chapter 12 Using Language

Language Use Guidelines Accurately Clearly Vividly Appropriately

Abstract vs. Concrete Roy Halladay Physical activity Sports Baseball Pitcher Roy Halladay Abstract Concrete

Imagery Creates mental images of objects, actions, ideas, senses

Imagery "He clasps the crag with crooked hands." "The Eagle" by Lord Alfred Tennyson:

Rhetorical Devices Simile Metaphor Parallelism Repetition Alliteration Antithesis

Simile Comparison Introduced with “like” or “as”

Simile "Yellow butterflies flickered along the shade like flecks of sun" The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

Metaphor Comparison Not introduced with “like” or “as”

Metaphor "The fog comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches and then moves on.“ From the Fog by Carl Sandburg

Parallelism Similar arrangement of pair or series of related words, phrases, sentences

Parallelism "When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative.“ (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Repetition Reiterating same word or set of words At beginning or end of successive clauses, sentences

Repetition Unifies a sequence of ideas. Helps build a strong cadence. Reinforces an idea.

Repetition “If not now, when? If not us, who? If not together, how?” (Undetermined quotation, possibly JFK)

Alliteration Repeating initial consonant in close or adjoining words

Alliteration “Our colleges, our communities, our country should challenge hatred wherever we find it.”

Antithesis Juxtaposition of contrasting ideas, usually in parallel structure placing 2 or more things side by side

Antithesis “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” Inaugural Address by John F. Kennedy January 20th 1961

Material from the following unless indicated otherwise: Lucas, Stephen. The Art of Public Speaking. 11th ed. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print. Clipart from Microsoft Office