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Speech Terms:information taken from

Division of Classics

What is rhetoric?•Rhetoric (from Greek)•one of the three original liberalarts.•the seven liberal arts comprisetwo groups of studies, the triviumand the quadrivium•Liberal arts: studies intended toprovide general knowledge andintellectual skills, rather thanoccupational or professional skills

•Trivium: grammar, rhetoric, anddialectic (or logic)

•Quadrivium: arithmetic,geometry, astronomy, and music

Definitions of Rhetoric

Plato:  Rhetoric is "the art ofwinning the soul by discourse."

Aristotle: Rhetoric is "thefaculty of discovering in anyparticular case all of theavailable means of persuasion."

Cicero:  Rhetoric is "speech designedto persuade."

Quintillian:  "Rhetoric is the art ofspeaking well.”

Philip Johnson: "Rhetoric is the artof framing an argument so that itcan be appreciated by an audience."

Definitions of Rhetoric Definitions of RhetoricJohn Locke: [Rhetoric,] that powerfulinstrument of error and deceit.

George Kennedy: Rhetoric in the mostgeneral sense may perhaps be identified withthe energy inherent in communication:  theemotional energy that impels the speaker tospeak, the physical energy expanded in theutterance, the energy level coded in themessage, and the energy experienced by therecipient in decoding the message.

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Definitions of RhetoricThe study of rhetoric does not include informalmodes of speech such as :•small talk•Jokes•Greetings•Exclamations•Gossip•Simple explanations•Directions

(from Mrs. Wagner's Homepage, James F. Byrnes High School)

5 Parts of Rhetoric(from Mrs. Wagner's Homepage, James F. Byrnes HighSchool)

InventioDispositioElocutioMemoriaPronuntiatio

Inventio

The Latin term for invention or discoveryconcerned with a system or method for findingarguments

Logos, Pathos, Ethos

Dispositio

•may be translated as “arrangement” or “organization”•the division of rhetoric concerned with the effectiveand orderly arrangement of the parts of a written orspoken discourse

Latin rhetoricians recognized 6 parts:•the introduction (exordium)•the statement or exposition of the case underdiscussion (narratio)•the outline of the points or steps in the argument(divisio)•the proof of the case (confirmatio)•the refutation of the opposing arguments (confutatio)•the conclusion (peroratio)

Elocutio

Stems from the Latin verb loqui (to speak)

3 levels of style•low or plain style (Instructing)•middle or forcible style (Moving)•high or florid style (Charming)

Concerns of style•Choice of words (correctness, purity, simplicity,clearness, appropriateness)•composition or arrangement of words (phrases andclauses, syntax, patterns of sentences, use ofconjunctions, etc.)

Memoria

Concerned with memorizing speeches

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Pronuntiatio

The theory of delivery Alliteration: repetition of thesame sound beginning several

words in sequence.

“Let us go forth to lead the landwe love.”

J. F. Kennedy, Inaugural

Anadiplosis: ("doubling back") therhetorical repetition of one or

several words; specifically,repetition of a word that ends one

clause at the beginning of the next.

“Men in great place are thriceservants: servants of the sovereign

or state; servants of fame; andservants of business.”

Francis Bacon

Anaphora: the repetition of a word or phrase atthe beginning of successive phrases, clauses or

lines.

“We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to theend. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on

the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growingconfidence and growing strength in the air, weshall defend our island, whatever the cost maybe, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight

on the landing grounds, we shall fight in thefields and in the streets, we shall fight in the

hills. We shall never surrender.”Winston Churchill.

Antistrophe (also, epistrophe):repetition of the same word or phrase at

the end of successive clauses.

“In 1931, ten years ago, Japan invadedManchukuo -- without warning. In 1935,

Italy invaded Ethiopia -- without warning.In 1938, Hitler occupied Austria -- without

warning. In 1939, Hitler invadedCzechoslovakia -- without warning. Laterin 1939, Hitler invaded Poland -- without

warning. And now Japan has attackedMalaya and Thailand -- and the United

States --without warning.” Franklin D. Roosevelt

Anastrophe: transposition ofnormal word order

“The helmsman steered; theship moved on; yet never a

breeze up blew.”Coleridge, The Rime of the

Ancient Mariner

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Antithesis: opposition, or contrastof ideas or words in a balanced or

parallel construction.

“Brutus: Not that I loved Caesarless, but that I loved Rome more.”

Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

Apophasis: the mention of somethingin disclaiming intention ofmentioning it--or pretending to denywhat is really affirmed.

“Our country puts $1 billion a year up to help feedthe hungry.   And we're by far the most generousnation in the word when it comes to that, andI'm proud to report that.  This isn't a contest ofwho's the most generous.  I'm just telling you asan aside.  We're generous.  We shouldn't bebragging about it.  But we are.  We're verygenerous.”

(President George W. Bush, 9 August 2004)

Aporia: expression of doubt (oftenfeigned) by which a speaker

appears uncertain as to what heshould think, say, or do.

“Then the steward said withinhimself, 'What shall I do?’”

Luke 16

Apostrophe: a sudden turn fromthe general audience to address a

specific group or person orpersonified abstraction absent or

present.

“For Brutus, as you know, wasCaesar's angel.

Judge, O you gods, how dearlyCaesar loved him.”

Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

Archaism: use of an older orobsolete form.

“Pipit sate upright in her chairSome distance from where I was

sitting.” T. S. Eliot, "A Cooking Egg"

Assonance: similarity in soundbetween internal vowels inneighboring words.

-"Strips of tinfoil winking like people"(Sylvia Plath)

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Asyndeton: lack of conjunctions betweencoordinate phrases, clauses, or words.

“We shall pay any price, bear any burden,meet any hardships, support any friend,

oppose any foe to assure the survival andthe success of liberty.”

J. F. Kennedy, Inaugural

“But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate,we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow

this ground.”Lincoln, Gettysburg Address

Bdelygmia: litany of abuse--a series ofcritical epithets, descriptions, orattributes.

(Pronounced "de LIG me uh")  [Gk. "abuse"]You nauseate me, Mr. Grinch.With a nauseous super-naus.You're a crooked jerky jockey

And you drive a crooked horse.Mr. Grinch.

You're a three decker sauerkraut and toadstool sandwichWith arsenic sauce."

(Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas)

Cacophony: harsh joining ofsounds.

“We want no parlay with you andyour grisly gang who work your

wicked will.”W. Churchill

Chiasmus: two correspondingpairs arranged not in parallels(a-b-a-b) but in inverted order

(a-b-b-a); from shape of the Greekletter chi (X).

“Those gallant men will remainoften in my thoughts and in my

prayers always.”MacArthur

Epimone: frequent repetition of a phrase orquestion; dwelling on a point.

(Pronunciation: "eh PIM o nee") [Gk. "tarrying,delay"]

-"Who is here so base that would be a bondman? Ifany, speak; for him I have offended. Who is hereso rude that would not be a Roman?  If anyspeak; for him have I offended."

(Shakespeare, Julius Caesar III.ii)

Euphemism: substitution of aninoffensive term for one consideredoffensively explicit.

"Ground beef" for "ground flesh of a deadcow"; "veal" for "tender dead flesh of ababy cow."

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Litotes: understatement, forintensification, by denying the contrary

of the thing being affirmed.

“A few unannounced quizzes are notinconceivable.”

“War is not healthy for children andother living things.”

“One nuclear bomb can ruin your wholeday.”

Metaphor: a comparison achievedthrough a figurative use of words;the word is used not in its literalsense, but in one analogous to it.

“Life's but a walking shadow; apoor player,

That struts and frets his hourupon the stage.”

Shakespeare, Macbeth

Oxymoron: apparent paradoxachieved by the juxtaposition ofwords which seem to contradict

one another.

“I must be cruel only to be kind.”Shakespeare, Hamlet

Paradox: an assertion seeminglyopposed to common sense, but that

may yet have some truth in it.

“What a pity that youth must bewasted on the young.”George Bernard Shaw

Personification: attribution ofpersonality to an impersonal

thing.

“England expects every man to dohis duty.”

Lord Nelson

Polysyndeton: the repetition of conjunctionsin a series of coordinate words, phrases, or

clauses.

“I said, "Who killed him?" and he said, "I don'tknow who killed him but he's dead all right,"

and it was dark and there was water standingin the street and no lights and windows brokeand boats all up in the town and trees blown

down and everything all blown and ...”Hemingway, After the Storm

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Simile: a comparison between two thingsusing 'like' or 'as'

“My love is as a fever, longing stillFor that which longer nurseth the disease,”

Shakespeare, Sonnet CXLVII

Tautology: repetition of an idea in adifferent word, phrase, or sentence.

“With malice toward none, withcharity for all.”

Lincoln, Second Inaugural

The 3 Appeals

Relating to the audience/readerthrough…

•Ethos•Logos•Pathos

Ethical Appeal: Ethos

Sense ofcredibility ortrustworthinessthat an authorestablishes inhis/her writing.

•Relates to theGreek term“ethics”

Rational Appeal: Logos

Refers to systems ofreasoning. Appeals topatterns, conventions,and modes ofreasoning that theaudience findsconvincing andpersuasive.

•Translates into“word” or “reason”

Emotional Appeal: Pathos

Persuadesaudiences byusing emotions