain by choosing the action verb “playing” instead of falling or plunging


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ApostropheSimilar to personification

Addressing or speaking to inanimate objects as if they are human

“You are loosed from your moorings, and are free; I am fast in my chains, and am a slave! You move merrily before the gentle gale, and I sadly before the bloody whip! You are freedom’s soft-winged angels, that fly round the world; I am confined in bands of iron!”

from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass

Douglass speaks to the sailboats as if they

are free men, comparing them to

himself, a slave contemplating escape. The pronoun choice--

you--makes the use of apostrophe evident


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SymbolismThe use of a physical object, character, or setting to represent an abstract idea or to parallel a character.

Colors can also be symbolic

Allegory: when a story consists of a series of symbols and is symbolic in itself

GREENwith

ENVY= KNOWLEDGE


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Synechdoche


o A figure of speech in which a part represents the wholeo All hands on deck! o Hands represent sailors.o His parents bought him new wheels for his birthday.

oNew wheels can imply a new car.oMouths to feed

oWhat does the word “mouths” represent?

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Metonymy

o A figure of association in which one word is replaced by an associated wordo Sweat=hard worko Dish=a course in a mealo The Press=the news mediao Nixon bombed Hanoio The crown released a public statement regarding the

military service of Prince Harry. o What is the metonymy in this sentence? Substitute another word for it.


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AnalogyAn explicit comparison between two things (events, ideas, people, etc.)

Purpose is to further a line of reasoning or allow audience to associate recognizable traits of compared item with the item being discussed..

“Our men in uniform are like the college football players. While the struggle is impending, they are observing the rules of training that they may be fit to fight. But when the game has been won, the temptation to break training and make up for the restraints of the past months and years will be a mighty one.

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. War Campaign Address

Back to comparison

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Antithesis

A contrasting of opposing ideas in adjacent (usually parallel) phrases, clauses or sentences

The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here”

Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address

Back to comparison

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JuxtapositionWhen two contrasting things (ideas, words, images) are placed beside each other for comparison

“...A mango tree on broadway...”

Meena Alexander

Back to comparison

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OxymoronTwo words with contrary or apparently contradictory meanings occurring next to each other, which evoke some measure of truth

“Safe sex--now there’s an oxymoron. That’s like tactical nuke or adult male.”

Tim Curry in Lover’s Knot

Back to comparison

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ParodyA humorous imitation of a work of art or style of an artist, often in an effort to mock it.

Space Balls=Star Wars

Scary Movie=Scream (and other horror films)

Austin Powers trilogy=James Bond films

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QuickTime™ and aSorenson Video decompressorare needed to see this picture.

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ContrastA general term for the use of images, words, ideas, or characters that serve as opposites to each other.

Use of contrast tends to emphasize the item being contrasted.

Back to comparison

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Syntax Devices of Repetition

TextEpistrophe AnaphoraRepetition

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RepetitionRepeated use of any word, phrase, image, or idea used to emphasize or elaborate upon the idea.

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EpistropheRepetition of final word or group of words in successive phrases or clauses

“I said you’re afraid to bleed. [As] long as the white man sent you to Korea, you bled. He sent you to Germany, you bled. He sent you to the South Pacific to fight the Japanese, you bled. You bleed for white people. But when it comes time to seeing your own churches being bombed and little black girls being murdered, you haven’t got no blood.”

Malcolm X, Message to the Grassroots


“I said you’re afraid to bleed. [As] long as the white man sent you to Korea, you bled. He sent you to Germany, you bled. He sent you to the South Pacific to fight the Japanese, you bled. You bleed for white people. But when it comes time to seeing your own churches being bombed and little black girls being murdered, you haven’t got no blood.”

Malcolm X, Message to the Grassroots

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AnaphoraRepetition of initial word or group of words in successive phrases or clauses

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“To raise a happy, healthy, and hopeful child, it takes a family; it takes teachers; it takes clergy; it takes business people; it takes community leaders; it takes those who protect our health and safety. It takes all of us.”

Hillary Clinton, 1996 Democratic National Convention

“To raise a happy, healthy, and hopeful child, it takes a family; it takes teachers; it takes clergy; it takes business people; it takes community leaders; it takes those who protect our health and safety. It takes all of us.”

Hillary Clinton, 1996 Democratic National Convention


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Syntax Devices of Distinction

Distinctio Enumeration

Polysyndeton

Apposition

AsyndetonParallelism Periodic sentence

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ParallelismA means of arranging a series of related words, phrases or clauses in which each item in the series is grammatically equal.

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”

John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address

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AsyndetonA series of words or phrases not separated by normally occurring conjunctions (and, or, yet, but, so)

Emphasis added to series, esp. to final item in series.

We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life defending something. You use them as a punch line.

delivered by Jack Nicholson, A Few Good Men


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PolysyndetonDeliberate and excessive use of conjunctions (and, but, yet, or, so) in series of words, phrases or clauses

Tends to isolate and add impact to each item in list

Tends to emphasize abundance of items

“In years gone by, there were in every community men and women who spoke the language of duty and morality and loyalty and obligation.”

William F. Buckley

“In years gone by, there were in every community men and women who spoke the language of duty and morality and loyalty and obligation.”

William F. Buckley


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Apotheosis

Oscar Schindler rose up, as if from death, hovering above the weakened workers, and from him shone an ethereal light, which all would follow as if salvation depended on it.

When a character or thing is elevated to such a high status that it appears godlike

To apotheosize is to deify in literature

Emphasizes/exaggerates traits of character


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Euphemism

The community whispered behind her back that she was in a family way.

A mild or pleasant sounding expression used to convey an unpleasant idea

Tends to mollify the intensity and disguise negative connotation of charged terms

The community whispered behind her back that she was in a family way.


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UnderstatementWhen an author assigns less significance to an event or thing than it deserves.

Frequently used for humorous effect

Hurricane Floyd drizzled on Eastern North Carolina, sprinkling the trees and flowers with new life.


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HyperboleIntentional exaggeration for rhetorical effect

Tends to intensify or exaggerate significance of item being exaggerated.

Frequently used for emotion (or pathetic, as in pathos) appeal.

“Why you got scars and knots on your head from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet. And every one of those scars is evidence against the American white man.


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Rhetorical questionSentence which asks a question, not for the purpose of further discussion, but to assert or deny an answer implicitly

A question whose answer is obvious or implied. A question for argument

“Until someone can prove the unborn child is not a life, shouldn’t we give it the benefit of the doubt and assume it is?”

Ronald Reagan

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HypophoraFigure of reasoning in which one or more questions is/are asked and then answered, by the same speaker

Raising and responding to one’s own question(s)

“When the enemy struck on that June day of 1950, what did America do? It did what it always has done in all its times of peril. It appealed to the heroism of its youth.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower, “I Shall Go to Korea”

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1 terms for literary and rhetorical analysis devices, strategies, and techniques

Documents

rhetorical appealsback

rhetorical analysisdevices

good intentions

environmentcite evidence

good deedsuse

conclusionminor premise

programprovide evidence

good men