Rhetorical techniques day 3

Coming up: vocabulary quiz on Wednesday, April 18...another copy of Monday's handout below.
In class: analysis of Queen Elizabeth's speech (class handout / copy below)

Name_______________________________

Directions: read through the following speech, noting whether the persuasive technique being used by Queen Elizabeth I is logos, ethos or pathos. Underline the phrase and write a “l”, “e” or “p” above.

Queen Elizabeth I’s Speech to the Troops at Tilbury, 1588 

My loving people, We have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit ourselves to armed multitudes, for fear of treachery; but I assure you I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people. 

Let tyrants fear, I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good-will of my subjects; and therefore I am come amongst you, as you see, at this time, not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live and die amongst you all; to lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and my people, my honour and my blood, even in the dust.

 I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm; to which rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field.

 I know already, for your forwardness you have deserved rewards and crowns; and We do assure you in the word of a prince, they shall be duly paid you. In the mean time, my lieutenant general shall be in my stead, than whom never prince commanded a more noble or worthy subject; not doubting but by your obedience to my general, by your concord in the camp, and your valour in the field, we shall shortly have a famous victory over those enemies of my God, of my kingdom, and of my people. 

Review of anaphora and epistrophe

What Is Anaphora?

Anaphora is when the first word or series of words in a phrase, sentence, or clause repeats itself for emphasis.

The most famous anaphora that we’re all probably familiar with comes from the opening lines of Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities. You know, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” etc.

Martin Luther King Jr. also used anaphora in his “I have a dream” speech, with the repetition of that famous phrase.

How About Epistrophe?

But what if the repetition happens at the end of the phrase/sentence/clause? Is there a term for that?

There sure is! That’s called epistrophe, or epiphora, or antistrophe. Take your pick; they’re all correct.

Examples of epistrophe appear in Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address ( “…and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”), and in Lyndon B. Johnson’s “We Shall Overcome” speech (“There is no Negro problem. There is no Southern problem. There is no Northern problem. There is only an American problem.“1).

There’s even a song by Thelonious Monk called “Epistrophy”, which uses notes in a pattern of epistrophe. Like anaphora, epistrophe is used to add emphasis.

Your turn: identify the rhetorical device

1. “What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?”

2.  If you had known the virtue of the ring,

Or half her worthiness that gave the ring,

Or your own honour to contain the ring,

You would not then have parted with the ring.

The Merchant of Venice - William Shakespeare

3. “Every day, every night, in every way, I am getting better and better”

4. For no government is better than the men who compose it, and I want the best, and we need the best, and we deserve the best. - John F. Kennedy

5. The moth and the fish eggs are in their place,

The bright suns I see and the dark suns I cannot see are in their place,

The palpable is in its place and the impalpable is in its place.

Song of Myself - Whitman

6. “This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England,
This nurse, this teeming womb of royal kings [. . .]
This land of such dear souls, this dear dear land,”

7. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”

8. The time for the healing of the wounds has come. The moment to bridge the chasms that divides us has come. - Nelson Mandela

9. When I was a child,

I spoke as a child,

I understood as a child,

I thought as a child.

Corinthians 13:11

10. If you liked it then you should've put a ring on it

Don't be mad once you see that he want it

If you liked it then you should've put a ring on it

Single Ladies - Beyonce

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Device                                   Definition

1.      anaphora             the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses

2.      epistrophe         the repetition of a word at the end of each phrase or clause: “I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

3.      analogy                 the comparison of two pairs that have the same relationship. The key is to ascertain the relationship between the first so you can choose the correct second pair. Part to whole, opposites, results of are types of relationships you should find

4.      apostrophe    interruption of thought to directly address a person or a personification: “So, I ask you, dear reader, what would you have me do?”

5.      * imagery                 language that evokes one or all of the five senses: seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching

6.        counterpoints   contrasting ideas such as black/white, darkness/light, good/bad

7.       * hyperbole          exaggeration or overstatement

8.       irony   an expression, often humorous or sarcastic, that exposes perversity or absurdity

Aristotelian Appeals

9.   logos  appeals to the head using logic, numbers, explanations, and facts. Through Logos, a writer aims at a person's intellect. The idea is that if you are logical, you will understand

10.    ethos  appeals to the conscience, ethics, morals, standards, values, principles

11. pathos  appeals to the heart, emotions, sympathy, passions, sentimentality.