updated 13 February 2006
RHETORICAL TERMS WITH EXAMPLES: 2006 [H-Z group e]
(updated 13 February 2006)
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.
Terms
A-G: GROUP A
Stephanie Roberts
Lisa Hom
Macrae Carreker
Mary Culp
Tara Gergacs
Alex
Barbee
Nicholas Stripling
Ashley Walden
Terms A-G: GROUP B
Alex Barbee (version 2)
Artisheia Brown
Nicki
Peebles
Autumn Flynn
Tiffany Carabello
Terms A-G: GROUP C
Lindsey Estepp
Katharine Phipps
Kia Cooper
Stephanie Deal
Emilie Tuminella
Bisceglia
Coleman
Leslie Moses
Terms H-Z: GROUP D
Katharine Phipps
Lisa Hom
Autumn Flynn
Stephanie Roberts
Ashley Walden
Artisheia Brown
Tiffany Lynn Carabello
Tara Gergacs
Terms H-Z: GROUP E
Leslie Moses
Mary Culp
Alex Barbee
Emilie Tuminella
Stephanie Deal
Macrae Carreker
Bisceglia Coleman
Lindsey Estepp
________________________
Leslie Moses
41. mondegreen—
-In
Beverly Cleary’s “Ramona Quimby, Age 8,”
Ramona hears the star-spangled banner line “the dawn’s
early light” as “Donzier lee-light.”
-When
I was little I thought the song “Smooth Operator” was a little scary, I heard
it: “Eewww, Papa Red Eye”
-And at
Christmas I sang about the soft drink in Jingle Bells: “bells on bob-tails ring, making Spirit Sprite®”
42. syllepsis—
the title of the book by Lynne Truss, “Eats, Shoots &
Leaves”
43. polyptoton—
a
prayer from St Francis of Assisi:
Divine
Master, Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; To be understood
as to understand; To be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; It is in
pardoning that we are pardoned; And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
44. paradox—a statement
that seems to contradict itself.
“…some day you will be old enough to start
reading fairy tales again.”
- C.S. Lewis to his godchild, Lucy Barfield (to whom he dedicated
The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe)
45. tricolon—series of three
members
First
Chatham Bank slogan: Tradition. Innovation. Service.
__________________________________
Mary Culp
46.
Isocolon:
Example:
They have suffered severely, but they have fought well.”
Winston
Churchill Speech to the House of Commons June 18, 1940
47.
Mondegreen:
Example:
Mistaking Bob Dylan’s lyrics, “the answer my friend is blowing in the wind”
for “the ants are my friends, they’re blowing in the wind.”
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/mondegreen.html
48.
Paralepsis:
Example: We will not speak of all
Queequeg's peculiarities here; how he eschewed coffee and hot rolls, and applied his
undivided attention to beefsteaks, done rare. —Moby Dick "Breakfast"
49. Tapinosis:
Example: calling
civilians killed while minding their own business during a "targeted bombing"
operation "collateral damage".
http://www.shumavon.net/blog/2005/07/tapinosis.html
50. Zeugma:
Example: As Virgil guided Dante through
Inferno, the Sibyl Aeneas Avernus.
Roger D. Scott
_____________________________
Alex
Barbee
51) Hyperbaton
1“Death Be Not Proud” –John Gunther
2“Grave danger you
are in. Impatient you are.” -Yoda, in Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones
3“I was in my Life
Alone” –Robert Frost
4"Pity this busy
monster man unkind not." -E. E.Cummings
5"This is the sort of English up with which I
will not put."- Winston Churchill
52) Kairos
1“I bet
you’d like some water” –Me, after my best friend and I went out in the boat…his
engine died through over heating, and we cooled it with all the bottled water we had…
2“Don't beat
yourself up over this, Mitch. It's not your fault. Dammit, Blue was old. That's what old
people do. They die.” –Beanie (played
by Vince Vaughn) in Old School, from the scene
of “Blue’s” funeral
3PLEASE READ BELOW, and
if you haven’t seen the movie Wedding Crashers do
yourself a favor and buy it on DVD, for God’s sake my grandmother thought it was
hilarious so it has to appeal on different levels…
“Janice: I've got the perfect girl for
you!
Jeremy Grey (Vince Vaughn): [sigh]
Janice, I apologize to you if I don't seem real eager to jump into a forced awkward
intimate situation that people like to call dating. I don't like the feeling. You're
sitting there, you're wondering do I have food on my face, am I eating, am I talking too
much, are they talking enough, am I interested…I'm not really interested, should I
play like I'm interested but I'm not that interested but I think she might be interested
but do I want to be interested but now she's not interested? So all of the sudden I'm
getting, I'm starting to get interested... And when am I supposed to kiss her? Do I have
to wait for the door cause then it's awkward, it's like well goodnight. Do you do like
that ass-out hug? Where you like, you hug each other like this and your ass sticks out
cause you're trying not to get too close or do you just go right in and kiss them on the
lips or don't kiss them at all? It's very difficult trying to read the situation. And all
the while you're just really wondering are we gonna get hopped up enough to make some bad
decisions? Perhaps play a little game called "just the tip". Just for a second,
just to see how it feels. Or, ouch, ouch you're on my hair.
Janice: Okay... –Wedding
Crashers, a perfect example of how you shouldn’t talk with in the office
environment…haha
4“Ladies and gentlemen, I'll be brief. The
issue here is not whether we broke a few rules, or took a few liberties with our female
party guests - we did.”- Otter from Animal
House (1978), during the courtroom scene
5 “We could put
up wanted posters all over school: Have you seen this prick? Report immediately to Beula
Balbricker. Do not attempt to apprehend this prick, as it is armed and dangerous. It was
last seen hanging out in the girls' locker room at Angel Beach High School.” –Coach Roy Brackett, from the movie Porky’s
53) Metaphor
1“The time has come for someone to put
his foot down. And that foot is me.”
-Dean
Wormer, from the movie Animal House (1978)
2“Don't be lost when the time comes, for the
day of the Lord cometh like a thief in the night.” –Reverend Cleophus James,
from the movie The Blues Brothers (1980)
LOOK @ #3, 2
Quotes in 1 but only One Applies, Guess Which 1
3“A person should not believe in an "-ism," he should believe
in himself. I quote John Lennon, "I don't believe in Beatles, I just believe in me.”
–Ferris Bueller, from the movie with the same title, you know you’ve seen it…
4“I ran until my
muscles burned and my veins pumped battery acid. Then, I ran some more.” –Edward
Norton, narrating the movie Fight Club
5”Her voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard”
–Me, talking about a girl that sits in a class with me this semester…
54) Parallelism
1 “Singing
a song or writing a poem is joyous.” –Any Mouse
2 “She revels in sweet chocolate éclairs”
–a website example…
3 “Triumphant and joyous, Summer, walked in
with a freshly killed bird clenched in her mouth” –Summer’s Story by Alex
Barbee III, a high school sort story, by yours truly
4 “Sweating a tired the runners finished the
strenuous 10k race” –Me
5 “Constipated and bloated people are all
that you see on the commercials during Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune” –Beanie
Barbee, my grandmother…so true…
______________________________________
Emilie Tuminella
55) “PEACE. Live in it
or rest in it.”-Bumper Sticker (SYLLEPSIS)
56) “Friends don’t
let friends drink Starbucks”-Bumper Sticker”
(INDUCTION)
57) “That’s why I
am a ‘conversationalist’ rather than an ‘environmentalist.’ The difference?
Conversationalist are mainstream and environmentalists are extreme.”-Frank
I. Luntz (INVECTIVE)
58) “Blind eyes
could blaze like meteors and be gay…”-Dylan Thomas’s “Do not go gentle
into that good night” (SIMILIE)
59) “The
Ambiguously Gay Duo” –SNL (HYPERBOLE)
______________________________
Stephanie
Deal
60)
Isocolon:
It was the best of times, it was the
worst of times. Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
Veni, vidi, vici (I came, I saw, I
conquered) Julius Caesar
61)
Litotes:
“He’s not the sharpest knife
in the drawer.”No source.
62)
Mondegreen:
Misheard as: “Give me a laser down
the road that I must travel.”
Originally: “Kyrie Elasion down the
road that I must travel.” Kyrie, by Mister
Mister
Misheard as: “Pour some shook up
ramen.”
Originally: “Pour some sugar on me.”
Def Leppard, Pour some sugar on me
62)
Paralepsis:
"That part of our history detailing
the military achievements which gave us our several possessions...is a theme too familiar
to my listeners for me to dilate on, and I shall therefore pass it by."
Thucydides, “Funeral Oration”
63)
Ploce:
"A
rose is a rose is a rose is a rose."
Gertrude Stein, Sacred
Emily
_____________________________
64) Hypophora
What then shall we say that Abraham, our
forefather, discovered in this matter . . . What does the Scripture say? "Abraham
believed God. --Rom. 4:1,3
65) Maxim
You can’t teach old dog new tricks!
- Anonymous
66) Paradox
"Take some more
tea," the March
hare said to Alice, very earnestly.
"I've had nothing yet," Alice
replied in
an offended tone, "so I can't take more."
"You mean you can't take
less," said the Hatter.
"It's very easy to take more than nothing."
— Lewis Carroll,
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 7
67)
Sprezzatura
Show me the money! -Tom Cruise “Jerry
McGuire”
68) Understatement
You know it would be sad if you fell off
the stool while looking in my closet, so I hope you would wait until I show you instead of
being nosey. -My mom
______________________________
Lindsey
Estepp
69)
Parable
THE
GIVING TREE
Once there was a giving tree who loved a little boy.
And everyday the boy would come to play
Swinging from the branches, sleeping in the shade
Laughing all the summer’s hours away.
And so they love,
Oh, the tree was happy.
Oh, the tree was glad.
But soon the boy grew older and one day he came and said,
"Can you give me some money, tree, to buy something I’ve found?"
"I have no money," said the tree, "Just apples, twigs and leaves."
"But you can take my apples, boy, and sell them in the town."
And so he did and
Oh, the tree was happy.
Oh, the tree was glad.
But soon again the boy came back and he said to the tree,
"I’m now a man and I must have a house that’s all my home."
"I can’t give you a house" he said, "The forest is my house."
"But you may cut my branches off and build yourself a home"
And so he did.
Oh, the tree was happy.
Oh, the tree was glad.
And time went by and the boy came back with sadness in his eyes.
"My life has turned so cold," he says, "and I need sunny days."
"I’ve nothing but my trunk," he says, "But you can cut it down
And build yourself a boat and sail away."
And so he did and
Oh, the tree was happy.
Oh, the tree was glad.
And after years the boy came back, both of them were old.
"I really cannot help you if you ask for another gift."
"I’m nothing but an old stump now. I’m sorry but I’ve nothing more to
give"
"I do not need very much now, just a quiet place to rest,"
The boy, he whispered, with a weary smile.
"Well", said the tree, "An old stump is still good for that."
"Come, boy", he said, "Sit down, sit down and rest a while."
And so he did and
Oh, the trees was happy.
Oh, the tree was glad.
-Shel Silverstein
70)
Tetracolon Climax
"I had seen
so many begin to pack their lives in cotton wool, smother their impulses, hood their
passions, and gradually retire from their manhood into a kind of spiritual and
physical semi-invalidism. In this they are encouraged by wives and relatives, and it's
such a sweet trap." (John Steinbeck, Travels With Charley)
71) Tricolon
Fat, drunk, and
stupid is no way to go through life, son.
-Dean
Vernon Wormer (National Lampoon’s Animal House)
72)
Rhetorical Question
“Suppose
that tomorrow a group of beings from another planet were to land on Earth, beings who
considered themselves as superior to you as you feel yourself to be to other animals.
Would they have the right to treat you as you treat the animals you breed, keep, and kill
for food?” -John Harris
"Killing for
Food," Animals, Men, and Morals (pg. 110)
73)
Mondegreen
When I
was young, I misunderstood the song lyrics to “The devil with a blue dress on”
to be “The devil with a blue, glass eye.
_____________________________
Macrae
Carreker
74)
Malapropism-
Savannah
Morning News- quote from an NFL player: “If it’s the left or the right, it doesn’t
matter, I’m amphibious.”
75)
Sprezzatura-
Mansfield
Park- Jane Austen
“‘Do
you mean then that your brother knew of the necklace beforehand?’ ‘Knew of it!
It was his own doing entirely, his own thought.’” (The scene before it seemed
that the necklace was given on impulse from the second speaker to the first with no
mention of the brother, nut the second speaker was in cohorts with the brother to deceive
the first speaker.)
76)
Tricolon-
Song of
Solomon- Toni Morrison
“‘You
make a fool of yourself in a Catholic church, embarrass everybody at the reception, and
come to the table to gloat about how wonderful you were?’”
77)
Paranthesis-
St. John’s
Church Parish Paper- Fr. Raulston
“The
story of the rich man (dives in Latin) and the
beggar is one answer to the question.
78)
Mondegreen-
My choir
teacher in lower school
“While
shepherds washed their socks by night” (while shepherds watched their flocks by
night)
______________________________
Return to A-G Group A
Return to A-G Group B
Return to A-G Group C
Return to HZ Group D
____________________________________________
English 5730 is taught by Dr. Richard Nordquist.
Armstrong Atlantic State University
updated 13 February 2006
