Rhetorical Strategies Commonly Found in Non-Fiction Texts Eng 12

What is a “Rhetorical Strategy”? A technique that an author or speaker uses to evoke a response in the audience. These responses are central to the meaning of the work or speech, and should also help get the audience's attention.

Appeals to Pathos Definition: Verbiage that attempts to influence the listener or reader by appealing to emotion. Hint: Look for loaded words and phrases which have strong emotional overtones or connotations. Appeals to pathos should evoke strongly positive—or negative reactions beyond their literal meaning.

Appeals to Ethos Definition: Improving the truth/value of an assertion by referencing a figure of authority, knowledge, or expertise.

Appeals to Logos Definition: Improving the truth/value of an assertion by referencing facts and statistics.

Rhetorical Questions What do you already know about RHETORICAL QUESTIONING?

Rhetorical Questions Definition: Questions that are posed that do not require an answer. Example: "How much longer must people endure this injustice?” THINK-PAIR-SHARE WHY might an author use this strategy when developing an argument?

Repetition of Ideas Definition: Repeating words and phrases for a desired effect -- usually for emphasis or style. Whole Class: Who can think of a current commercial or advertisement that uses “repetition of ideas”?

Analogies Definition: drawing a comparison in order to show a similarity in some respect. Example: "the operation of a computer presents an interesting analogy to the working of the brain"

Diction Definition: refers to the writer's or the speaker's distinctive vocabulary choices and style of expression. Diction has a direct influence on the author’s Tone.

Tone Definition: how the author or speaker conveys his/her feeling about the subject matter.

Allusion Definition: a figure of speech that makes a reference to a place, historical event, literary work, myth, or work of art, either directly or by implication. (Think historical, mythological, biblical, etc.)

As You Read Think/Record… Are there any OTHER examples of rhetorical strategies that you notice in your Non-Fiction book? Alliteration - the recurrence of initial consonant sounds - rubber baby buggy bumpers Antithesis - makes a connection between two things - “That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” (Neil Armstrong) Epithet - using an adjective or adjective phrase to describe - mesmerizing eyes Hyperbole - an exaggeration - I have done this a thousand times. Metaphor - compares two things by stating one is the other - The eyes are the windows of the soul. Onomatopoeia - words that imitate the sound they describe - plunk, whiz, pop Oxymoron - a two word paradox - near miss, seriously funny Parallelism - uses words or phrases with a similar structure - I went to the store, parked the car and bought a pizza. Simile - compares one object to another - He smokes like a chimney. Understatement - makes an idea less important that it really is - The hurricane disrupted traffic.