Rhetorical Strategies

Commonly Found in Non-Fiction Texts

Eng 12

What is a “Rhetorical Strategy”?

• A technique that an author or speaker uses to evoke a response in the audience.

• These responses are central to the meaning of the work or speech, and should also help get the audience's attention.

Appeals to Pathos • Definition: Verbiage that

attempts to influence the listener or reader by appealing to emotion.

Hint: Look for loaded words and phrases which have strong emotional overtones or connotations.

Appeals to pathos should evoke strongly positive—or negative reactions beyond their literal meaning.

Appeals to Ethos• Definition: Improving the

truth/value of an assertion by referencing a figure of authority, knowledge, or expertise.

Appeals to Logos• Definition: Improving the

truth/value of an assertion by referencing facts and statistics.

Rhetorical QuestionsWhat do you already know

about RHETORICAL

QUESTIONING?

Rhetorical Questions• Definition: Questions that are

posed that do not require an answer.

Example: "How much longer must people endure this injustice?”

THINK-PAIR-SHAREWHY might an author use this strategy when

developing an argument?

Repetition of Ideas• Definition: Repeating words and

phrases for a desired effect -- usually for emphasis or style.

Whole Class: Who can think of a current commercial or advertisement

that uses “repetition of ideas”?

Analogies• Definition: drawing a

comparison in order to show a similarity in some respect.

Example: "the operation of a computer presents an interesting analogy to the working of the brain"

Diction• Definition: refers to the writer's

or the speaker's distinctive vocabulary choices and style of expression. Diction has a direct influence on the author’s Tone.

Tone• Definition: how the author or

speaker conveys his/her feeling about the subject matter.

Allusion• Definition: a figure of speech

that makes a reference to a place, historical event, literary work, myth, or work of art, either directly or by implication. (Think historical, mythological, biblical, etc.)

As You ReadThink/Record…

Are there any OTHER examples of rhetorical strategies that you notice in your Non-Fiction book? • Alliteration - the recurrence of initial consonant sounds - rubber baby

buggy bumpers• Antithesis - makes a connection between two things - “That's one small

step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” (Neil Armstrong)• Epithet - using an adjective or adjective phrase to describe - mesmerizing

eyes• Hyperbole - an exaggeration - I have done this a thousand times.• Metaphor - compares two things by stating one is the other - The eyes

are the windows of the soul.• Onomatopoeia - words that imitate the sound they describe - plunk,

whiz, pop• Oxymoron - a two word paradox - near miss, seriously funny• Parallelism - uses words or phrases with a similar structure - I went to the

store, parked the car and bought a pizza.• Simile - compares one object to another - He smokes like a chimney.• Understatement - makes an idea less important that it really is - The

hurricane disrupted traffic.