Rhetorical Devices – Analytical Shortcuts

Analytical Devices – Purpose and effects I would recommend writing these notes down The more devices you can identify and analyze, the easier it will be for you when writing Anecdote Allusion Anaphora Antithesis Asyndeton vs. polysyndeton Parallelism Rhetorical question Pronouns

Goal with purpose Purpose always is explaining how this is helping the speaker to do what needs to be done Most of the time, how does it help persuade

Anecdote’s purpose What it is? – personal story about his or her life Why use it? Prove this actually happens/this problem exists Explain speaker’s motivation Establish ethos Example: when Hathaway refers to her own positive experience with her dad, she explains why fathers are important, which helps her overall purpose of advocating for paid parental leaves since it will allow others to then share this moment

Allusion’s purpose What it is? – reference to something famous (person, piece of art/writing, historical event, etc.) Why use it? Evoke/call to mind a similar, famous instance Explain speaker’s motivation Example – by referring to MLK’s “I have a dream” speech, a speaker can remind the audience of this famous fight for equality, and can persuade people to fight for the speaker’s cause as well

Anaphora’s purpose What it is? – repeating the same words at the beginning of a sentence or a phrase Why use it? Emphasize what is being repeated Example – by repeating “I have a dream”, MLK is emphasizing that he is hopeful that the segregation of his present will not be forever, and he can inspire his audience to create change

Antithesis’s purpose What it is? – contrasting 2 things or concepts Why use it? Differentiate between how things were with how they are Differentiate between how things should be Differentiate between 2 different views of a problem Example – by contrasting her family’s hardships with other families’ dreams, Hathaway is able to emphasize that if her family could benefit from paid family leave, other families would even more.

Asyndeton vs. polysyndeton’s purpose What it is? – listing without conjunctions (asyndeton) or listing with many conjunctions (polysyndeton) Why use it? Further emphasizing what is being listed Example – by listing something, speakers bring attention to all the things that are included (think Jefferson’s “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness”) in order to further highlight what is included in either the problem or the solution

Parallelism’s purpose What it is? – repeating structure Why use it? Emphasize what is being repeated Example – when Whitman includes all the instances of the different people who are singing in America, he is emphasizing America’s diversity

Pronoun’s purpose What it is? – using pronouns repeatedly Why use it? I/me/my – emphasize the speaker personally We/us/our – emphasize unity Him/her/he/she – emphasize other people They/them – emphasize an outgroup Example – by using “we”, Hathaway advocates that everyone needs to work to fix the problem

Using the short cuts Remember, this is to help you think about why an author uses these device It always needs to be applied to in context