Rhetorical Devices 2 Hyperbole Understatement Allusion Personification Foreshadowing

Rhetorical Devices 2 Hyperbole Understatement Allusion Personification Foreshadowing Flashback Foil Irony

Review • RHETORICAL ANALYSIS: Rhetorical devices are the tools the writer uses to produce the writing. Rhetorical technique is the way that the author uses these tools or devices. • SIMILES: A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things, using explicit words such as like, as, resembles, or than. • METAPHOR: A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things, in which one becomes another thing without the use of the words like, as, than, or resembles.

5 • Hyperbole is an exaggeration or overstatement to emphasize a point or to achieve a specific effect that can be serious, humorous, sarcastic, or even ironic. • So you have turned on the TV broadcast of your favorite football team’s afternoon game. The commentators are excited to tell the audience what a great game it’s going to be, with the two unbeatable quarterbacks of these two super teams battling it out on their way to winning the greatest of sports trophies, the immortal coach Lombardi trophy. • If I don’t eat something right away, I’ll starve.

6 • Understatement is the other side of hyperbole. A writer uses this to minimize the obvious importance of someone or something, assuming that the audience knows the subject’s significance. As with hyperbole, the intended effect of understatement can be serious, humorous, sarcastic, or ironic. In many cases, it indicates politeness, humility or tact. • To hear a firefighter describe the rescue of a family from its fiery home as “just doing my job” is an example of understatement. Here the firefighter is being humble about his bravery, and the effect on the audience is ironic. • World hunger can be solved by giving everyone food.

1 • Allusion is an indirect reference to another idea, person, place, event, artwork, etc. , to the meaning of the work in which it appears. Allusions can be mythological, biblical, historical, literary, political or contemporary. The writer assumes that the audience or a specific part of the audience will have knowledge about the item being referred to. “The killer wore the mark of Cain as he stalked his brother. ” Biblical story of Cain and Abel

Personification • A figure of speech in which a thing, an idea or an animal is given human attributes. • The non-human objects are portrayed in such a way that we feel they have the ability to act like human beings. • For example, when we say, “The sky weeps” we are giving the sky the ability to cry, which is a human quality.

5 • Personification is a specific kind of metaphor that gives human qualities and attitudes to an object, animal, or an idea. Human characteristics are assigned to non-human things. ▫ With open arms, the cozy chair beckoned me. ▫ Love is blind ▫ Romeo and Juliet “Arise fair sun, and kill the envious moon/Who is already sick and pale with grief…” �Sun is compared to a hunter/killer, while the moon is compared to an envious person who is sickly and grieving

Personification • Examples: ▫ The fire swallowed the entire forest. ▫ The flowers danced in the gentle breeze. ▫ The wind sang her mournful song through the falling leaves. ▫ The rain kissed my cheeks as it fell.

Foreshadowing • A literary device in which a writer gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story. • Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” is rich with foreshadowing examples, one of which is the following lines from Act 2, Scene 2: ▫ “Life were better ended by their hate, Than death prolonged, wanting of thy love”

Flashback • Flashbacks are interruptions that writers do to insert past events in order to provide background or context to the current events of a narrative. • By using flashbacks, writers allow their readers to gain insight into a character’s motivation and provide a background to a current conflict. • Dream sequences and memories are methods used to present flashbacks.

Foil • In fiction, a foil is a character that possesses qualities which are in sharp contrast to those of another character. • This highlights the traits of the other character.

Foil • Examples: ▫ God and Satan ▫ Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ▫ From Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet: �Romeo and Paris �Romeo and Mercutio �Juliet and Rosaline �Tybalt and Benvolio **It is important to note and foils are not always good vs. evil, just opposite personalities or qualities**

Irony • A figure of speech in which words are used in such a way that their intended meaning is different from the actual meaning of the words. It may also be a situation that may end up in quite a different way than what is generally anticipated. • In simple words, it is a difference between the appearance and the reality.

Irony • Examples ▫ I posted a video on You. Tube about how boring and useless You. Tube is. ▫ The name of Britain’s biggest dog was “Tiny”. ▫ You laugh at a person who slipped stepping on a banana peel and the next thing you know, you slipped too.