Rhetorical techniques (3)

Question 1

*I have always sought but seldom obtained…
*Ferocious dragons breathing fire and wicked sorcerers casting their spells…
*This wealthy car collector owns three pastel Cadillacs, two gold Rolls Royces, and ten
assorted Mercedes.

What rhetorical technique is exemplified here, with reference to syntax?

Answer 1

Parallelism: recurrent syntactical similarity, whether that be in a sentence or across parts of a sentence.

[Has an effect}:

• Ideas of equal importance
• Balance, rhythm, clarity

Question 2

• Learned willingly, gladly forgotten (as opposed to parallel, ‘forgotten gladly)
• Tell me not of your many perfections; of your great modesty tell me not either. (sectioned into ‘telling me’s and ‘qualities’)
• Sitting together at lunch, the kids talked incessantly; but they said nothing at all sitting in the dentist’s office. (similar divisions)

What rhetorical technique is exemplified here, with reference to syntax and parallelism?

Answer 2

Chiasmus: the second part of a structure is paralleled, but with an inverted syntax to that it is replicating.

[Has an effect}

Question 3

*Where affections bear rule, there reason is subdued, honesty is subdued, good will is
subdued, and all things else that withstand evil, for ever are subdued.
*And all the night he did nothing but weep Philoclea, sigh Philoclea, and cry out
Philoclea.

What rhetorical technique is exemplified here, with reference to the repetition?

Answer 3

Epistrophe: repetition of the same (word/phrase) at the end of successive (phrases, clauses, sentences)

[Has an effect}
- Emphatic (expressing something forcibly and clearly)

Question 4

*They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns,
broken cisterns that can hold no water.
*The question next arises, How much confidence can we put in the people, when the
people have elected Joe Doax?

What rhetorical technique is exemplified here, with reference to the repetition?

Answer 4

Anadiplosis: the last word of one phrase is near the beginning of the next.

[Has an effect}
- the main point is immediately clear

Question 5

*If this is the first time duty has moved him to act against his desires, he is a very
weak man indeed. Duty should be cultivated and obeyed in spite of its frequent
conflict with selfish wishes.
*She fed the goldfish every day with the new pellets brought from Japan. Gradually
the goldfish began to turn a brighter orange than before.

What rhetorical technique is exemplified here, with reference to the repetition?

Answer 5

Conduplicatio: repetition of a preceding key word

[Has an effect}
- effective focussing device