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