Juniors Patrick Henry’s Speech in the Virginia Convention Rhetorical Devices Juniors Patrick Henry’s Speech in the Virginia Convention
Rhetorical Question A rhetorical question is asked just for effect or to lay emphasis on some point discussed when no real answer is expected. Ex: Are you stupid?
Parallelism It refers to the grammatical structure of phrases or sentences to give structural similarity.
Antithesis Antithesis, literal meaning opposite, is a rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect. Antithesis uses parallelism Money is the root of all evil: poverty is the fruit of all goodness.
Repetition Repetition is a literary device that repeats the same words or phrases a few times to make an idea clearer. Ex: MLK Jr’s “I Have a Dream”
Allusion An allusion is a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance. It does not describe in detail the person or thing to which it refers. It is just a passing comment and the writer expects the reader to possess enough knowledge to spot the allusion and grasp its importance in a text. Ex: This place is like a Garden of Eden!