Introduction to Rhetoric and Rhetorical Devices
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Speech
Rhetorical Analysis Activity
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbUtL_0vAJk
Audio: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
*****HOMEWORK*****
BEFORE Next Class:Blog Comment 2: Rhetorical Devices
Choose three of the following terms:
Exemplum Metonymy Rhetorical Question Epistrophe Chiasmus Anaphora Amplification Ellipsis Enthymeme Litotes Antithesis Eponym Hypophora Zeugma Climax Conduplicatio Syllepsis Conduplicatio Parallelism Epithet Epanalepsis Isocolon Assonance Aporia Hyperbole Polysyndeton Catachresis Appositive Cacophony Euphemism
Define each of your three rhetorical devices
Create two-three examples of each
Find a “literary” work (poem, essay, novella, film, graphic novel) that employs your three rhetorical devices. You might want to find three separate works, each employing ONE of the devices. Include the example and reference your source(s) (follow MLA style)
Analyse the effectiveness of the devices.
Rhetorical Devices
ReplyDeleteDefinitions:
1. Conduplicatio - Figure of repetition in which the key word or words in one phrase, clause, or sentence is/are repeated at or very near the beginning of successive sentences, clauses, or phrases; repetition of a key word over successive phrases or clauses.
Examples:
Walking through the forest I saw the autumn trees, the wind was blowing through the trees and the leaves on the trees were falling.
Sailing on the ocean I can feel the cool breeze of the ocean air.
Literary work:
"So I ask you tonight to return home, to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King -- yeah, it's true -- but more importantly to say a prayer for our own country, which all of us love -- a prayer for understanding and that compassion of which I spoke. We can do well in this country." (Robert F. Kennedy)
Analysis: Repetition enhances the contents of the message.
2. Epithet - is a descriptive word or phrase accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a person or thing, which has become a fixed formula.
Examples:
Heartfelt thanks
Stone-cold heart
Literary work:
"Bravely bold Sir Robin rode forth from Camelot. He was not afraid to die, oh brave Sir Robin. He was not at all afraid to be killed in nasty ways, brave, brave, brave, brave Sir Robin."
(Monty Python and the Holy Grail)
Analysis: Epithet’s are effective because they provide a brief summary of major characters’ most essential qualities.
3. Hypophora – is a figure of speech where the speaker poses a question and then answers the question.
Examples:
What stings and loves honey? A bee
It is ridiculous that I carry on with this crazy idea. And, why do I ask you? Because it make no sense, that’s why.
Literary work:
"What makes a king out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage! What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist, or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage!" (The Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz, 1939)
Analysis: Hypophora is effective because it gets the reader’s attention and stirs their curiosity.
Blog Comment #2 -Kyla Hardon
ReplyDeleteEpistrophe- the repetition of a word or words at the end of two or more successive verses, clauses, or sentences.
Ex1: By the people, for the people.
Ex2: He said no, she said, they all said no.
Anaphora- repetition of a word or words at the beginning of two or more successive verses, clauses or sentences.
Ex1: I am not going to scream, I am not going to yell.
Ex2: Please will you walk with me, please will you talk with me.
Climax- a figure consisting of a series of related ideas arranged so that each surpasses the preceding in force and intensity.
Ex1: We will go, we will fight, we will conquer! Ex2: Let’s all go and fight for what we believe in!
Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” Speech
Examples of Each on the reading:
Epistrophe
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today!
Anaphora
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Climax
Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
I think that the repetition in epistrophe and anaphora really drive the point home. It almost embeds the purpose or point into the mind of the reader or listener. Climax is effective because it is that last thing that really gets the person excited. If a person says it with such power and force, it is really going to get to the people. These three things working together can really convey a powerful message.
Note:I tried to post the MLA style reference to the speech, but it said the HTML could not be accepted.
Rhetorical Devices
ReplyDeleteEuphemism: The substitiution of mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be harsh and offensive.
Example:
1. He is gone to meet his maker.
2. Do you think your child is an underachiver?
Literary work
"This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality."
Analysis:
Without using harsh or offensive words, it still gives strong message behind it.
Climax: The highest or most intense point in the development or resolution of something.
Example:
1. The climax of the greek plot line is when everything comes out.
2. A drum with drum beats moving from a soft whisper to thunderous climax.
Literary work:
"Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
Analysis:
It leaves powerful and strong impression to the speech.
Zeugma: The use of a word to modify two or more words when it is appropriate to only one of them or appropriate to each but in a different way.
Example:
1. He lost his coat and his temper.
2. On his fishing trip, he caught tree trout and cold.
Literary work:
"All of the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of their defects" (Brave new world)
Analysis:
It changes a simple sentence to dynamic one with more impact to the words in it.
Blog Comment #2 Kaytlynn McCuaig
ReplyDeleteExemplum- demonstrating a moral point
Ex: “The Princess and the Pea”, “The Paper Bag Princess”, “Little Red Riding Hood”
Literary Work: “And also in the human rights revolution, if something isn't done, and done in a hurry, to bring the colored peoples of the world out of their long years of poverty, their long years of hurt and neglect, the whole world is doomed.” (Martin Luther King, 1968)
Analysis: Everyone can relate to the message being portrayed.
Anaphora- the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses.
Ex: “I Have A Dream”, “I’ve Been to the Mountain Top”
Literary Work: “If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have had a chance later that year, in August, to try to tell America about a dream that I had had.
If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been down in Selma, Alabama, to see the great Movement there. If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been in Memphis to see a community rally around those brothers and sisters who are suffering.” (Martin Luther King,1968)
Analysis: Anaphora drives home your point and continues your theme throughout your work. Makes your work more memorable.
Epistrophe- the repetition of a word at the end of successive clauses or sentences.
Ex. “I’ve Been to the Mountain Top”, “Three Little Monkey’s Jumping on the Bed”
Literary Work: “I would go on, even to the great heyday of the Roman Empire. And I would see developments around there, through various emperors and leaders. But I wouldn't stop there. I would even come up to the day of the Renaissance, and get a quick picture of all that the Renaissance did for the cultural and aesthetic life of man. But I wouldn't stop there.I would even go by the way that the man for whom I am named had his habitat. And I would watch Martin Luther as he tacked his ninety-five theses on the door at the church of Wittenberg. But I wouldn't stop there.”(Martin Luther King, 1968)
Analysis: Epistrophe ties things together and makes things easier to remember because of the repetition. Amplifies the point you are trying to make.
Rhetorical Devices:
ReplyDeletePosted by Tyson Boyd
Definitions
Isocolon is a figure of speech in which parallelism is reinforced by members that are of the same length.
Examples:
“Veni, vidi, vici” (“I came; I saw; I conquered), Julius Ceaser
“Many will enter. Few will win” Nabisco
“No ifs, ands, or buts.” English Proverb
Literary Work
A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
Chapter 5
Pity is the feeling which arrests the mind in the presence of whatsoever is grave and constant in human sufferings and unites it with the human sufferer. Terror is the feeling which arrests the mind in the presence of whatsoever is grave and constant in human sufferings and unites it with the secret cause.
Analysis:
Repetition of any pattern of sounds gives a statement a beat, thus playing to the mind's ability to recognize and pay attention to patterns and appreciate harmony. Isocolon uses this aspect to give power to words.
Assonance is refrain of vowel sounds to create internal rhyming within phrases or sentences, and together with alliteration and consonance serves as one of the building blocks of verse.
Examples
• That solitude which suits abstruser musings —Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• The scurrying furred small friars squeal in the dowse —Dylan Thomas
• Hear the lark and harken to the barking of the dog-fox gone to ground — Pink Floyd
• Floating down, the sound resounds around the icy waters underground — Pink Floyd
Literary Work
Poem: El Dorado by Edgar Allan Poe
Example of Assonance: Eldorado, shadow, old, over, boldly, no
Analysis:
The quick rhythm of the poem is slowed by the use of the long o sound, thereby drawing the reader's attention to the oft repeated words Eldorado and shadow. These two words emphasize the meaning of the poem, the knight's quest. Eldorado is a legendary place of great wealth and opportunity which overshadows everything the knight does.
Euphemism: is a substitution of an agreeable or less offensive expression in place of one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant to the listener, or in the case of Doublespeak, to make it less troublesome for the speaker. It also may be a substitution of a description of something or someone rather than the name, to avoid revealing secret, holy, or sacred names to the uninitiated, or to obscure the identity of the subject of a conversation from potential eavesdroppers. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse.
Example euphemisms include:
• getting smashed or hammered instead of 'drinking' or 'being drunk'
• big, curvy, fluffy, full-figured or heavy-set instead of 'fat'
• lost their lives for 'were killed'
• wellness for benefits and treatments that tend to only be used in times of sickness
• restroom for toilet room in American English (the word toilet was itself originally a euphemism)
• a love of musical theatre, good fashion sense or confirmed bachelor for male homosexuality
• woman in sensible shoes for lesbian
Analysis
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Well, I'm totally agree with you... It also may be a substitution of a description of something or someone rather than the name, to avoid revealing secret.
ReplyDeleteI really like to listen similar speeches in youtube , specially if they are related with controversial topics !
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