Examining Figures of Speech

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States At age 43, he was the youngest to have been elected to the office, the second-youngest president, and the first person born in the 20th century to serve as president. The only Roman Catholic president and the only president to have won a Pulitzer Prize.

John F. Kennedy was sworn in as the 35th President at noon on January 20, He won the election by one of the smallest popular vote margins in history. Kennedy’s goals: (1)to inspire the nation (2) alert the world of challenges of the Cold War, and (3) promote hope for peace in the nuclear age. He also wanted to be brief (power and poetry)

He studied other inaugural speeches and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address The finely-crafted final speech had been revised and reworked numerous 1,355 words in length, comprised of short phrases and words captivated his audience required a powerful delivery.

Following his inaugural address, nearly seventy-five percent of Americans expressed approval of President Kennedy.

A.Figures of Speech B.Master of rhetoric C.persuasive D.Good looking

Graces of language The dressing of thought Embellishment Figures of Speech do decorate prose, but that is not there sole function

According to Aristotle: They give clearness and liveliness to our expressions They balance our writing between “the obvious and the obscure” They help our audience grasp our ideas promptly

According to Longinus: They “infuse vehemence and passion into our spoken words” “…when combined with argumentative passages it…persuades the hearer…”

Figures of Speech render out thoughts in a vivid, concrete way. They stir up emotional responses Deliver a message clearly and effectively Allows a writer or speaker’s eloquence exert powerful ethical appeal f

“a form of speech artfully varied from common usage”— Quintilian

Because language has figurative resources

Schemes- deviation from the ordinary pattern or arrangement of words Tropes- deviation from the ordinary and principal signification of a word

Both involve a change in meaning to a degree Both involve transference Trope transfers meaning Example irony Scheme transfers order of meaning Example Hyperbaton

Alliteration Anaphora Anastrophe Antithesis Assonance Consonance Metaphor Simile Parallelism Paradox Repetition

Alliteration: repetition of the same sound beginning several words in a sequence Example: Alie angrily ate apples and acorns.

Anaphora: repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses or lines. Example: Tracy didn’t scream. Tracy didn’t cry. Tracy didn’t say a word—until she saw the blood.

Anastrophe: transposition of normal word order Example: “Good, it is,” Yoda squealed while swinging his light saber, “the force to know. Geoge Lucus, your father is. ”

Antithesis: contrast of ideas or words in a parallel structure Example He’s easy on the heart, but hard on the eyes.

Assonance: repetition of vowel sounds in non-rhyming words Example "I lie down by the side of my bride" "Fleet feet sweep by sleeping geese" "Hear the lark and harden to the barking of the dark fox gone to ground" by Pink Floyd 12_01_archive.html

Consonance: repetition of consonant sounds within words or ending words Example I'll swing by my ankles. She'll cling to your knees. As you hang by your nose, From a high-up trapeze. But just one thing, please, As we float through the breeze, Don't sneeze. - The Acrobats by Shel Silverstein

Metaphor: implied comparison through a figurative, not literal, use of words Example Life is a highway, and I just got my driver’s license.

Simile- an explicit comparison between two unlike things, yet they have something in common. Example I sat still, like jelly in a jar.

Paradox: a statement that seems self-contradictory, yet turns out to have a rational meaning Example Mitch is a one-man army.

Repetition: a word or phrase used two or more times in close proximity Example “A horse is a horse, of course, of course, And no one can talk to a horse of course That is, of course, unless the horse is the famous Mister Ed.” theme song of Mr. Ed, a 1960s TV program.