Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasion

1. Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasion Rhetorical Devices AP English III

2. Categories of Rhetorical Devices • Terms involving emphasis, association, clarification, and focus • Terms involving physical organization, transition, and disposition of arrangement • Terms involving decoration and variety

3. Expletive • A single word or short phrase, usually interrupting normal syntax, used to lend emphasis to the words immediately proximate to the expletive.

4. Asyndeton • Consists of omitting conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses • In a list of items, asyndeton gives the effect of multiplicity, of an extemporaneous rather than a labored account

5. Polysyndeton • Use of a conjunction between each word, phrase, or clause • Structurally the opposite of asyndeton • Intended rhetorical effect is one of multiplicity, energetic enumeration, and building up

6. Understatement • Deliberately expresses an idea as less important than it actually is either for ironic emphasis or for politeness and tact

7. Parallelism • Please learn to spell this word correctly! • Recurrent syntactical similarity • Several part of a sentence or several sentences are expressed similarly to show that the ideas in the parts or sentences are equal in importance • Adds balance, rhythm, and clarity to the sentence

8. Chiasmus • Inverted parallelism • Repetition of grammatical structures in inverted order • Shows the relationship of the two linked items in an unusual way to add to emphasis

9. Zeugma • Grammatically correct linkage (or yoking together) of two or more parts of speech by another part of speech • Examples: one subject with two verbs; a verb with two direct objects • Main benefit of the linking is that it shows relationships between ideas and actions more clearly

10. Antithesis • Establishes a clear, contrasting relationship between two ideas by joining them together in parallel structure • Creates a definite and systematic relationship between ideas

11. Anaphora • Repetition of the same word or words at the beginning or successive phrases, clauses, or sentences, commonly in conjunction with climax and with parallelism • Often used in conjunction with rhetorical questions

12. Epistrophe • Counterpart to anaphora • Repetition o f the same word or words at the end of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences

13. Please note… • These terms are intended for use on the multiple choice section of the exam and in your own writing. • They are DEVICES—not techniques—which means you should not focus on them in your analysis of timed writings