Rhetorical Devices
PROGRAM: IN A WORD
EPISODE: RHETORICAL DEVICES
[5 to 10 SEC OF MUSIC]
[FADE MUSIC]
I’m Mary Beth Schaefer with “In a Word,” your weekly communication tip.
Today, I’ll go over a few ways to use rhetorical devices.Rhetorical devices are tricks of the trade that writers and speakers use to make their messages more effective and memorable. A moving speech isn’t always memorable because of what was said. Sometimes how something is said can have just as much of an impact as what is said. So if you’re writing a speech, finding appropriate and relevant content is only half the battle.
You should also think about how you can play with the language and sentence structure you use to sway your audience. Parallelism, for example, is a powerful tool that can contribute to the rhythm of your speech. It is the repetition of a grammatical element or structure, such as a word or phrase. One famous example of parallelism comes from Julius Caesar: “I came, I saw, I conquered.” Repetition of “I” and the parallel grammatical structure of pronoun-verb are part of what make Caesar’s words so memorable.
Another classic example of parallelism can be found in Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Who can forget King’s memorable repetition of the phrase “I have a dream”? In that speech, the parallelism achieves an effect similar to that of a crescendo in music.
Alliteration is another rhetorical tool that you can use to make your speech more memorable. You’re probably familiar with alliteration, which is when a sound or letter at the beginning of a word is repeated in a sentence. Here’s a famous example of alliteration from Ronald Reagan: “All for which America stands is safe today because brave men and women have been ready to face the fire at freedom's front.” Notice how the alliteration makes this particularly poignant point stand out.
You can also add or take away coordinating conjunctions, such as “and,” to put emphasis on a list. Omitting conjunctions in a list is called asyndeton. Asyndeton affects the rhythm and pace of your speech. Caesar’s “I came, I saw, I conquered” is an example of asyndeton as well as parallelism. The final “and” in the list is excluded, speeding up the tempo.
But sometimes, extra coordinating conjunctions are added to lists—a rhetorical device called polysyndeton. One example of polysyndeton is from a speech given by William F. Buckley:
“In years gone by, there were in every community men and women who spoke the language of duty and morality and loyalty and obligation.” The opposite of asyndeton, polysyndeton slows the pace of a sentence.
Finally, one of the most widely recognized rhetorical devices is the rhetorical question. You probably know that a rhetorical question is a question without an obvious or immediate answer. Posing a rhetorical question allows your audience to contemplate an idea that you might then address. Or you might use a rhetorical question to demonstrate the complexity of an issue because no clear solution exists. Like any rhetorical device, however, be careful not to overuse the rhetorical question in your speech.
Using a rhetorical device too much can minimize its effect. Instead, consider what the strongest points of your speech are, and decide what kind of language or sentence structure would be most effective. And keep in mind that listening is hard work. Rhetorical devices are clues that tell your audience what you want them to remember from your speech.
This has been “In a Word,” a program made possible by the Texas A&M University Writing Center and a production of KAMU FM on the campus of Texas A&M University. For more writing and speaking tips, visit our website at writingcenter.tamu.edu. I’m Mary Beth Schaefer, helping you make every word count.
[5 to 10 SEC OF MUSIC]
EPISODE: RHETORICAL DEVICES
[5 to 10 SEC OF MUSIC]
[FADE MUSIC]
I’m Mary Beth Schaefer with “In a Word,” your weekly communication tip.
Today, I’ll go over a few ways to use rhetorical devices.Rhetorical devices are tricks of the trade that writers and speakers use to make their messages more effective and memorable. A moving speech isn’t always memorable because of what was said. Sometimes how something is said can have just as much of an impact as what is said. So if you’re writing a speech, finding appropriate and relevant content is only half the battle.
You should also think about how you can play with the language and sentence structure you use to sway your audience. Parallelism, for example, is a powerful tool that can contribute to the rhythm of your speech. It is the repetition of a grammatical element or structure, such as a word or phrase. One famous example of parallelism comes from Julius Caesar: “I came, I saw, I conquered.” Repetition of “I” and the parallel grammatical structure of pronoun-verb are part of what make Caesar’s words so memorable.
Another classic example of parallelism can be found in Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Who can forget King’s memorable repetition of the phrase “I have a dream”? In that speech, the parallelism achieves an effect similar to that of a crescendo in music.
Alliteration is another rhetorical tool that you can use to make your speech more memorable. You’re probably familiar with alliteration, which is when a sound or letter at the beginning of a word is repeated in a sentence. Here’s a famous example of alliteration from Ronald Reagan: “All for which America stands is safe today because brave men and women have been ready to face the fire at freedom's front.” Notice how the alliteration makes this particularly poignant point stand out.
You can also add or take away coordinating conjunctions, such as “and,” to put emphasis on a list. Omitting conjunctions in a list is called asyndeton. Asyndeton affects the rhythm and pace of your speech. Caesar’s “I came, I saw, I conquered” is an example of asyndeton as well as parallelism. The final “and” in the list is excluded, speeding up the tempo.
But sometimes, extra coordinating conjunctions are added to lists—a rhetorical device called polysyndeton. One example of polysyndeton is from a speech given by William F. Buckley:
“In years gone by, there were in every community men and women who spoke the language of duty and morality and loyalty and obligation.” The opposite of asyndeton, polysyndeton slows the pace of a sentence.
Finally, one of the most widely recognized rhetorical devices is the rhetorical question. You probably know that a rhetorical question is a question without an obvious or immediate answer. Posing a rhetorical question allows your audience to contemplate an idea that you might then address. Or you might use a rhetorical question to demonstrate the complexity of an issue because no clear solution exists. Like any rhetorical device, however, be careful not to overuse the rhetorical question in your speech.
Using a rhetorical device too much can minimize its effect. Instead, consider what the strongest points of your speech are, and decide what kind of language or sentence structure would be most effective. And keep in mind that listening is hard work. Rhetorical devices are clues that tell your audience what you want them to remember from your speech.
This has been “In a Word,” a program made possible by the Texas A&M University Writing Center and a production of KAMU FM on the campus of Texas A&M University. For more writing and speaking tips, visit our website at writingcenter.tamu.edu. I’m Mary Beth Schaefer, helping you make every word count.
[5 to 10 SEC OF MUSIC]