updated 25 February 2005
EVALUATING EXAMPLES OF RHETORICAL TERMS:
STANDOUTS AND PUZZLERS (2005)

Nordquist
Oakley Julian
Julian Vanlerberghe
Alicia Ferrell
Dee Dee Coursey
Tanja Supon
Arthur C. Tanny
Kirsten Mullis
Shelly Rhodes
Patrice Beavers
Kelley Sanders
Chris Shirley
Pamela Yoko Melton

Jolene Burge
Rob Thomas
Heather Glover
Chris McCormick
Ariana Siennick
Kasey Ray

Peer evaluations of examples of rhetorical terms (A-G and H-Z).

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EVALUATIONS BEGIN

• END OF "STANDOUTS & PUZZLERS" EXERCISE -- Nordquist, 17:14:02 02/21/05 Mon
  The Bulletin Board exercise for Feb. 21st is now concluded. Over the next few days, I'll summarize the results on our web site, post the best examples, attempt to explain some of the "puzzlers," and toss the rest.
  
  Guidelines for the next Bulletin Board exercise (to provide sample questions and answers for the midterm exam) will be posted here Tuesday evening, Feb. 22.
  

  
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• Terms Exercise -- Kasey Ray, 14:27:13 02/21/05 Mon
  27. Epiplexis
  What’s in your wallet?|
  -Capital One Credit Card commercial
  
  I wasn’t sure that this question was after reproach.
  
  99. maxim: said by Adolf Hitler: "What luck for rulers that men don't think."
  
  I don’t think that this is something to live by or use for wisdom.
  
  111) Metonym:
  "Think outside of the Bun." -Taco Bell commercial
  
  The word it is substituting is box, but bun and box do not have a connection outside of the context.
  
  136) Pleonasm
  “It’s déjà vu all over again”
  (Yogi Berra)
  
  I like this because I have never seen it as a pleonasm until now.
  
  54) Aposiopesis-
  “Secondly, the tactics of our -- as you know, we don't have relationships with Iran. I mean that's -- ever since the late 70's, we have no contacts with them, and we've totally sanctioned them. In other words, there's no sanctions -- you can't -- we're out of sanctions.”
  President George W. Bush, Washington D.C., July 16, 2003
  
  I think this is good because we tend to think of rhetorical terms as tools to help convince the audience we are right, and this does the opposite for the president.
  
  82) Diacope
  He won thousands; he threw thousands away, lost money, lost jewels, lost a country house, won again, lost again.
  Herman Hesse, Siddhartha
  
  This is good because it gives several examples of the same term in one sentence.
  

  
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• Terms Exercises -- Ariana Siennick, 14:06:01 02/21/05 Mon
  Puzzlers:
  
  1)Tanja Soupon
  Bdelygmia:
  "I do hate a proud man, as I do hate the engend'ring of toads."
  —Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida 2.3.158-159
  
  This isn't Bdelygmia because it isn't a series of critical attributes. In fact, there's really not a list of any abusive descriptions toward the man (except maybe 'proud') or to toads.
  
  2)Rob Thomas
  Chiasmus:
  "Honor is in the man not the weapon." (Donnie Yen as Jin Ke in Highlander Endgame)
  
  The second half of this line is missing the reversed part of the beginning half, which defines a chiasmus.
  
  3)Katie Sanders
  Apostrophe:
  “You have now read about thirty pages and you’re becoming caught up in the story.”
  (If on a winter’s night a traveler, Calvino)
  
  I don't see how this is a statement addressing an absent thing. Sure, a story is an abstract thing, but this line isn't really breaking off from a previous discourse to intentionally address it. There's nothing after this line that goes on to address the story specifically as an entity in itself, like, “Oh story, thou enigma of the imagination!”
  
  
  Standouts:
  
  1)Tanja Soupon
  Catachresis:
  As one said that disliked a picture with a crooked nose, "The elbow of his nose is disproportionable." — J. Smith
  
  Obviously, a nose doesn't have an elbow of its own. That'd be a little freaky. Perfect example of a far-fetched metaphor.
  
  2)Rob Thomas
  Anadiplosis:
  "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. I sense much fear in you." (Yoda, Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace)
  
  I really like this one since it so logically and simply follows the definition of an anadiplosis, plus it's quoted from a familiar figure most people know and can understand.
  
  3)Rob Thomas
  Anticlimax:
  "Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something."
  (Wesley, The Princess Bride)
  
  The line, “Life is pain.” is the climax. The latter line disposes of any further arguments about the matter, and its humor deflates the whole situation.
  

  
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• Rhet Comp 2 -- Chris McCormick, 13:44:15 02/21/05 Mon
  Puzzlers:
  6) Bdelygmia
  
  I do hate a proud man, as I do hate the
  engend'ring of toads.
  —Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida 2.3.158-159
  
  This just does not strike me as a "litany of abuse." I would expect something longer.
  
  
  51) "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done."- Assonance example from the Lord's prayer.
  
  I hear too many consonant sounds when I say this aloud. Am I missing something?
  
  143). Example of paronomasia – Punning, playing with words.
  
  Hello, is there anybody in there?
  Just nod if you can hear me
  - - - Pink Floyd lyrics from "Comfortably Numb"
  
  This does not strike me as word play. For me, this lyric has always embodied Floyd's (the main character of "The Wall") mental absence and apathy for the outside world. In other words, he is behind his wall.
  
  
  Standouts:
  43. Bdelygmia
  
  You're a foul one, Mr. Grinch.
  You're a nasty, wasty skunk.
  Your heart is full of unwashed socks;
  Your soul is full of gunk,
  Mr. Grinch.
  The three words that best describe you,
  are, and I quote: "Stink. Stank. Stunk."
  
  --Dr. Seuss (a.k.a. Theodore Geisel), “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”
  
  I had a dawning upon reading this example. Dr. Seuss' words are embedded in the memories of most Americans. Excellent choice.
  
  
  53) Apophasis-
  
  “Our country puts $1 billion a year up to help feed the hungry. And we're by far the most generous nation in the word when it comes to that, and I'm proud to report that. This isn't a contest of who's the most generous. I'm just telling you as an aside. We're generous. We shouldn't be bragging about it. But we are. We're very generous.”
  
  President George W. Bush, Annadale, VA, August 9, 2004
  
  Need I say more.
  
  75) crot
  Verbal bit or fragment used as autonomous unit with absence of transitional devices to preceding or subsequent units, thereby creating an effect of abruptness and rapid transition.
  (too long to post)
  
  -Bob Dylan, (Subterranean Homesick Blues)
  
  Dylan manipulates crot in this song to mirror the speed, abruptness and spontaneity of suburban life. If this is not an extended crot, I am confused.
  

  
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• Standouts and Puzzlers -- Heather Glover, 13:15:11 02/21/05 Mon
  PUZZLERS
  
  #6--this example of bdelygmia does contain a critical description, but it is not the long, drawn-out list of faults that I have come to associate with bdelygmia.
  
  #28--I thought that this passage was a better example of anaphora (and not diacope) because of the times Malcolm X begins a clause with "I'm not here."
  
  #88--(hyperbaton) I didn't see where this passage took a sudden turn. Also, I saw what I considered a slight alteration in word order, but nothing that signaled added emphasis.
  
  STANDOUTS
  
  #166--(pleonasm) I thought this was a GREAT example. Don't we already know that singers sing, and aren't all voices vocal? This passage has really helped me remember pleonasm.
  
  #17--I may be a little biased because I love the movie from which this quote comes. This example of anticlimax starts out by sounding like a profound statement of life, then ends up sounding so simplistic and cynical that the speaker completely ruins the moment.
  
  #144--(synathroesmus) Again, I may be biased because I'm a Jane Austen fan. This is a great description, and the piling of adjectives really makes the character interesting and unlikeable.
  

  
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• Terms Exercise -- Rob Thomas, 12:58:53 02/21/05 Mon
  I would like to say that in my opinion stand outs were numbers 59, 78, 151, and 176. These examples reflect the word's meaning really well.
  
  I am puzzled about numbers 6 because I think it works better as a tapinosis or meiosis. Number 57 is confusing to me because there seemed not to be enough of the passage. Last number 103 confussed me because I don't where they were going with the example.
  

  
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• TERMS EXERCISE -- Jolene Burge, 12:37:38 02/21/05 Mon
  Stand-Outs
  
  15. Epimone
  From Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
  (The response by the Cat in the Hat to Sam I am when asked if he likes Green Eggs 'n Ham)
  I do not like them in a box.
  I do not like them with a fox.
  I do not like them in a house.
  I do not like them with a mouse.
  I do not like them here or there.
  I do not like them anywhere.
  I do not like green eggs and ham.
  I do not like them, Sam I Am.
  --- I like this example because it shows that epimone isn’t just about repetition, but about emphasis.
  
  149) Hypocrisis
  “Brothers and Sisters, I take my text this morning from the Book of Dixie.... Now it says here, ‘And every white man shall be allowed to pet himself a Negro. Yea, he shall take a black man unto himself to pet and cherish, and this same Negro shall be perfect in his sight.’”
  --Zora Neale Hurston, “The ‘Pet’ Negro System”
  --- I liked this example because it was so sarcastic and effective in mocking the opponent.
  
  166) Pleonasm:
  Let the singing singers
  With vocal voices, most vociferous,
  In sweet vociferation out-vociferize
  Even sound itself.
  Henry Carey, Chrononhotonthologos. Act i. Sc. 1.
  --- This example clarified the meaning of pleonasm in a memorable way.
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  Puzzlers
  
  171) litotes
  Understatement used deliberately, or the expression of an affirmative by the negation of its opposite.
  “My first contact with British authority in that country was not of a happy character. I discovered that as a man and as an Indian I had no rights. More correctly, I discovered that I had no rights because I was an Indian.”
  -Gandhi defending his faith to an Indian court in 1922.
  --- While I see the understatement, why is the litotes also, I do not see where the negation of something affirms its opposite.
  
  178) Hypophora
  Taken from The Rants by Dennis Miller
  "On Sexual Harassment"
  So, I have to confess that my first thoughts on this issue were, "Well, it can't be all that bad, can it? Certainly a lot of these cases have to be trumped up, don't they?" But then I flashed on the fact that much of what goes on through my head is shot through the dick prism.
  --- Does hypophora have to be a direct answer to a question? In this example, the question is not answered but examined.
  
  4.There is an example of catachresis within the first paragraph (?).
  “Mr. President, you said would we have more leverage if both parties got our votes, but we didn't come this far playing political games. It was those that earned our vote that got our vote. We got the Civil Rights Act under a Democrat. We got the Voting Rights Act under a Democrat. We got the right to organize under Democrats.”
  --- I don’t understand why this first paragraph contains catachresis. What it the extreme analogy or substitution?
• 
  EVALUATIONS BEGIN
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  English 5730 is taught by Dr. Richard Nordquist.
  Armstrong Atlantic State University
                               
  updated 25 February 2005