AP Lang - Rhetorical Strategy
Rhetorical strategy :: A specific approach(s) a writer employs to achieve an intended purpose
Used to persuade audience
Organize evidence
Plan to convince/persuade readers
Have to use rhetorical devices
Imagery :: language and description that appeals to our five senses
built on literary devices
appeals to senses
creates a more vivid image
Alliteration :: Repetition of same-sound and the beginning of successive word
bright blue ball
Epanalepsis :: Repetition of same word or clause after and intervening matter
a minimum wage, that is not a supporting wage, is not a minimum wage
Anastrophe :: Normal syntactical arrangement is violated for emphasis
troubles, everybody’s got
Parenthesis :: Insertion the interrupts syntax flow
the cat (which was the cutest thing ever) was so soft
Asyndeton :: Omission of conjunction → slower rhythm + emphasis
Can use semicolon to break thought up
I came, i saw, i conquered vs. i came, i saw and i conquered
Polysyndeton :: Adding in many conjunctions between clauses → hurried rhythm + pileup effect
i wore a hat and a coat and a scarf and mittens and boots
Apostrophe :: Breaking off discord to address a person or personified thing
Talking to inanimate objects or people that aren't there
NOT personification
O’ wise one…
Pleonasm :: Use more words than necessary
with these very eyes, i saw him do it, i heard it with my ears
Hyperbole :: Rhetorical exaggeration
I told you a million times…
Oxymoron :: Paradoxical image with two contradicting terms
awfully pretty, tragic comedy, open secret
Anadiplosis :: the repetition of the last word/phrase from the previous line at the begging of the next
she opened a cafe. a cafe that was to be the most popular in town.
Metaphor :: giving an inanimate object/person a meaning/action that is not literal
the waves roared, the wind whispered,
Simile :: one thing is likened to another
life’s like a box of chocolates, she ran like a cheetah
Personification :: an animal/inanimate object is given human qualities
the sun smiled down on us
Synaesthesia :: mixing sensory output in an impossible way
her voice was as smooth as velvet
taste the rainbow
Cacophony :: opposite of euphony, bad sounds in a section of text. discordant and difficult to pronounce
never my numb plunker fumbles
Euphony :: opposite of cacophony, pleasing/harmonious sounds
marvelous, mellow, mist
Apotheosis :: the glorification of an individual to a divine level
she has the patience of a saint
Onomatopoeia :: word whose sounds imitates that of which it names
plop, kerplunk, splash
Purpose
Intended reason for why you are writing
Inform
Entertain
Question
Argue
Elicit emotional response
Goal
Intended effect
Devices → strategy → purpose → effect on audience
Detail
Facts, observation, incidents
Specific detail
NOT GENERAL DESCRIPTIONS
Bring reader into the scene
Prepares readers to join action
More detail = better understanding
Rhetorical strategy :: A specific approach(s) a writer employs to achieve an intended purpose
Used to persuade audience
Organize evidence
Plan to convince/persuade readers
Have to use rhetorical devices
Imagery :: language and description that appeals to our five senses
built on literary devices
appeals to senses
creates a more vivid image
Alliteration :: Repetition of same-sound and the beginning of successive word
bright blue ball
Epanalepsis :: Repetition of same word or clause after and intervening matter
a minimum wage, that is not a supporting wage, is not a minimum wage
Anastrophe :: Normal syntactical arrangement is violated for emphasis
troubles, everybody’s got
Parenthesis :: Insertion the interrupts syntax flow
the cat (which was the cutest thing ever) was so soft
Asyndeton :: Omission of conjunction → slower rhythm + emphasis
Can use semicolon to break thought up
I came, i saw, i conquered vs. i came, i saw and i conquered
Polysyndeton :: Adding in many conjunctions between clauses → hurried rhythm + pileup effect
i wore a hat and a coat and a scarf and mittens and boots
Apostrophe :: Breaking off discord to address a person or personified thing
Talking to inanimate objects or people that aren't there
NOT personification
O’ wise one…
Pleonasm :: Use more words than necessary
with these very eyes, i saw him do it, i heard it with my ears
Hyperbole :: Rhetorical exaggeration
I told you a million times…
Oxymoron :: Paradoxical image with two contradicting terms
awfully pretty, tragic comedy, open secret
Anadiplosis :: the repetition of the last word/phrase from the previous line at the begging of the next
she opened a cafe. a cafe that was to be the most popular in town.
Metaphor :: giving an inanimate object/person a meaning/action that is not literal
the waves roared, the wind whispered,
Simile :: one thing is likened to another
life’s like a box of chocolates, she ran like a cheetah
Personification :: an animal/inanimate object is given human qualities
the sun smiled down on us
Synaesthesia :: mixing sensory output in an impossible way
her voice was as smooth as velvet
taste the rainbow
Cacophony :: opposite of euphony, bad sounds in a section of text. discordant and difficult to pronounce
never my numb plunker fumbles
Euphony :: opposite of cacophony, pleasing/harmonious sounds
marvelous, mellow, mist
Apotheosis :: the glorification of an individual to a divine level
she has the patience of a saint
Onomatopoeia :: word whose sounds imitates that of which it names
plop, kerplunk, splash
Purpose
Intended reason for why you are writing
Inform
Entertain
Question
Argue
Elicit emotional response
Goal
Intended effect
Devices → strategy → purpose → effect on audience
Detail
Facts, observation, incidents
Specific detail
NOT GENERAL DESCRIPTIONS
Bring reader into the scene
Prepares readers to join action
More detail = better understanding