Anaphora
Anaphora is the repetition of words or phrases in a group of sentences, clauses, or poetic lines. A famous example is Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech. He repeats many sentences in the speech with “I have a dream”:
“I have a dream that that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice…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 down 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.”
(“What is Anaphora?” || Oregon State Guide to English Literary Terms | Oregon State University)
King, Martin Luther. “I Have a Dream.” March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Aug. 28, 1963, Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC.
Branches of Rhetoric
Rhetoric can be broken into three of its largest groups: deliberative, epideictic, and judicial. These divisions trace back to Aristotle, who divided the three branches based on their purpose and context.
- Deliberative: attempts to persuade an audience to take (or not take) some action. Common in political oratory, debate. Can You Identify the 3 Branches of Rhetoric? (thoughtco.com)
- Epideictic: praises or blames. Common in letters of recommendation, obituaries, retirement speeches. Can You Identify the 3 Branches of Rhetoric? (thoughtco.com)
- Judicial: considers the justice or injustice of a certain charge or accusation. Common in courts, justifying past decisions, defending one’s actions, disputes. Can You Identify the 3 Branches of Rhetoric? (thoughtco.com)
Chiasmus
Chiasmus is a rhetorical device in which two or more clauses are balanced against each other by the reversal of their structures in order to produce an artistic effect. Chiasmus has been commonly used in Bible scripture: “But many that are first / Shall be last, / And many that are last / Shall be first”; (Matthew 19:30). (Chiasmus – Examples and Definition of Chasmus (literarydevices.net))
Rhetoric
Campbell’s Rhetoric: George Campbell (1719-1796) was a Scottish minister who wrote “Philosophy of Rhetoric,” which widely influenced the Scottish Enlightenment. He defined rhetoric as “that art or talent by which discourse is adapted to its end. The four ends of discourse are to enlighten the understanding, please the imagination, move the passion, and influence the will.” (George Campbell, Appendix: Definitions of Rhetoric – Reading Rhetorical Theory (umn.edu))
Richards’s Rhetoric: I.A. Richards (1893-1979) was an English rhetorician, best known for his communication theories. He defined rhetoric as “the study of misunderstandings and their remedies.” (I.A. Richards, Appendix: Definitions of Rhetoric – Reading Rhetorical Theory (umn.edu))
My working definition: A means of persuasion that plays into the needs of the audience in order to better get the speaker’s point across.
Rhetorical Appeals
Forms of appeals that target and attempt to persuade an audience in different ways.
- Ethos: appeals to the speaker’s trustworthiness and credibility
- Pathos: appeals to the audience’s empathy and emotions
- Logos: appeals to the logical, fact-based aspects of the argument
- Kairos: appeals to the timeliness and fitness of the situation
University of Louisville Writing Center (louisville.edu)
Structures of Logic
These three structures of logical rhetoric all force the audience to use logic themselves to understand the premise of the argument.
- Syllogism: a form of logical, deductive reasoning with three parts. The first two parts are premises, and the third part is a conclusion of the premises. For example: Babies sleep a lot. Jimmy is a baby. Jimmy sleeps a lot. (Chapter 7: Rhetoric and Argumentation – Reading Rhetorical Theory (umn.edu))
- Enthymeme: a form of rhetorical, deductive reasoning. Very similar to syllogism, except that enthymemes does not include every deductive step, so that the audience must ‘participate’ in the logic and reasoning themselves. For example: All pessimists are unhappy, therefore Johnny is unhappy. (The ‘skipped’ step is that Johnny is a pessimist.) (Chapter 7: Rhetoric and Argumentation – Reading Rhetorical Theory (umn.edu))
- Rhetorical Question: a question, asked in order to make a statement, that does not expect an answer. For example: Are you out of your mind? (RHETORICAL QUESTION definition | Cambridge English Dictionary)
Synecdoche
Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part of something is used to signify the whole, or vice-versa. Some common synecdoche include “green thumb” to represent gardeners and “stars and stripes” to represent the United States flag. (Synecdoche – Examples and Definition of Synecdoche (literarydevices.net))