Lit Terms 2

Rhetorical Analysis

Anecdote

• A brief account of or a story about an individual or an incident

• Tolstoy was a great pacifist and was once lecturing on the need to be nonresistant and nonviolent towards all creatures. Someone in the audience responded by asking what should be done if one was attacked in the woods by a tiger. Tolstoy responded, "Do the best you can. It doesn't happen very often."

Argumentation

• The form of writing that takes a stand on an issue and attempts to convince readers by presenting a logical sequence of points supported by evidence.

• Romantic love is a poor basis for marriage.

Exemplification

• The pattern of development that uses a single extended example or series of shorter examples to support a thesis.

Syllogism

• A basic form of deductive reasoning. Includes three parts: a major premise that makes a general statement, a minor premise that makes a related but more specific statement, and a conclusion drawn from these two premises.

Syllogism Example

• "On Meet the Press, . . . [Tim] Russert reminded [George W.] Bush, 'The Boston Globe and the Associated Press have gone through some of their records and said there's no evidence that you reported to duty in Alabama during the summer and fall of 1972.' Bush replied, 'Yeah, they're just wrong. There may be no evidence, but I did report. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been honorably discharged.' That's the Bush syllogism: The evidence says one thing; the conclusion says another; therefore, the evidence is false."(William Saletan, Slate, Feb. 2004)

Exemplification Example

• Children’s cartoons have traditionally contained much violence, and this situation is something we have learned to accept as normal. Consider how much a part of our landscape the following situations are. (EX1)The coyote chases the roadrunner and finds himself standing in midair over a deep chasm. For a fraction of a second he looks pathetically at the audience; then he plunges to the ground. (EX2)Elmer Fudd puts his shotgun into a tree where Buggs Bunny is hiding. Buggs bends the barrel so that, when Elmer pulls the trigger, the gun discharges into his face. (EX3)A dog chases Woody Woodpecker into a sawmill and, unable to stop, slides into the whirling blade of a circular saw. As the scene ends, the two halves of the dog fall to the ground with a clatter.

Metonymy

• Substituting the name of one object for another object closely associated with it.

• He is a man of the cloth.

Synecdoche

• Using one part of an object to represent the entire object.

• Sam finally traded in his old jalopy and got himself a new set of wheels.

Asyndeton

• A construction in which elements are presented in a series without conjunctions.

• I skated, I shot, I scored, I cheered—what a glorious moment of sport!

• “The government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Asyndeton Example• "Why, they've got ten volumes on suicide alone. Suicide

by race, by color, by occupation, by sex, by seasons of the year, by time of day. Suicide, how committed: by poisons, by firearms, by drowning, by leaps. Suicide by poison, subdivided by types of poison, such as corrosive, irritant, systemic, gaseous, narcotic, alkaloid, protein, and so forth. Suicide by leaps, subdivided by leaps from high places, under the wheels of trains, under the wheels of trucks, under the feet of horses, from steamboats. But Mr. Norton, of all the cases on record, there's not one single case of suicide by leap from the rear end of a moving train."(Edward G. Robinson as insurance agent Barton Keyes in Double Indemnity)

Juxtaposition

• The arrangement of two or more ideas, characters, actions, settings, phrases, or words side-by-side or in similar narrative moments for the purpose of comparison, contrast, rhetorical effect, suspense, or character development.

• Placing two elements side by side to present a comparison or contrast.

Juxtaposition

• The scene with the gardeners in Richard II relates symbolically to the fact that Richard, as king, is not tending his own little Eden, the isle of Britain.

Juxtaposition Examples

• youth and old age; • servants and nobles; • love-sick Romeo and fiery Tybalt; • the noisy public feast and the private whispers

of the lovers; • Romeo's infatuation and Juliet's wit; • the old nurse and young Juliet; and so on.

Non Sequitur

A logical fallacy that involves looking back at two events that occurred in chronological sequence and wrongly assuming that the first event caused the second.

• Only experts have sufficient knowledge to assess the solution to this dilemma

• Only the college educated can lead the state of Georgia.

Lit Terms Rhetorical Analysis

Metonymy• A figure of speech• One thing is represented by

another that is commonly and often physically associated with it.

• to someone’s writing as “hand”

Synecdoche• Figure of speech• In which part of something

is used to represent the whole or, occasionally, the whole is used to represent the part.

• To refer to a boat as a “sail”• Wheels for “car”

Terms

Asyndeton• Lack of conjunctions

juxtaposition• Next to each other

?

• PURINA ONE WHOLESOME ENTREES:These high-quality, nutritionally-complete meals give your dog the nutrients he needs to help promote a lifetime of good health.

Terms

Non sequitur• It does not follow• Logical fallacy• A logical fallacy that

involves looking back at two events that occurred in chronological sequence and wrongly assuming that the first event caused the second.

Anecdote• A brief account of or a story

about an individual or an incident.

Terms

Zeugma• A figure of speech• The same word (verb or

preposition) is applied to two others in different sense

• Miss. Bolo went home in a flood of tears and a taxi.

• She looked at the object with suspicion and a magnifying glass.

Litotes• A figure of speech• Which contains an

understatement for emphasis, and therefore the opposite of hyperbole.

• With a negative assertion.

Terms

chiasmus• Rhetorical device in which

certain words, sounds, concepts, or syntactic structures are reversed or repeated in reverse order.

• Faire is foul and foul is fair.• Flowers are lovely, love is

flowerlike.

Logos• Fact, objective• Citations from experts and

authorities • Informed opinions • Evokes a cognitive, rationale

response

?

• Give us this day our daily bread.

• In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare often places two contrasting characters (Tybalt and Benvolio) together for effect.

?

• “Last week I saw a woman flayed, and you will hardly believe how much it altered her appearance for the worse.”

Jonathan Swift, “Tale of a Tub”

?

• “Sail” for boat • He labors without complaining and without bragging rests.

?

• In 1831, Edgar Allan Poe was allegedly expelled from West Point for neglecting the dress code during public parade. It is said that he mocked the dress instructions by appearing naked, with a rifle over his shoulder, wearing a white belt and gloves. He was released from the academy for "gross neglect of duty".

?

• CHAOS/CALMThe end of Jack's (Lost t.v. show) flashback to the plane is chaotic and destructive, with people being hurled around the plane, and everyone terrified. The next shot is of a calm ocean, with a thoughtful and introspective Jack looking out over it.

?

• High school graduates should take a year off before entering college.

?

• If you buy this car, your family will be safer.

?

• Tolstoy was a great pacifist and was once lecturing on the need to be nonresistant and nonviolent towards all creatures. Someone in the audience responded by asking what should be done if one was attacked in the woods by a tiger. Tolstoy responded, "Do the best you can. It doesn't happen very often."

?

• A few unannounced quizzes are not inconceivable.

?

• "War is peace.“• "Freedom is slavery.“• "Ignorance is strength.“

(George Orwell, 1984)

?

• Roosevelt was often bored by the tedious small talk that was required of him at social functions. He often felt as if those with whom he conversed were seldom paying attention to what was said. To prove his point, sometimes Roosevelt would begin a conversation by saying, "I murdered my grandmother this morning." Often these words were met with polite approval. On one occasion, however, an attentive listener gave the witty reply, "I'm sure she had it coming to her."

?

• the pen is mightier than the sword

?

• "Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again."(C.S. Lewis to his godchild, Lucy Barfield, to whom he dedicated The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)

?• "Why, they've got ten volumes on suicide alone.

Suicide by race, by color, by occupation, by sex, by seasons of the year, by time of day. Suicide, how committed: by poisons, by firearms, by drowning, by leaps. Suicide by poison, subdivided by types of poison, such as corrosive, irritant, systemic, gaseous, narcotic, alkaloid, protein, and so forth. Suicide by leaps, subdivided by leaps from high places, under the wheels of trains, under the wheels of trucks, under the feet of horses, from steamboats. But Mr. Norton, of all the cases on record, there's not one single case of suicide by leap from the rear end of a moving train."(Edward G. Robinson as insurance agent Barton Keyes in Double Indemnity)

?

• Ziggy is walking on a hill at night with many stars in the sky; then Ziggy says “they say that the stars can make some people feel insignificant. . . They sure make me feel that way. . . Especially BRAD PITT!”

?

• Both parents should assume equal responsibility in raising a child.

?

• war is not healthy for children and other living things

?

• General Motors announced cutbacks

?

• "But Ted Lavender, who was scared, carried 34 rounds when he was shot and killed outside Than Khe, and he went down under an exceptional burden, more than 20 pounds of ammunition, plus the flak jacket and helmet and rations and water and toilet paper and tranquilizers and all the rest, plus an unweighed fear."(Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried)

?

• In the 2010 Winter Olympics, Canada won 14 gold medals.

?

• “Eros is bold, enterprising, strong, a mighty hunter, always weaving some intrigue or other, keen in the pursuit of wisdom, fertile in resources; a philosopher at all times, terrible as an enchanter, sorcerer, sophist.”

Plato

?

• Dr. House: Words have set meanings for a reason. If you see an animal like Bill and you try to play fetch, Bill's going to eat you, because Bill's a bear.Little Girl: Bill has fur, four legs, and a collar. He's a dog.Dr. House: You see, that's what's called a faulty syllogism; just because you call Bill a dog doesn't mean that he is . . . a dog.("Merry Little Christmas, House, M.D.)

?

• You will do what I say because you are my wife!'"