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Emotional Argumentation
Three strategies
Appeals to Emotion
Rhetorical Figures
Framing
Rhetorical Figures
1. Repetition Figures 2. Contrast and Parallelism 3. Amplification 4. Disruption 5. Argument 6. Address
REPETITION FIGURES
Alliteration
"Somewhere at this very moment a child is being born in America. Let it be our cause to give that child a happy home, a healthy family, and a hopeful future."-- Bill Clinton, 1992 Democratic National Convention Acceptance Address
Repetition Figures
Anaphora
Repeating the first wordWith malice toward none;with charity for all;with firmness in the right,...— Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address
Repetition Figures
Anadiplosis
Repeating the last part and the first part
"Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. I sense much fear in you."
(Yoda in Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menance)
Repetition Figures
Epistrophe
Repeating the last word"Don't you ever talk about my friends! You don't know any of my friends. You don't look at any of my friends. And you certainly wouldn't condescend to speak to any of my friends."(Judd Nelson in The Breakfast Club)
Repetition Figures
Epizeuxis
Three words in a row:
Words, words, words!--Hamlet
Repetition Figures
Polysyndeton/Asyndeton
More Conjunctions/No Conjunctions
"He was a bag of bones, a floppy doll, a broken stick, a maniac."(Jack Kerouac, On the Road, 1957)
"[I]t is respectable to have no illusions--and safe--and profitable--and dull."(Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim, 1900)
Symploce
Repeating the first and last words
"Much of what I say might sound bitter, but it's the truth. Much of what I say might sound like it's stirring up trouble, but it's the truth. Much of what I say might sound like it is hate, but it's the truth."-- Malcolm X
Repetition Figures
contrast and parallelism
Antithesis
Balanced opposites"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dryrot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time." (Jack London)
antonomasia
Changing the Name
When you’re talking about rock ‘n roll, everything begins with The King.
diazeugma
Clusters of verbs following one subject
"Swallows dart, dip, dive, swiftly pluck perching insects from slow moving current."(Robert Watts Handy, River Raft Pack of Weeping Water Flat. Writer's Showcase, 2001)
Isolcolon
Items in a series are equal in length and form
"Nothing that's beautiful hides its face. Nothing that's honest hides its name."(Orual in Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold by C.S. Lewis. Geoffrey Bles, 1956)
Paranomasia
Puns
"I have a mind to join a club and beat you over the head with it."(Groucho Marx)
Tricolon
Three items in a series
"You are talking to a man who has laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom, and chuckled at catastrophe."(The Wizard in The Wizard of Oz, 1939)
Tricolon
Three items in a series
"I require three things in a man. He must be handsome, ruthless, and stupid."(Dorothy Parker)
Zeugma
The Yoking Figure--literal and figurative
Your phone is off the hook, but you're not.
Zeugma
The Yoking Figure--literal and figurative
My teeth and ambitions are bared; be prepared! - Scar, from The Lion King
disruption
Aporia
Real or pretended uncertainty
“Well, Mrs. Jones, I know there must be a simple explanation, but what I don’t understand is how you said you were home alone and had no visitors all day but the radiator of your car was still hot when I got here at 3 PM today. I’m sure you can explain that and there’s just one more thing, Mrs. Jones . . . .”.
Apoplanesis
Digressing or Evading
You’ve asked me to elaborate on my health care policy, and I will. These questions are good questions and our face-to-face engagement of these pressing issues is one of the best ways to sort out our differences and provide people with a clear-cut avenue of choice. Making choices and . .(continues until audience falls asleep)
aposiopesis
Pretending to be unable to speak
"Almira Gulch, just because you own half the county doesn't mean that you have the power to run the rest of us. For 23 years I've been dying to tell you what I thought of you! And now--well, being a Christian woman, I can't say it!"(Auntie Em in The Wizard of Oz, 1939)
Chiasmus
The X-figure
"I had a teacher I liked who used to say good fiction's job was to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable."
(David Foster Wallace)
tmesis
Inserting words inside other words
"I don't like tmesis; it's abso-bloody-lutely ri-flipping-diculous."
ARGUMENT
Apodioxis
Your argument is ridiculous
"Then there's the disease excuse.
"It goes like this: Drug addiction is a disease, so society has no right to punish addicts for their illness. Well, this kind of ridiculous argument makes me ill. We need to stop feeling sorry for people who careen out control, and begin to impose sanctions on them."(Bill O'Reilly)
Concessio
At least one part of your argument has merit
"It has been said that Rowcliff is handsome, and I'll concede that his six feet of meat is distributed well enough, but his face reminds me of a camel with a built-in sneer."(Rex Stout, Please Pass the Guilt, 1973)
enumeratio
The listing or detailing of the parts
Kramer: "Who's gonna turn down a Junior Mint? It's chocolate; it's peppermint; it's delicious."
Seinfeld: "That's true."
Kramer: "It's very refreshing!"
horismus
Offering a definition often by making a distinction between two things
“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” -- Peter Drucker
metanoia/correctio
Changing your mind (or pretending to) in the middle of your argument
Fido was the friendliest of all St. Bernards, nay of all dogs.
or
Fido was the friendliest dog in the world, or at least in my neighborhood.
Address
Anamnesis
Recalling
Was it not Socrates who said the unexamined life is not worth living?
Apostrophe
Directly speaking to a person or figure
Hello, Darkness, my old friend. I’ve come to talk with you again.
--Simon and Garfunkle
argumentum ad populum
Arguing that popularity is on your side
comprobatio
Flattering your audience
Can I say how lovely this audience looks this evening? Give yourselves a hand! You deserve it!
epiplexis
Rhetorical questions designed to hurt
"Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator. You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"(Joseph Welch to Senator Joseph McCarthy, June 9, 1954)
erotema
Rhetorical questions
Paralipsis
Ironic Denial
"Let's pass swiftly over the vicar's predilection for cream cakes. Let's not dwell on his fetish for Dolly Mixture. Let's not even mention his rapidly increasing girth. No, no--let us instead turn directly to his recent work on self-control and abstinence."(Tom Coates, Plasticbag.org, Apr. 5, 2003)
Paraprosdokian
Surprising Ending
Metaphor
An idea is a feat of association, and the
height of it is a good metaphor.
Robert Frost
Humor
"Cigarettes are like hamsters. Perfectly harmless until you put one in your
mouth and light it"
Framing
George Lakoff
The Conceptual Metaphor
Argument is a WAR
She shot down my arguments.
He won the argument
Her criticisms were right on
target.
The Conceptual Metaphor
Social organizations
are plantsThe math club withered after
Mindy left.
We need to let our school
grow.
Soccer associations
sprouted up all over Boston.
The Conceptual Metaphor
Life is a Journey
The Conceptual Metaphor
Democrats = MomRepublicans = Dad
George LakoffFrank LuntzWord
Associations
Government vs. Washington
Tax Cuts vs. Tax Relief
Inheritance Tax vs. Death Tax
Undocumented Workers vs. Illegal Aliens
Drilling for oil vs. Exploring for Energy
Imagine Hastle-freeLifestyleResultsCan-Do spiritInnovation Renew EfficiencyThe Right to...
Words that work
Appeals to Emotion
fearIf you don’t graduate from high school, you
will end up a ditchdigger.
Appeals to pity
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, look at this miserable man, in a wheelchair, unable to
use his legs. Could such a man really be guilty of embezzlement?"
Appeal to ridicule
Oh sure! Of course, evolution makes sense! It’s perfectly obvious that people are related
to gorillas!
Appeal to consequences
"Free will must exist: if it didn't, we would all be machines."
Appeal to flattery
Honors students such as yourselves are too smart to be fooled by companies like Jostens
that try to sell you ovepriced junk.
Appeal to spite
"Stop recycling! Aren't you tired of Hollywood celebrities preaching to everyone about saving the Earth?"
Appeal to popular sentiment