Rhetorical Terms Presentation 3 By Dylan Videto Ian

Rhetorical Terms Presentation 3 By: Dylan Videto Ian Green Jimmy Turner AP Comp 2 nd Hour

In Medias Res • Latin for “in the midst of things. ” A narrative technique that involves starting at a crucial event in the narrative and telling the story from there, providing background information through flashbacks. In the middle of a series of events. Often used in epics.

Examples of In Medias Res • Dylan was running from the police; he had not known that the firecrackers would ignite the combination gas station and bunny store. • At Nerf gunpoint, Julia began to cry. Her eyes filling with tears over a life wasted. • “Shalika, the teacher tells me afterward, “will go to college” (pg. 36) Kozol starts in the middle of a story and works his way from the middle to the end and beginning. • “This was the year in which the members of the United States Congress, who do not bother to read the actual bills they pass, spent weeks poring over instant messages sent by a pervert. This was the year in which the vice president of the United States shot a lawyer, which turned out to be totally legal in Texas. ” That Blasted Year Dave Barry

Ambiguity • Doubtfulness or uncertainty of meaning or intention. an unclear, indefinite, or equivocal word, expression, meaning, etc.

Examples of Ambiguity • "John enjoys painting his models nude. " Who is nude? • Ian and Julia started to cry. The hostage was released. • “‘These are the kids most in need, ’ says Edward Flanery, the principal of one of the low-income schools, ‘and they get the worst teachers. ’” – Savage Inequalities • “I look at all of you today and I cannot help but see myself twentyfive years ago, at my own Barnard commencement. I sometimes seem, in my mind, to have as much in common with that girl as I do with any stranger I might pass in the doorway of a Starbucks or in the aisle of an airplane. I cannot remember what she wore or how she felt that day. But I can tell you this about her without question: she was perfect. ” ANNA QUINDLEN'S COMMENCEMENT SPEECH MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE MAY 23, 1999

Amplification • Repeating a word or expression while adding more detail to it, in order to emphasize what might otherwise be passed over

Examples of Amplification • “I smell a smelly smell that smells smelly. ” • “First, we’re losing thousands of dollars in our heating bills because of faulty windows and because the heating system cannot be controlled. So I’d renovate the building and install a whole new heating system and replace the windows. We’ve had fire damage but I see that as a low priority as well. I’d settle for a renovation of the typing rooms and new typewriters. The highest priorities are to subdivide the school and add a modern wind, then bring the science laboratories up to date. Enlarge the library. Buy more books. The books I’ve got, a lot of them are secondhand. I got them from the catholic high school when it closed. Most of all, we need a building renovation. That is what I’d do to start with, if I had an extra $20 million. ” – Savage Inequalities.

Examples of Amplification Cont. • Her cries haunted him for days. Every time he closed his eyes her cries ranged through his head. • “He must learn them again. He must teach himself that the basest of all things is to be afraid; and, teaching himself that, forget it forever, leaving no room in his workshop for anything but the old verities and truths of the heart, the old universal truths lacking which any story is ephemeral and doomed - love and honor and pity and pride and compassion and sacrifice. ” Faulkner’s Nobel Prize Speech

Coherence • Statements that are unified and follow each other in a logical manner.

Examples of Coherence • “We couldn't think of an example. We were pressed for time so we just wrote this down. ” • Ian is severely lacking in coherence. It may have something to do with being dropped on her head at birth. • Jonathan Kozol uses great coherence in Savage Inequalities because all of the paragraphs and chapters flow well together. • “I can't send books, either -- you can find them in a bookstore or a library. Many children assume that a writer owns (or even makes) his own books. This is not true – books are made by the publisher. If a writer wants a copy, he must buy it. That's why I can't send books. ” Letter From EB White

Colloquialism • A word or phrase used everyday in plain and relaxed speech, but rarely found in formal writing.

Examples of Colloquialism • “Just sayin' we covered it in glitter and junk. ” • I can’t, like, understand why you’re taking me hostage dude. • “So the trash is comin’ at us this direction. The chemicals is comin’ from the other. We right in the middle. ” – Savage Inequalities. • 'I'm afraid you may put off your bazaar for this night of Our Lord. ' Araby James Joyce

Denotation • The minimal, strict definition of a word as found in a dictionary, disregarding any historical or emotional connotation.

Example of Denotation • “Holocaust- to sacrifice by fire. But in historical context it refers to the genocide launched but Nazi Germany in WW 2” • “I love this pot. ” The literal definition of pot is a vessel used to cook noodles. • “’Five of those seven, ’ says the principal, ‘get reduced-price lunches, because they are classified as only “poor” not “destitute. ”’” • This “abounding, ebullient, effervescent emotion” Incapable of Being Indifferent Kay Redfield Jamison, Ph. D.

Dialect • The language of a particular district, class, or group of persons.

Examples of Dialect • “Yo Yo Yo Home diggity dawg skillet! What be up in da hood? ” • “Howdy ya’ll!” -Morgan Cummings • Jonathan Kozol skillfully captures the different voices, dialects and accents of the residents, differentiating between young and old, male and female from East St. Louis in Savage Inequalities. • “There is always the chance of your being laid up. ” Proper Place for Sports Theodore

Epiphany • A sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.

Examples of Epiphany • Google's Epiphany- Good videos are hard to make. • Maybe we shouldn’t have made peanut lobster at the Americans with Allergies convention • “What startled me most – although it puzzles me that I was not prepared for this – was the remarkable degree of racial segregation that persisted almost everywhere. ” – Savage Inequalities. • “Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger. ” Araby James

Epigraph • A quotation or inscription at the beginning of a book, chapter, etc. , suggesting its theme.

Examples of Epigraph • “In the dark recesses of the mind, a disease known as FEAR feasts upon the souls of those who cannot overcome its power. ” Adventure Time. • John 12: 24. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. “ From the Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov • The prologue in Savage Inequalities. • “I look at all of you today and I cannot help but see myself twentyfive years ago, at my own Barnard commencement. I sometimes seem, in my mind, to have as much in common with that girl as I do with any stranger I might pass in the doorway of a Starbucks or in the aisle of an airplane. I cannot remember what she wore or how she felt that day. But I can tell you this about her without question: she was perfect. ” ANNA QUINDLEN'S COMMENCEMENT SPEECH MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE MAY 23, 1999

Foil • A character who serves as a contrast to another perhaps more primary character, so as to point out specific traits of the primary character.

Examples of Foil • Squidward and Spongebob • Claire serves to highlight Ian’s happy-golucky attitude with her constant complaining. (And she likes Twilight. ) • Jonathan Kozol and Cliffie from Amazing Grace by Jonathan Kozol. • Aunt and Uncle from Araby – James Joyce

Hyperbole • Exaggeration or overstatement

Examples of Hyperbole • “There was so much blood I will never forget what I saw there; the smell was so overpowering like year old mayonnaise and burning hair and the sounds of the damned souls erupting from hell. I will never go back to my Grandmas house again. ” • “I am the best person ever. I am so awesome. You wish you were as amazing as I am but you are not. ”- Ian Green • “Every time I cross that bridge I feel that I am getting off a plane within a different country. ” –Savage inequalities. • “Dan Rather, who stopped anchoring the evening news in 2005, announces his retirement from CBS after a career spanning 44 years and several galaxies. ” – That Blasted Year Dave Barry

Hypophora • Raising one or more questions and then proceeding to answer them, usually at some length.

Examples of Hypophora • “People often ask me, “am I extremely attractive? ” Of course, I answer yes. • Who could have done such a terrible thing? The answer is Calvin. • “Where did I get the idea for Stuart Little and for Charlotte's Web? Well, many years ago I went to bed one night in a railway sleeping car, and during the night I dreamed about a tiny boy who acted rather like a mouse. That's how the story of Stuart Little got started. ” Letter From EB White • “Keisha has been fighting with her classmate. Over what? As it turns out, over a crayon. ” –Savage inequalities.

Invective • Speech or writing that attacks, insults, or denounces a person, topic, or institution, usually involving negative emotional language.

Examples of Invective • “You know who's the man? Lady Gaga literally. ” • We were going to write something about someone in the class, but we didn’t. You‘re welcome. (Just kidding, Claire’s mean. ) • “The city, which by night and day is clouded by the fumes that pour from vents and smokestacks at the Pfizer and Monsanto chemical plants, has one of the highest rates of child asthma in America. ” (pg. 7) Using harsh language to criticize the Pfizer and Monsanto chemical plants. • Local authorities rule the shooting was an accident, noting that if the vice president were going to intentionally shoot somebody, it would be Nancy Pelosi. – That Blasted Year Dave Barry

Litotes • A deliberate understatement, used for subtle emphasis. Way of making a statement not by saying the statement itself, but denying the opposite of the statement.

Examples of Litotes • “AP Comp doesn't interfere much with our free time. ” • Claire only likes Twilight a little bit. • “The shock of going from one of the poorest schools to one of the wealthiest cannot be overstated. ” (Pg. 2) • “Three years after I started writing it, it was published. (I am not a fast worker, as you can see. )” Letter from EB White

Mood • Feeling, emotional state, or disposition of mind-especially the predominating atmosphere or tone of a literary work.

Examples of Mood • “He stared at the dark, depressing, dreary sky, realizing his extreme insignificance and could only drown his sorrows by eating a double down from KFC. ” • “It was a sad day at Dylan’s funeral. His massive coronary brought on by eating too many double downs from KFC. ” • “Children get used to feeling constant pain. They go to sleep with it. They go to school with it. ” (Pg. 20) Mood is sad, sympathetic because that’s what the reader is feeling. • Mood of insignificance and disappointment in Araby James Joyce.

Metabasis • A transition from one subject to another. It involves a brief statement that includes what the subject has been thus far and what the subject will be. It keeps a discussion clear, provides a link.

Examples of Metabasis • “You have heard how the proposed plan will fail; now consider how an alternative might succeed. “ • “Now you know how Dylan made those school children cry. Listen to our plan about blowing him up. ” • “It startles me to hear her words… I would like to comment on that. ” (pg. 35) Not Kozol’s Metabasis directly, but he uses the girl wanting to comment to clearly transition to the next statement. • In other sports highlights, Italy defeats France in a World Cup final match. – That Blasted Year Dave Barry

Oxymoron • An image of contradictory term

Examples of Oxymoron • Bittersweet, jumbo shrimp. • “Apple Tech Support, Airline Food, Educational TV, French Deodorant. ” • “terrible joke” (pg. 35) Terrible meaning appalling, bad, dreadful, is used in conjunction with joke, which is associated with happiness, laughter, and joy. • “Uninhabited house” Araby by James Joyce

Parody • Imitates the serious manner and characteristic features of a particular literary work in order to make fun of those same features.

Examples of Parody • “Yoda” a parody of “Lola” and “Canadian Idiot” a parody of “American Idiot”. Both by Weird Al. • The “Scary Movie” movies. • “One of the nicest buildings in the whorehouse” (pg. 14) • That Blasted Year Dave Barry

Purpose • Why you are writing about the topic and why you are saying what you say.

Examples of Purpose • “The purpose of The Inconvenient Truth was to educate people about global warming. ” • Our purpose for making this presentation is to educate all you ignorant folks. • “I decided, early in my journey, to attempt to listen very carefully to children and, whenever possible, to let their voices and their judgments and their longings find a lace within this book—and maybe, too, within the nation’s dialogue about their destinies. ” (Pg. 6) Kozol’s purpose is nearly stated by saying he would like people to consider children’s destinies—“nation’s dialogue” • “The poet’s voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail. ” Faulkner’s Nobel Prize speech

Rhetoric • The art of persuasive argument through writing or speech

Examples of Rhetoric • “These people have been taking advantage of us for decades. Just look at how we are living. Then look at them. They all live in mansions. Am I wrong? Think about it. If we don't do something about this, it will just get worse. ” • “Company strategists often frame competitors and the general business environment in very alarming terms in order to shock managers into accepting their radical ideas. ” • “Almost anyone who visits in the schools of East St. Lous, even for a short time, comes away profoundly shaken. These are innocent children, after all. They have done nothing wrong. They have committed no crime. They are too young to have offended us in any way at all. ” (pg. 40) Kozol is using rhetoric to attempt to gain the reader’s sympathies. Faulkner’s Nobel Prize Speech

Rhetorical Question • Question that is not answered and used for effect, emphasis, or provocation, or for drawing a conclusionary statement from the facts at hand.

Rhetorical Question • “Is this really a rhetorical question? ” • “Who really wants to take this class? ” • “Why is it this way? ” asks Shalika in a softer voice again. (pg. 36) • “There is only the question: When will I be blown up? ” Faulkner’s Nobel Prize speech.

Simple Sentence • Structure single, independent clause

Examples of Simple Sentence • “This is a simple sentence. ” • “The cat goes meow. ” • “The street is calm. ” (Pg. 14) • “That’s why I can’t send Books. ” Letter from EB

Tone • The author’s attitude toward his subject.

Examples of Tone • “Goddamn money. It always ends up making you blue as hell. ” • “I love fluffy ponies they make me feel all warm and cuddly” • “East St. Louis will likely be left Justas it is for a good many years to come: a scar of sorts, an ugly metaphor of filth and overspill and chemical effusions, a place for blacks to live and die within, a place for other people to avoid when they are heading for St. Louis” (Pg. 39) Kozol’s use of dark, negative word choice establishes his tone. • Though I knew my stay was useless- author is degrading himself Araby James Joyce.