Material taken from Rhetorical Devices: a Handbook and Activities for Student Writers

#1. Rhetorical Question : a question in which the answer is implied. Shouldn’t you use the rhetorical

question sparingly? Don’t you want to know how to use

rhetorical devices well? “For what can war but endless war

breed?” “How can we expect a man to give

more than we ourselves are willing to give?”

Rhetorical Question

Why use this technique? To highlight a piece of information your readers probably already know; to make your writing more engaging.

Who can think of another example of a rhetorical question from your own experiences or from something you saw or read?

#2. Hypophora (hye PAH fuh ruh): asking a question, then proceeding to answer it. “How do we know this is true?

We have observed it in the lab.” “What then of the future? Let

come what may, and we shall meet it without fear.” (JFK)

“Do we then submit to our oppressor? No. No. A thousand times no.” (Winston Churchill)

Hypophora

Why use this technique? To give your readers more information without feeling like you’re forcing it upon them.

Who can think of another example of hypophora from your own experiences or from something you saw or read?

#3. Hyperbole: exaggerating some part of a statement to give it emphasis or force. “There are more reasons for NASA to

fund a trip to Jupiter than there are miles in the journey.”

“Compared to the world during the last Ice Age, a Minnesota winter feels like spring in Hawaii.”

“At these words, the people became so silent you could hear a beating heart from across the room.”

Hyperbole

Hyperbole is never meant to be understood literally by the reader.

Use hyperbole to: Energize a statement Cause your reader to snap to attention Exaggerate the difference between two

thingsLook back at the examples you copied.

Which one served which purpose? Write “energy,” “attention” or “differences” next to the statements that you think match those purposes.

#4. Antithesis: using a contrast in language to bring out a contrast in ideas.Antithesis can be built by contrasting any

of the different parts of a statement. You can use two opposing words or ideas, or even have two whole sentences oppose each other.

“That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” (Neil Armstrong)

“I speak not from ignorance, but from experience.”

Read the following famous quotes and determine which specific words and phrases are being contrasted by ANTITHESIS. “I came to bury Caesar, not

to praise him.” (Marc Antony, Julius Caesar by Shakespeare)

“To err is human, to forgive divine.” (Alexander Pope, English poet)

“Fair is foul and foul is fair.” (Witches, Macbeth by Shakespeare)

#5 Distinctio: elaborating on the definition of a word to make sure there is no misunderstanding. (Use sparingly!) “Communism, by which I mean the

socialist communalism which comes after the centralized state, has yet to be tried anywhere in the world.”

“At this point, we have a short time left – a short time being less than fifty years.”

“Is the software easy to use (can my 90-year old grandmother learn it) or difficult (do I need a degree in computer science)?”

Practice DISTINCTIO with these words. Write the sentences in your notebook. Worthwhile: That book was very

worthwhile; it taught me all I needed to know about Russia.

Colorful Deep Work Standard Bright

#6. Parallelism: Using the same general structure for multiple parts of a sentence, or for multiple sentences, in order to link them all. “To communicate is to speak, to pause, and to listen.” "They are laughing at me, not with me."

(Bart Simpson, The Simpsons) "I don’t want to live on in my work. I want to live on in my

apartment."(Woody Allen)

"Live in your world, play in ours."(advertising slogan for Sony PlayStation 2)

"Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal."(T.S. Eliot)

“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessing; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.”

Rewrite these sentences in your notebook so that they demonstrate PARALLELISM. I enjoy running, writing, reading,

and the way I can swim. The boys enjoyed operating their

paper route and the money they made.

When she prepared to write, she sharpens her pencil, and would organize her paper.

Hyperboles = “Yo Mama” jokes Your task for the next

minute or so is to write one school-appropriate “Yo Mama” jokes using the rhetorical device of hyperbole.

Please be ready to share with the class your most entertaining one.

For anyone who doesn’t know what a “Yo Mama” joke is…

“Yo mama is so fat that the only time she sees the digits “90210” is when she steps on the scale! Oh snap!”