Rhetorical Devices

Persuasive techniques to enhance an argument

Rhetorical Question: a question that does not require a reply because the answer is obvious.

Rhetorical Questions Grandma Simpson and Lisa are singing Bob

Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" ("How many roads must a man walk down/Before you call him a man?"). Homer overhears and says, "Eight!"Lisa: "That was a rhetorical question!"Homer: "Oh. Then, seven!" (The Simpsons, "When Grandma Simpson Returns")

Rhetorical Questions

"Aren't you glad you use Dial?Don't you wish everybody did?"(1960s television advertisement for Dial soap)

"Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who would want to live in an institution?"(H. L. Mencken)

"If practice makes perfect, and no one's perfect, then why practice?" (Billy Corgan)

Antithesis•When contrasting ideas are

expressed in a grammatically balanced statement.

Antithesis• "Everybody doesn't like something, but

nobody doesn't like Sara Lee" (advertising slogan).

• “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” (Neil Armstrong).

• Brutus: "Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more" (William Shakespeare, “Julius Caesar”).

Repetition:The use of the same word or phrase more than once for emphasis.

Repetition “We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in

France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, 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; we shall never surrender” (Winston Churchill).

Parallelism: a form of repetition in which a grammatical pattern is repeated

Parallelism• parallelism of words:

She tried to make her pastry fluffy, sweet, and delicate. (3 adjectives)

• parallelism of phrases:Singing a song or writing a poem is joyous. (2 gerund phrases)

• parallelism of clauses:Perch are inexpensive; cod are cheap; trout are abundant; but salmon are best.

(noun / verb / adjective)