English 10 / Unit 7: Analyzing Informational Texts and Rhetoric
7.4 Rhetorical Devices
Notes
Speakers use patterns of language to make ideas memorable.
- Anaphora: repeating words at the start of successive clauses.
- Parallelism: using similar grammatical structures: Lincoln's "government of the people, by the people, for the people."
- Antithesis: placing opposites in balanced structure: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" (Dickens, 1859).
- Rhetorical question: a question asked for effect, not an answer.
- Allusion: a reference to a well-known text, person or event that adds authority or emotion.
- Example: Patrick Henry ended his 1775 speech with "Give me liberty, or give me death!", an antithesis that frames the choice as all or nothing.
Practice
"Of the people, by the people, for the people" mainly uses:
Three phrases share the same grammatical pattern.
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" is a famous example of:
It balances opposite ideas in parallel structure.
A speaker asks, "How much longer must we wait for safe streets?" and does not pause for an answer. This is a:
The question is meant to provoke thought, not get a reply.
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