Rhetorical Devices

Question 1

Rhetoric

Answer 1

The art of effective or persuasive speaking or
writing, especially by utilizing figures of speech and
other compositional techniques
There are 3 rhetorical argument types (ethos, logos,
and pathos), also known as “appeals”
There are many different rhetorical devices
(metaphor, simile, hyperbole, anaphora, etc.) used
to help develop these appeals

Question 2

Rhetorical Triangle

Answer 2

speaker = ethos
Audience = pathos
message = logos

Question 3

Ethos

Answer 3

An appeal that relies on the speaker’s credibility
and trustworthiness, I and Me, speaker must sound credible, audience wants to listen to the speakers message bc they respect him as an individual

Question 4

PATHOS

Answer 4

An appeal that relies on influencing the audience’s
emotions,
Powerful stories, examples, or descriptions that include
inspirational moments or sad/unbearable situations
➢ Incorporates stark contrasts and figurative language to
describe situations, ideas, or images
➢ Includes repetition to emphasize powerful points
➢ Includes powerful word choices that are chosen carefully
to elicit specific emotions

Question 5

Logos

Answer 5

An appeal that relies on logic, evidence, and reason
➢ Facts or statistics
➢ Dates and times of events
➢ Logical statements that the audience can relate to
through reason and past experience
➢ Incorporates “evidence” that is (or appears to be)
backed up by research

Question 6

Juxtaposition

Answer 6

Placing two contrasting images or ideas next to

each other for dramatic affect

Question 7

Anaphora

Answer 7

Repeating the same word or phrase at the
beginning of successive clauses, sentences, or
paragraphs

Question 8

Epistrophe

Answer 8

Repeating the same word or phrase at the END of

successive clauses, sentences, or paragraphs

Question 9

Euphemism

Answer 9

Taking something that would be particularly
negative (harsh, cruel, scary, etc.) and phrasing it in
a much more positive light

Passed away then died
Preowned not use

Question 10

Hyperbole

Answer 10

An exaggeration used to emphasize a particular

point or argument

Question 11

Parallelism

Answer 11

Constructing different parts of a complex sentence
in an equal manner by using the same grammatical
structures.

Ex: That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind

Question 12

Rhetorical Question

Answer 12

Using hypothetical questions (ones where the
answer is already implied) to add evidence to a
critical argument

Question 13

Understatement

Answer 13

Using targeted phrasing to make a very important
development or occurrence sound less important
than it really is

Ex: “He is not too thin” talking about someone obese

Question 14

Amplification

Answer 14

Repeating an important word or phrase while

adding more details and examples to it each time

Question 15

Paradox

Answer 15

Contradictory ideas that might sound illogical, but

with further investigation, might possibly be true

Question 16

Polysyndeton

Answer 16

Including more conjunctions than necessary

between successive phrases within a sentence

Question 17

Asyndeton

Answer 17

Failing to include conjunctions between successive
phrases within a sentence

Ex: I came, I saw, I conquered

Question 18

“This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope
to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of
withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of
their captivity.”

Answer 18

Juxtaposition

Question 19

“When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides
with you in squabbles with her own daughter - that’s something. When
you have a father and a mother who work all their lives so you can have
an education and build your body - it’s a blessing. When you have a wife
who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you
dreamed existed - that’s the finest I know.”

Answer 19

Anaphora

Question 20

Example: “If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the
woods, keep going. If they’re shouting after you, keep going. Don’t ever
stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going. And even in
the darkest of moments, that is what Americans have done. We have
found the faith to keep going.”

Answer 20

Epistrophe

Question 21

“But I think they underestimate the American people.

Americans do not respect believers of convenience.”

Answer 21

Euphemism

Question 22

“But for all those who scratched and clawed their way to get
a piece of the American Dream, there were many who didn’t make it –
those who were ultimately defeated, in one way or another, by
discrimination.”

Answer 22

Hyperbole

Question 23

that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have
died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of
freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the
people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Answer 23

Parallelism

Question 24

“Nothing in life is worth dying for, when did this begin – just
in the face of this enemy? Or should Moses have told the children of
Israel to live in slavery under the pharaohs? Should Christ have refused
the cross? Should the patriots at Concord Bridge have thrown down their
guns and refused to fire the shot heard ‘round the world? The martyrs of
history were not fools, and our honored dead who gave their lives to stop
the advance of the Nazis didn’t die in vain.”

Answer 24

Rhetorical Question

Question 25

“The purpose of these bases can be none other than to provide
a nuclear strike capability against the Western Hemisphere”

Answer 25

Understatement

Question 26

“Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already
embedded within our Constitution – a Constitution that had at is very
core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that
promised its people liberty and justice, and a union that could be and
should be perfected over time.”

Answer 26

Amplification

Question 27

“Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to
get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever
escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the
single best invention of Life. It’s Life’s change agent. It clears out the old
to make way for the new.”

Answer 27

Paradox

Question 28

“…fathers and mothers, if you have children, they must come
first. You must read to your children, and you must hug your children,
and you must love your children.”

Answer 28

Polysyndeton

Question 29

“How many of you here know that no matter how mighty the
man in your midst is, that he could not do it without the caress, the
wink, the unconditional love, the pat on the back, the sustenance, the
maintenance, of the woman in his life?”

Answer 29

Asyndeton