updated 04 March 2005
RHETORICAL TERMS WITH EXAMPLES: 2005
beginning A-G
Contributors (listed in no logical order whatsoever):
Dee Dee Coursey
Tanja Soupon
Pamela Melton
Rob Thomas
Arthur Tanney
inchoate9@aol.com
Chris Shirley
Katie Sanders
Heather Glover
Kelley Sanders
Ariana Siennick
Oakley Julian
Christi Healan
Kirsten Mullis
Chris McCormick
Patrice Beavers
Alicia Ferrell
Shelly Rhodes
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TERMS A-G (continued)
“Don’t know what to say,
don’t know what to do, don’t know if it really even matters to you.”
Song: “It Matters To Me”
This song uses anaphora by repetition of
the same word at the beginning of each clause.
“I told you we could count on Mr.
Old-Time Rock and Roll!”
Velvet Goldmine: as quoted by
“Murray” in reference to “Arthur.”
Murray does not refer to Arthur by name,
but employs antonomasia by substituting the title of “Mr. Old-Time Rock and
Roll” when referring to Arthur.
“To everything there is a season, A
time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to
plant, And a time to pluck what is planted; A time to kill, And a time to
heal.”
Taken from Ecclesiastes 3:1-3, this is
an example of gathering scattered points and listing them together.
Extend this passage by five or six lines and we have a classic example of accumulation:
| 1 |
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every
purpose under the heaven:
|
| 2 |
a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a
time to pluck up that which is planted;
|
| 3 |
a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and
a time to build up;
|
| 4 |
a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a
time to dance;
|
| 5 |
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones
together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
|
| 6 |
a time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time
to cast away;
|
| 7 |
a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence,
and a time to speak;
|
| 8 |
a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time
of peace.
|
70) Antiphrasis Oxymoron
“That’s an awfully pretty
hairdo.” (OR, a pretty awful hairdo)
I made this one up myself; when you
think of something awful you don’t conventionally connect it with pretty or vice
versa.
71) Epiplexis
“And ain’t I a
woman?”
Rhetorical question asked by Sojourner
Truth during her famous speech which was meant to reproach rather than elicit answers.
“A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a
horse!”
Shakespeare’s King Richard III
Act V. Scene 4.
Though epizeuxis is repetition of a word
for emphasis, our definition says it usually has no words in between. I thought this might fit the bill as one of the
exceptions.
____________________________________________________________________
Chris McCormick
73) Anaphora-
Repetition of the same
word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses.
All
that you touch
All that you see
All that you taste
All you feel.
All that you love
All that you hate
All you distrust
All you save.
All that you give
All that you deal
All that you buy,
Beg, borrow or steal.
All you create
All you destroy
All that you do
All that you say.
All that you eat
And everyone you meet
All that you slight
And everyone you fight.
All that is now
All that is gone
All that’s to come
And everything under the sun is in tune
But the sun is eclipsed by the moon.
-Roger Waters (Pink Floyd, Album-Dark
Side of the Moon, Song-Eclipse)
74) Epicrisis
Circumstance in which a speaker quotes a passage and comments on it. (Here speaker
comments before quoting)
“Bent double, like old beggars
under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.
GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.--
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.”
-Wilfred Owen
(Dulce Et Decorum Est)
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.
Johnny’s
in the basement
Mixin’ up the medicine
I’m on the pavement
Thinking about the government
The man in the trench coat
Badge out, laid off
Says he’s got a bad cough
Wants to get it paid off
Look out kid
It’s somethin’ you did
God knows when
But you’re doin’ it again
You better duck down the alley way
Lookin’ for a new friend
The man in the coon-skin cap
In the big pen
Wants eleven dollar bills
You only got ten
Maggie comes fleet foot
Face full of black soot
Talkin’ that the heat put
Plants in the bed but
The phone’s tapped anyway
Maggie says that many say
They must bust in early may
Orders from the d. a.
Look out kid
Don’t matter what you did
Walk on your tip toes
Don’t try no doz
Better stay away from those
That carry around a fire hose
Keep a clean nose
Watch the plain clothes
You don’t need a weather man
To know which way the wind blows
Get sick, get well
Hang around a ink well
Ring bell, hard to tell
If anything is goin’ to sell
Try hard, get barred
Get back, write braille
Get jailed, jump bail
Join the army, if you fail
Look out kid
You’re gonna get hit
But losers, cheaters
Six-time users
Hang around the theaters
Girl by the whirlpool
Lookin’ for a new fool
Don’t follow leaders
Watch the parkin’ meters
Ah get born, keep warm
Short pants, romance, learn to dance
Get dressed, get blessed
Try to be a success
Please her, please him, buy gifts
Don’t steal, don’t lift
Twenty years of schoolin’
And they put you on the day shift
Look out kid
They keep it all hid
Better jump down a manhole
Light yourself a candle
Don’t wear sandals
Try to avoid the scandals
Don’t wanna be a bum
You better chew gum
The pump don’t work
’cause the vandals took the handles
-Bob
Dylan, (Subterranean
Homesick Blues)
76) Exuscitatio
Emotional
utterance that seeks to move hearers to a like feeling.
Old pirates yes they rob I
Sold I to the merchant ships
Minutes after they took I from the
Bottom less pit
But my hand was made strong
By the hand of the almighty
We forward in this generation triumphantly
All I ever had is songs of freedom
Won't you help to sing these songs of freedom
Cause all I ever had redemption songs, redemption songs
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
None but ourselves can free our minds
Have no fear for atomic energy
Cause none of them can stop the time
How long shall they kill our prophets
While we stand aside and look
Some say it's just a part of it
We've got to fulfill the book
Won't you help to sing, these songs of freedom
Cause all I ever had, redemption songs, redemption songs, redemption songs
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
None but ourselves can free our minds
Have no fear for atomic energy
Cause none of them can stop the time
How long shall they kill our prophets
While we stand aside and look
Yes some say it's just part of it
We've got to fulfill the book
Won't you help to sing, these songs of freedom
Cause all I ever had, redemption songs
All I ever had, redemption songs
These songs of freedom, songs of freedom
-Bob Marley (Redemption Song)
77) allegory
Extending a metaphor through an entire speech or passage so that objects, persons, and actions in the text are equated with meanings that lie outside the text.
Also: epiphora-Repetition of a
word or phrase at the end of several clauses; Anaphora-
Repetition
of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses; hypophora
Raising questions and answering them; and many more…
All things, O priests, are on fire. And what, O priests, are all
these things which are on fire?
"The eye, O priests, is on fire; forms are on fire;
eye-consciousness is on fire; impressions received by the eye are on fire; and whatever
sensation, pleasant, unpleasant, or indifferent, originates in dependence on impressions
received by the eye, that also is on fire.
"And with what are these on fire?
"With the fire of passion, say I, with the fire of hatred,
with the fire of infatuation; with birth, old age, death, sorrow, lamentation, misery,
grief, and despair are they on fire.
"The ear is on fire; sounds are on fire; . . . the nose is
on fire; odors are on fire; . . . the tongue is on fire; tastes are on fire; . . . the
body is on fire; things tangible are on fire; . . . the mind is on fire; ideas are on
fire; . . . mind-consciousness is on fire; impressions received by the mind are on fire;
and whatever sensation, pleasant, unpleasant, or indifferent, originates in dependence on
impressions received by the mind, that also is on fire.
"And with what are these on fire?
"With the fire of passion, say I, with the fire of hatred,
with the fire of infatuation; with birth, old age, death, sorrow, lamentation, misery,
grief, and despair are they on fire.
"Perceiving this, O priests, the learned and noble disciple
conceives an aversion for the eye, conceives an aversion for forms, conceives an aversion
for eye-consciousness, conceives an aversion for the impressions received by the eye; and
whatever sensation, pleasant, unpleasant, or indifferent, originates in dependence on
impressions received by the eye, for that also he conceives an aversion. Conceives an
aversion for the ear, conceives an aversion for sounds, . . . conceives an aversion for
the nose, conceives an aversion for odors, . . . conceives an aversion for the tongue,
conceives an aversion for tastes, . . . conceives an aversion for the body, conceives an
aversion for things tangible, . . . conceives an aversion for the mind, conceives an
aversion for ideas, conceives an aversion for mind-consciousness, conceives an aversion
for the impressions received by the mind; and whatever sensation, pleasant, unpleasant, or
indifferent, originates in dependence on impressions received by the mind, for this also
he conceives an aversion. And in conceiving this aversion, he becomes divested of passion,
and by the absence of passion he becomes free, and when he is free he becomes aware that
he is free; and he knows that rebirth is exhausted, that he has lived the holy life, that
he has done what it behooved him to do, and that he is no more for this world."
-Buddha (Fire Sermon)
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Patrice Beavers
78) Chiasmus:
"We didn't land
on Plymouth Rock, Plymouth Rock landed on us."
Malcolm X
79) Erotesis:
“Do you then really think that you
have committed your follies in order to spare your son them?”
Herman Hesse, Siddhartha
80) Enthymeme:
(1) In the beginning was the word
[logos], and the word was with God, and the word was God.(2) The same was in the
beginning with God.(3) All things were made by him, and without him was not
anything made that was made.
John 1:1-3 (KJV)
81) Anticlimax:
Mr. B:
An optimist says, "The drink is half full." A pessimist says, "The drink is
half full, but I might have bowel cancer."
Bruce McCullough, Kids in the Hall
82) Diacope
He won thousands; he threw thousands
away, lost money, lost jewels, lost a country house, won again, lost again.
Herman Hesse, Siddhartha
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Alicia Ferrell
83) Anaphora: “It was
the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdome, 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 . . .”
Charles Dickens :
A Tale of Two Cities:
84) Asyndeton: “Listlessly, confidently, poor people all of them,
they waited; looked at the palace itself with the flag flying; at Victoria, billowing on
her mound, admired her shelves of running water, her geraniums; singled out the motor cars
in the Mall first this one, then that; bestowed emotion, vainly, upon commoners out for a
drive; recalled their tribute to keep it unspent while this car passed and that.”
Virginia Woolf: Mrs.
Dalloway
85)
Epiplexis: “-- And why do you go to France or Belgium, said Miss Ivors, instead of
visiting your own land?
--Well, said Gabriel, it’s
partly to keep in touch with the languages and partly for a change.
--And haven’t you your own
language to keep in touch with – Irish? asked Miss Ivors.
James Joyce: “The Dead”
86) Aposiopesis: “Because – his lips stuck together like
blotting paper – he’s not the sort of man my wife should – should
–”
Rebecca West:
“Indissoluble Matrimony”
87) Aporia:
Am I no better than a eunuch or is the proper man – the man with the
right to existence – a raging stallion forever neighing after his neighbor’s
womankind? Or are we meant to act on impulse
alone? It is all a darkness.
Ford Maddox Ford: The Good Soldier
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SHELLY RHODES
87a. Amplification or Commaratio
I looked
into his eyes ans saw his soul./ He looked into my eyes ans saw my soul./ He was my horse
ans I his person./ We knew each other's thoughts, each other's feelings./ We trusted one
another./ We took joy in each other's company./ He was my horse--I his person!/ We shared
a bond, a bond of love.
The Bond for Regalito by Diana Christensen
87b. Anadiplosis and chiasmus
We eat to live...not live to eat.
Unknown
87c. Antithesis (Example
already appears in our glossary of terms.)
"It was the best of times. It
was the worst of times."
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
87d. Effecto (partial effectio -- note the
spelling)
"She had been tall for
fourteen years, with beautifully shaped breasts quite natural under her simple cotton
shift, and her soft dry hair had been loose down her back. She might have been a Spanish
beauty to anyone outside of this bizarre part of the Southland, where the history of the
slaves and thier free descendants was so full of complex alliances and erotic romance. But
any New Orleanean could see Aftican blood inher by the lovely cafe au lait of her
skin."
Merrick by Anne Rice 87e.
Accumulation
"You see that I'm ferocious/ You see that I am weak/ You see that I am silly/ And
pretentious and a freak/ But I don't feel too strange for you..."
Rescue Me sung by Madonna
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A-G TERMS BEGIN HERE.
H-Z TERMS BEGIN HERE.
____________________________________________
English 5730 is taught by Dr. Richard
Nordquist.
Armstrong Atlantic State University
updated 04 March 2005