Rhetorical device
Encyclopedia
In rhetoric
, a rhetorical device or resource of language is a technique that an author or speaker uses to convey to the listener or reader a meaning
with the goal of persuading him or her towards considering a topic from a different perspective. While rhetorical devices may be used to evoke an emotion
al response in the audience, there are other reasons to use them. The goal of rhetoric is to persuade towards a particular frame of view
or a particular course of action, so appropriate rhetorical devices are used to construct sentence
s designed both to make the audience receptive through emotional changes and to provide a rational argument for the frame of view or course of action.
Two rhetorical devices are irony
and metaphor
.
The use of irony in rhetoric is primarily to convey to the audience an incongruity that is often used as a tool of humor in order to deprecate or ridicule an idea or course of action.
The use of metaphor in rhetoric is primarily to convey to the audience a new idea or meaning by linking it to an existing idea or meaning with which the audience is already familiar. By making the new appear to be linked to or a type of the old and familiar, the person using the metaphor hopes to help the audience understand the new.
An example of rhetorical device is this passage attributed to a speech by Abraham Lincoln
about a political adversary in which Lincoln said that his adversary had "dived down deeper into the sea of knowledge and come up drier than any other man he knew".
This attributed quote uses a body of water as a metaphor for a body of knowledge with the ironical idea of someone who gained so little from his education that he achieved the impossible of jumping into a body of water and climbing back out without getting wet.
Some Rhetorical Devices:
Sonic devices depend on sound.
1. Alliteration
is the repetition of the beginning sound of a word. This device is used to emphasize something, especially some kind of threat, bad or danger. For example, "The zoo kept several selfish seals".
2. Assonance
is the repetition of a similar set of sounds, it is used to emphasize intensity, evil, etc.
3. Cacophony is the eruption of chaotic, awful sound.
4. Onomatopoeia uses one or more onomatopoeic words (words that sound like what the author is describing).
Devices of Altered Signification shift the meaning of words.
1. Metaphor
directly says something is something else. For example, "his beard was a lion's mane".
2. Simile
is a gentler form of metaphor which tends to use "as" or "like" to compare something to something else. For example, "his beard was like a lion's mane."
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
, a rhetorical device or resource of language is a technique that an author or speaker uses to convey to the listener or reader a meaning
Meaning (linguistics)
In linguistics, meaning is what is expressed by the writer or speaker, and what is conveyed to the reader or listener, provided that they talk about the same thing . In other words if the object and the name of the object and the concepts in their head are the same...
with the goal of persuading him or her towards considering a topic from a different perspective. While rhetorical devices may be used to evoke an emotion
Emotion
Emotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...
al response in the audience, there are other reasons to use them. The goal of rhetoric is to persuade towards a particular frame of view
Framing (social sciences)
A frame in social theory consists of a schema of interpretation — that is, a collection of anecdotes and stereotypes—that individuals rely on to understand and respond to events. In simpler terms, people build a series of mental filters through biological and cultural influences. They use these...
or a particular course of action, so appropriate rhetorical devices are used to construct sentence
Sentence (linguistics)
In the field of linguistics, a sentence is an expression in natural language, and often defined to indicate a grammatical unit consisting of one or more words that generally bear minimal syntactic relation to the words that precede or follow it...
s designed both to make the audience receptive through emotional changes and to provide a rational argument for the frame of view or course of action.
Two rhetorical devices are irony
Irony
Irony is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions...
and metaphor
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
.
The use of irony in rhetoric is primarily to convey to the audience an incongruity that is often used as a tool of humor in order to deprecate or ridicule an idea or course of action.
The use of metaphor in rhetoric is primarily to convey to the audience a new idea or meaning by linking it to an existing idea or meaning with which the audience is already familiar. By making the new appear to be linked to or a type of the old and familiar, the person using the metaphor hopes to help the audience understand the new.
An example of rhetorical device is this passage attributed to a speech by Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
about a political adversary in which Lincoln said that his adversary had "dived down deeper into the sea of knowledge and come up drier than any other man he knew".
This attributed quote uses a body of water as a metaphor for a body of knowledge with the ironical idea of someone who gained so little from his education that he achieved the impossible of jumping into a body of water and climbing back out without getting wet.
Some Rhetorical Devices:
Sonic devices depend on sound.
1. Alliteration
Alliteration
In language, alliteration refers to the repetition of a particular sound in the first syllables of Three or more words or phrases. Alliteration has historically developed largely through poetry, in which it more narrowly refers to the repetition of a consonant in any syllables that, according to...
is the repetition of the beginning sound of a word. This device is used to emphasize something, especially some kind of threat, bad or danger. For example, "The zoo kept several selfish seals".
2. Assonance
Assonance
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds to create internal rhyming within phrases or sentences, and together with alliteration and consonance serves as one of the building blocks of verse. For example, in the phrase "Do you like blue?", the is repeated within the sentence and is...
is the repetition of a similar set of sounds, it is used to emphasize intensity, evil, etc.
3. Cacophony is the eruption of chaotic, awful sound.
4. Onomatopoeia uses one or more onomatopoeic words (words that sound like what the author is describing).
Devices of Altered Signification shift the meaning of words.
1. Metaphor
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
directly says something is something else. For example, "his beard was a lion's mane".
2. Simile
Simile
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two different things, usually by employing the words "like", "as". Even though both similes and metaphors are forms of comparison, similes indirectly compare the two ideas and allow them to remain distinct in spite of their similarities, whereas...
is a gentler form of metaphor which tends to use "as" or "like" to compare something to something else. For example, "his beard was like a lion's mane."