English Rhetorical Devices
What rhetorical device is: sunlit path of racial justice
metaphor
What rhetorical device is: sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent
metaphor
What rhetorical device is: tranquilizing drug of gradualism
metaphor
What rhetorical device is: vaults of opportunity
metaphor
What rhetorical device is: warm threshold palace of justice
metaphor
What rhetorical device is: whirlwinds of revolt
metaphor
What rhetorical device is:lonely island of poverty
metaphor
beachhead of cooperation
metaphor
bonds of mass misery
metaphor
defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger.
metaphor
glow from the fire can truly light the world
metaphor
iron tyranny
metaphor
jungle of suspicion
metaphor
oasis of freedom and justice
metaphor
peaceful revolution of hope
metaphor
riding the back of the tiger
metaphor
storms of persecution
metaphor
trumpet sounds again
metaphor
with history the final judge of our deeds,
metaphor
fruitful life
metaphor Fruit has seeds, which prepares for a new generation
What rhetorical device is: joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity
metaphor and antithesis
"civility is" not a sign of weakness, and "sincerity is" always subject to proof.
parallelism
Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet
parallelism
The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it
parallelism
With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds,
parallelism
born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage
parallelism
common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.
parallelism
explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths and encourage the arts and commerce.
parallelism
that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
parallelism
to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.
parallelism
North and South, East and West
parallellism
To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures.
periodic sentence
ethos
quality of writer that affects reader
chiasmus
rhetorical device that reverses the word order in two parallel phrases Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind
Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance?
rhetorical question
justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream
simile
pathos
words that create emotion in the reader
parallelism
A balance within one or more sentences of similar phrases or clauses that have same grammatical structure. Each structure is of equal importance. To err is human; to forgive divine.
metaphor
A rhetorical device that compares one physical object to another physical object and ascribes to the first object one or more of the qualities of the second object Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity.
anaphora
A rhetorical device that consists of the same word or words repeated at the beginning of two or more lines, clauses or sentences. 'We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills, we shall never surrender.'
epistrophe
A rhetorical device that is repeating a sequence of words at the end of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences. I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
What rhetorical device is: One hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.
Anaphora (one hundred years later)
What rhetorical device is: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness?
Cumulative Sentence
Periodic sentence
Dependent clause, Dependent clause, Independent Clause Because he wrote both tragedies and comedies, because he glorified England, and because he penned deathless lines, Shakespeare became immortal.
Cumulative Sentence
Independent Clause, Dependent Clause, Dependent Clause We hold these truths to be self evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with inherent and inalienable rights; that among these are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness...
What rhetorical device is: For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
Parallelism( for verbing)
What rhetorical device is: When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation?
Periodic Sentnece
antithesis
The deliberate juxtaposition of two opposing ideas in the same sentence. I do not shrink from responsibility-- I welcome it.
simile
a comparison using like or as
"both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons", "both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom" , yet "both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind's final war".
anaphora
For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish "all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life"
anaphora
To those new states To those people in the huts and villages To our sister republics south of our border
anaphora
What rhetorical device is: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.
anaphora
my fellow
anaphora
not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need--not as a call to battle, though embattled we are-- but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle
anaphora "a call" parallelism "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation"
Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you.
anaphora "citizens"
What rhetorical device is: He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation. He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
anaphora ( He has verbed)
What rhetorical device is: He has refused ... He has forbidden ... he has utterly neglected ... He has refused to pass ... He has called ... He has dissolved ... He has refused ... He has endeavored ... He has obstructed ... He has made ... He has erected ... He has kept ...
anaphora (he has verbed)
What rhetorical device is: it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government
anaphora (it is their...)
What rhetorical device is: Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
anaphora (now is the time)
What rhetorical device is: We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence.
anaphora (we have verbed)
What rhetorical device is: We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
anaphora (we must verb)
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
anaphora (with this faith) metaphor(stone of hope) (jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood) metaphor and antithesis epistrophe(to verb together)
But this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile powers.
antithesis
I do not shrink from this responsibility--I welcome it.
antithesis
Let both sides explore what "problems unite us" instead of belaboring those "problems which divide us".
antithesis
Let every nation know, "whether it wishes us well or ill"
antithesis
United there is little we cannot do Divided there is little we can do--
antithesis
We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom--symbolizing an end as well as a beginning--signifying renewal as well as change.
antithesis
What rhetorical device is: Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning.
antithesis
What rhetorical devices is: We shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.
antithesis
ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man
antithesis
hill and mountain shall be made low rough places shall be made low crooked places made straight
antithesis
invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors
antithesis
let both sides join in creating a new endeavor, "not a new balance of power but a new world of law"
antithesis
planned or accidental self-destruction.
antithesis
strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved.
antithesis
the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.
antithesis
will rest the final success or failure of our course
antithesis
We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom
antithesis parallelism
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.
antithesis paralellism (cannot verb)
we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required--not because the communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right.
antithesis anaphora
Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.
chiasmus
ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country
chiasmus
Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans
cumulative sentence
For only when our arms are sufficient "beyond doubt" can we be certain "beyond doubt" that they will never be employed.
epistrophe
When will you be satisfied? We can never be satisfied
epistrophe
bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations.
epistrophe
veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive
epistrophe
we offer a special pledge--to convert our "good words" into "good deeds"--in a new alliance for progress--to assist "free men and free governments" in casting off the chains of poverty.
epistrophe
The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it glow from the fire can truly light the world
epistrophe (light)
What rhetorical device is: for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
epistrophe (to realize their destiny is tied with our destiny and freedom to freedom)
Heat of injustice
metaphor
What rhetorical device is: a vast ocean of material prosperity
metaphor
What rhetorical device is: battlements of injustice
metaphor
What rhetorical device is: bright day of justice emerges
metaphor
What rhetorical device is: cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir
metaphor
What rhetorical device is: chains of discrimination
metaphor
What rhetorical device is: cup of bitterness and hatred
metaphor
What rhetorical device is: dark and desolate valley of segregation
metaphor
What rhetorical device is: flames of wither injustice
metaphor
What rhetorical device is: great beacon light of hope?
metaphor
What rhetorical device is: invigorating autumn of freedom and equality
metaphor
What rhetorical device is: manacles of segregation
metaphor
What rhetorical device is: promissory note. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."
metaphor
What rhetorical device is: quicksands of racial injustice
metaphor
What rhetorical device is: solid rock of brotherhood.
metaphor
