updated 05 March 2005
RHETORICAL TERMS WITH EXAMPLES: 2005
beginning H-Z (Go here for terms beginning A-G.)
indicates a
particularly apt example. A strike-through (---) indicates an inappropriate,
incorrect, or (most often) potentially confusing use of a term (don't take it
personally). The rest are okay: somewhere between "particularly apt" and
"potentially confusing." My comments appear in italics.
With examples provided by students enrolled in ENGL 5730 in Spring 2005 and
submitted--in phase one--by the
evening of Feb. 9 and--in phase two--by
Feb. 16th.
TERMS EXERCISE (part two of exercise begun last week). At our CLASS PRODUCTIONS page, go to "77 Rhetorical Terms with
Examples" (contributed by the rhetoric class of 2003) and "66 Rhetorical Terms with
Examples" (contributed by the rhetoric class of 2002), and "Examples of Rhetorical Terms"
(contributed by the rhetoric class of 2000): read the examples and try to define the
rhetorical terms they illustrate (then check your answers by clicking on the terms).
Next, and no later than 5:00 this afternoon (Feb. 16, 2005), send me
an e-mail with five
different examples you have found (or created) of any five different terms (from
our list of terms) beginning H through Z (we covered the first part
of the alphabet last week). Be sure to cite the author and title of any poem, song
lyric, essay, story, gum wrapper, movie script, t-shirt, road sign, or novel you quote
from. Obviously, I expect you to provide a fresh example, not one that's already
been submitted. And your great challenge is to find examples of some of the less
obvious (and perhaps more difficult to remember) terms. Once again, if you submit
sorry examples of terms (such as parable and hyperbole) that we
have known most of our lives, I will deduct points and ridicule you in the Rhetoric Hall
of Shame. On the other hand, if you submit particularly imaginative examples for
more challenging terms, I will heap extra points upon you and honor your name. As
you're working on the exercise (don't wait till the last minute), send me an e-mail if
you're uncertain about the meaning of a term or the appropriateness of your
example. I'm counting on you to outshine the young rhetoricians who have preceded
you in this class.
How to use this page: After studying the example(s) accompanying each rhetorical term below, try
to compose a clear and accurate definition of the term. Better yet, write
down your definition. Then click on the term to compare your definition
with the one in our online glossary.
WARNING: Although most of the terms below are illustrated
appropriately, some are mistakenly identified, some others are unclearly identified
(especially in longer passages, where it may not be obvious which part
of the passage illustrates the term), and still others are incompletely identified.
Soon we'll be making some clarifications and corrections to the terms and
examples on this page. Don't feel hurt if your contributions are corrected or
qualified in any way: the main purpose of this exercise is to help deepen and clarify your
understanding of the terms.
* For the most part, your contributions have been copied and pasted into the
web page without any alterations. If you spot any errors in the quotations that you
sent me, please notify me via e-mail. In many cases, original formatting has been
lost, and so the layout has gotten a little messy (a major problem with texts that were
not submitted as Word attachments). Sorry! If texts arrived without names,
contributors are identified by e-mail addresses.
Contributors for Terms H-Z
Rob Thomas
Kirsten Mullis
Julia Vanlerberghe
Arthur Tanny
Tanja Supon
Kelley Sanders
Katie Sanders
Oakley Julian
Dee Dee Coursey
Alicia Ferrell
Heather Glover
Chris Shirley
Patrice Beavers
Chris McCormick
Ariana Siennick
Pamela Melton
Christi Healan
_________________________________________________
TERMS H-Z
Rob
Thomas
88) Hyperbaton---Shmi
Skywalker: "You can't stop change any more than you can stop the suns from
setting." [Star Wars The Phantom Menance]
89) Isocolon---King
Arthur: "There are laws that enslave men, and laws that set them free." [from First
Knight]
90) Oxymoron---Gandalf:
I suppose you think that was terribly clever.[Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the
Ring]
91) Parallelism
or Parison---Arthur:
"Lancelot, just a thought. A man who fears nothing is a man who loves nothing; and if
you love nothing, what joy is there in your life? I may be wrong." [First Knight]
91) Paranomasia---Duncan:
"There is a war on. How is it you are heading west?"
Hawkeye: "Well, we kinda face to
the north and, real sudden-like, turn left." [Last of the Mohicans]
92) Tricolon---Malagant:
"What I offer you is freedom; freedom from Arthur's tyrannical dream; freedom from
Arthur's tyrannical law; freedom from Arthur's tyrannical God." [First Knight]
93) Tricolon---Qui-Gon
Jinn: Credits will do fine.
Watto: No, they won't-a. What? You think
you're some kind of Jedi, waving your hand around like that? I'm a Toydarian, mind tricks
don't work on me. Only money. No money, no parts, no deal! (or) Qui-Gon Jinn: Do you hear
that?
[a rumbling is heard in the distance]
Jar Jar Binks: Yeah.
Qui-Gon Jinn: That is the sound of a
thousand terrible things headed this way.
Obi-Wan: If they find us, they will
crush us, grind us into TINY pieces and BLAST us into oblivion! [from Star Wars The
Phantom Menance]
_____________________________________________________________
Kirsten
Mullis
Pig (for police officer)
“You’re the cheese to my pizza
mine” (for “you’re the key to my peace of mind” from “Natural
Woman”)
Redcoats (in reference to British
soldiers)
“I’ll look to like, if looking
liking move”
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
Act 1 Scene 3
97) Paradox (specifically, an
OXYMORON)
I always thought the name of the late
rapper, Biggie Smalls, was a paradox.
_____________________________________________________________________
Julia Vanlerberghe
98) paradox:
One of my students: "The only thing worth dying for is life." Dave Matthews Band
(From song "I'll Back You Up): And I know You're the heaviest weight When you're not
here That's hung around my head.
99) irony: from
RENT (From song "What You Own") "The filmmaker cannot see/ And the
songwriter cannot hear"
(don't know about this one)maxim:
said by Adolf Hitler: "What luck for rulers that men don't think."
100) metaphor:
from Dave Matthews Band song "So Much to Say": "My hell is a closet I'm
stuck inside Can't see the light And my heaven is a nice house in the sky It's got central
heating, and I'm alright."
101) metonymy:
Shakespeare (From "The Winter's Tale," IV, i.) "The crown will find an
heir" (crown instead of the sovereign)
102) mondegreen:
"I'll never leave your pizza burning" for "I'll never be your beast of
burden" (by Rolling Stones--"Beast of Burden" I guess parodies
of songs would not count? The students I was with this week kept singing a Tenacious D
knock off of "Zoot Suit Riot" by the Cherry Poppin' Daddies by singing
"Grapefruit Diet"
103) parallelism: from
Edna St. Vincent Millay's "I, Being Born a Woman and Distressed": "To
clarify the pulse and cloud the mind"
104) paralepsis:
Edna St. Vincent Millay, from "Pity Me Not": "Pity me not because the light
of day/At close of day no longer walks the sky."
105) pleonasm:
The Beatles: "I think we're alone now." (Not a critical point, but are
you referring to the Ritchie
Cordell song popularized in 1967 by Tommy James and later re-made by the dreadful Tiffany?)
106) prolepsis: Juliet on
the balcony from Romeo and Juliet: "Or, if thou wilt not/Be but sworn my love/And
I'll no longer be a Capulet."
107) running style:
From e.e. cummings' "anyone lived in a pretty how town": "anyone lived in a
pretty how town/(with up so floating many bells down)/spring summer autumn winter/he sang
his didn't he danced his did."
108) simile:
from Counting Crows "Round Here"): "Step out the front door like a ghost
into a fog Where no one notices the contrast of white on white."
109) syllepsis:
He forgot his scarf and his manners.
110) synechdoche:
from William Cowper's "On the Loss of the Royal George": "Toll for the
brave! The brave that are no more, All sunk beneath the wave" (The wave would
represent the ocean.)
I used a reference book for some help with a couple of these, Poetry Handbook: A
Dictionary of Terms, by Babette Deutsch.
_________________________________________________________________________
Arthur Tanny
111) Metonym:
"Think outside of the Bun." -Taco Bell commercial
112)
Parallelism:
"A time to weep and a time to
laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance; "
-Ecclesiastes 3:4
113) Paradox
War is peace
Freedom is slavery
Ignorance is strength
-George Orwell 1984
114)
Paronomasia (broadly--more
specifically, a kind of syllepsis)
Don’t get Mad, Get Glad!
-Glad trash bag commercial
115)
Polyptoton
"Winners never quit and quitters
never win."
-anon
______________________________________________________
Tanja Supon
1, 2, & 3) "Pie Problem" by Shel Silverstein
If I eat one more piece of pie, I'll die! 116)
(invective)
If I can't have
one more piece of pie, I'll die!
So since it's all
decided I must die,
I might as well have one more piece of pie.
117) (periphrasis)
MMMM-OOOH-MY!
Chomp-Gulp-'Bye 118) (onomatopoeia)
4) "If"- by
Rudyard Kipling
If
you can keep your head when all about you
Are
losing theirs and blaming it on you;
But
make allowance for their doubting too;
If
you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or,
being lied about, don’t deal in lies
119)
(polyptoton)
Or
being hated, don’t give way to hating,
(polyptoton)
And
yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;
5) "Eldorado" by Edgar Allan Poe
Gaily bedight,
(RHYME) 120) (paramoisosis)
A gallant knight,
In
sunshine and in shadow,
Had
journeyed long,
Singing
a song, (paramoisosis)
In
search of Eldorado
But
he grew old-
(paramoisosis)
This
knight so bold-
And
o’er his heart a shadow
Fell
as he found
(paramoisosis)
No
spot of ground
That
looked like Eldorado.
And, as his strength
Hailed
him at length,
He
met a pilgrim shadow-
‘Shadow,’
said he,
‘Where
can it be –
This land of Eldorado?’
‘Over the Mountains
Of
the Moon,
Down
the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride,
boldly ride,’
The
shade replied, -
‘If
you seek for Eldorado.’
___________________________________________________________________________
"Kelley Sanders"
121) Metaphor:
"Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the
stage." Shakespeare, Macbeth
122) Simile:"Reason is to
faith as the eye to the telescope." D. Hume
123) Maxim:
"There is no I in team." From a poster in an elementary school classroom
124) Hyperbole:"I
love you with all of my heart and soul." From a love letter to my boyfriend.
125) Onomatopeia:"bark"
(the sound a dog makes, not tree-skin)
__________________________________________________________
Katie
Sanders
126) Tricolon-
“Mindernickel’s appearance is striking, bizarre and ridiculous.” (Death in Venice, Mann)
127)
Invented Ethos-
“ He had his doubts about Crake’s honorableness, intellectual or
otherwise. He knew a bit more about Crake than his mother did.” (Oryx and Crake, Atwood) (INVENTED ETHOS
emerges from the speaker's own words--not from what others say about him or her.)
128)
Ploce or
129) Polyptoton-“
You think I was thinking? She said. Oh Jimmy! You always think everyone is thinking. Maybe
I was thinking anything.” (Oryx and Crake,
Atwood)
130)
Phatic Communion-
“So, what have you been up too?”
131)
Synathroesmus-
“She was annoying, obnoxious, ugly and stupid all at the same time.” (me,
describing someone.)
________________________________________
“Why should their liberty than
ours be more?”
(Shakespeare’s The Comedy of
Errors spoken by Adriana)
“The town crier’s call of
‘Hear ye! Hear Ye!’ was the colonial equivalent of today’s ‘Fox News
Alert,’ only without a shrieking metallic sound effect akin to fingernails scratching
a chalkboard in hell.”
(From America (The Book): A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy Inaction By
Jon Stewart, Ben Karlin, and David Javerbaum)
spic/spick/spik for a Hispanic person
135) Parataxis (Good: the
list structure is inherently paratactic.)
“But for most of us, there are some
obvious associations with the word “bitch”:
stiletto heels and dark demimonde eyes on recent runways; the Gorgon-like
horror produced movies like Fatal Attraction and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle,
the evil of bland ambition in To Die For and Disclosure, the chilly allure
of films like Body Heat and Basic Instinct; the cool badness and icy
manipulation of all of Sharon Stone’s roles, of her grande dame style, of her refusal
to return the diamond necklace to Harry Winston after the Oscars; the calamitous onstage
presence and offstage existence of Courtney Love, which have allowed her to realize in
real life a character that Madonna in her mock bravado could only dream of;
Roseanne’s habit of saying things like “All women should kill their
husbands”; the icy young blondes of the Grand Old Party; the gabby and acerbic
pundits (or “pundettes,” as they’ve been diminutively called) with long
legs in short skirts as a commentator on CBS or MSNBC; Shannon Doherty’s reckless
behavior and brattiness that caused an ex-fiance to get a restraining order against her
and some anti-fans to create the I Hate Brenda Newsletter; or the simple fact that
the much-maligned model Naomi Campbell, dropped by Elite because “no money or
prestige could further justify the abuse that has been imposed on [those she worked
with],” simply said in response to her dismissal, “I’m a hardworking bitch. I do what I want to do. Life is too short- you have to go for it.”
(Bitch:
In Praise of Difficult Women By: Elizabeth
Wurtzel)
“It’s déjà vu all over
again”
(Yogi Berra)
Or a premeditated plan
__________________________________________________________________________
Dee Dee Coursey
The Rock of Rhetoric – or
- Rhetoric Rocks (paronomasia)
137. Example of tricolon – Series of
three members.
And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking.
Racing around to come up behind you again.
The sun is the same in a relative way but you're
older.
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.
- - - Pink Floyd lyrics from "Time"
138)
Example of homoioiteleuton –
Similar sound pattern at ends of words.
The hypocrites are slandering
The sacred halls of Truth
Ancient nobles showering
Their bitterness on youth
Can't we find
The minds that made us strong
Can't we learn
To feel what's right and wrong
- - - Rush lyrics from "A Farewell To Kings"
139) Example of Isocolon – A
succession of phrases of approximately equal length and corresponding structure.
Also
of 140) litotes –
the expression of an affirmative by the negation of its opposition
I don't believe in destiny or the guiding hand of fate
I don't believe in forever, or love as a mystical state
I don't believe in the stars or the planets
or angels watching from above
But I believe there's a ghost of a chance
we can find someone to love
and make it last.
- - - Rush lyrics from "Ghost Of A Chance"
141). Example of paromoisosis –
Parallelism of sound between the words of two clauses approximately equal in size. Also of 142) polypototon –
Repetition of words derived from the same root but with different endings.
You can choose a ready guide
In some celestial voice.
If you choose not to decide
You still have made a choice.
You can choose from phantom fears
And kindness that can kill
I will choose a path that's clear
I will choose Freewill
- - - Rush lyrics from "Permanent
Waves"
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"
____________________________________________________________________
TERMS A-G BEGIN HERE.
TERMS H-Z CONTINUE HERE.
____________________________________________
English 5730 is taught by Dr. Richard
Nordquist.
Armstrong Atlantic State University
updated 05 March 2005