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Rhetorical Competition #3 (spring 2005)
Heather Glover
Kasey Ray______________________________________________________________
Heather L. Glover
R&B Singer Houston Gouges Eye Out After
Apparent Suicide Attempt
02.02.2005 1:51 PM EST
Singer attempted to jump out of hotel window.
Rapper Houston says he was possessed
Associated Press February 7, 2005
NEW YORK -- The devil made him do it, representatives for R&B singer Houston
said in a statement explaining how his eye was seriously gouged.
Soliloquy of the Repentant Rappper
jacketed, or jerseyed, and always jeweled
I take the stage, giving the suggestion
that this moneyed living has always fueled
my passion for rap, hip-hop, and rhyme.
5
Yet all that glitters is not gold; my heart
is pyrite—before it beat, beat in time
with a funky baseline, I was a part
of a church choir. That’s right—you
may not
think it so, but once, long before my neck
10
was laden with golden chains thought so hot
by Vogue and GQ, I stood at the beck
and call of he who guards the Golden Gates.
But now, as my humble, faithful, and wise
angel of a mother never ceases,
15
never forgets to remind me (she hates
my occupation—she thinks my soul lies
in wait of the realm where increases
only occur in temperature), girls—
gyrating, groping, gold-digging groupies—
20
in my videos and ice on my wrists
are my sole concerns, while about me whirls
the Paparazzi; gone are my hoopties—
now blessed with brand new wheels, I take trysts
about the world. “Now son,” says my
mother,
25
“don’t become like Wacko Jacko. The
King
of Pop, now dethroned, knows nothing but shame.
My boy, toss away sin. Seek no other
but God.” Can I give up my life, the
bling,
exchange the stage for the pew? Oh! I blame
30
the Sugar Hill Gang and L.L. Cool J—
it was the rap lyric that made me this way.
1. allusion (1)
2.
antithesis (1)
3.
epiphora (1)
4.
polysyndeton
(1-2)
5. diacope
(“bling”—1, 29; “golden”—11, 13)
6. alliteration
(2, 7, 20)
7.
synathroesmus
(2, 20)
8.
tricolon (5,
14, 20)
9.
cliché (6)
10.
maxim/proverb
(6)
11.
epizeuxis (6)
12.
metaphor (6,
15, 21)
13.
anticipation
(9-10)
14.
refutation
(9-10)
15.
ambiguity
(“laden”—11)
16.
polyptoton
(“gold” and “golden”—6, 11, 13)
17.
ploce
(“golden chains”, “Golden Gates”—11, 13)
18.
commoratio
(14)
19.
encomium (14)
20.
parallelism
(“never ceases, never forgets”—15-16)
21.
anaphora
(15-16)
22.
parenthesis
(16-19, 20)
23.
euphemism (18)
24.
circumlocution
(18)
25.
homoioteleuton
(20)
26.
apposition
(20)
27.
bdelgymia (20)
28.
hyperbaton
(22-23)
29.
accumulation
(19-25)
30.
exergasia
(19-25)
31.
synecdoche
(24)
32.
dehortatio
(25-29)
33.
antonomasia
(26-27)
34.
situated ethos
(26-27)
35.
example
(26-27)
36.
aporia (29-30)
37.
rhetorical
question (29-30)
38.
hyperbole
(“exchange the stage for the pew”—30)
39. antithesis
(30)
40.
invective
(30-32)
41.
epithet
(“moneyed life”—4)
42.
epimone
(throughout)
43.
exuscitatio
(30)
44.
amplification
(throughout)
45.
commonplace
(“Bling” is used widely among rap/hip-hop/R&B artists and their audiences. It was recently included in the dictionary.)
_______________________________________________
Getting
Out of a Speeding Ticket
“Why was I speeding? Officer, I have no excuse for why I was speeding. Nothing can excuse my behavior, not the class that
I am fifteen minutes late for, not that my car’s cruise control broke last week, not
to mention that everyone else was speeding around me.
Me! Of all the crime that is
going on around
1 “Why was I speeding?
2 Officer, I have no excuse for why I was speeding.
3 Nothing can excuse my behavior, not the class that I am fifteen minutes late for, not that my car’s cruise control broke last week, not to mention that everyone else was speeding around me.
4 Me!
5
Of all the crime that is
going on around
6 Do you think that you will be able to sleep well tonight knowing that you took the time to give Goody-Two Shoes over here a ticket while some guy, acting like Charles Manson, terribly pleased with himself, gets away with murder?
7 Get the swerving old lady with old-timers disease!
8 O heavens, why me?
9 I try to be so good, and—hey, stop writing!
10
Come on Officer, think of the paperwork
involved, as steep as
11 Give me, and yourself, a break.
12 Good cops give warnings; bad cops, headaches.
13 Have you no heart?
14 I know you do.
15 I know you have to do your job, but let your heart do its job.
16 I have worked, and begged, and sacrificed to get an education.
17 Education is a sweet dream, to which I have sweetly dreamed of for a lifetime.
18 Don’t deny me my future.
19 In the future, I will keep my eyes on my speed and focused on the road.
20 Thanks Officer, I
can’t tell you how much this means to me.”
Rhetorical Situation: This is someone working hard to get out of a
speeding ticket by using pathos (the need for education, good citizen, victim of peer
pressure, recognizing his compassion) and logos (the heaping paperwork, the cold air, the
potential to get sick, the need to find real criminals and nuisances to society).
Ethos: Invented ethos-college student, seemingly
honest intentions, intelligent but naïve, compassionate.
Situational ethos-the officer is pulling over a decent car with a
polite woman inside, who does not deny the charges against her.
Alliteration: (line 3) “car’s
cruise control”-self explanatory
Ambiguity: (line 20)-this line could be
sincere or have a potentially sexual undertone
Amplification: (lines 1 to 20)-this
could be seen as an argument of “let me out of this ticket” being stretched and
explored
Anadiplosis: (lines 3 to 4)-me being
the word that is continued
Analogy: (lines 6, 10, and 16)-line 6
has a simile of the guy and Charles Manson, line 10 has a simile of paperwork and
Anaphora: (lines 14 to 15 and line
3)-“I know” repeated and “not” repeated
Anticipation: (line 15)-this is
anticipating the argument of the officer “just doing his job”
Anticlimax: (line 12)-this starts out
like it could be a bit of wisdom, but turns into sarcasm
Antiphrasis: (line
6)-“terribly” is used with the opposite of its conventional meaning
Antirrhesis: (line 15)-the argument of
doing one’s job is rejected for insignificance because the heart’s job
(compassion) is being argued as the more important issue
Antithesis: (line 15)-it is balanced
and is contrasting justice and empathy or emotional response to the situation
Autonomasia: (line 6)-“Goody
Two-shoes” is another way of saying “me”
Apophasis: (line 3 and 20)-“not to
mention” and “I can’t tell you” being the key phrases
Aporia: (line 20)-comparing the last
sentence to the rest of the argument, because the last line says that I can’t tell
him how much it means, but I just did for 19 previous lines.
Aposiopesis: (line 9)-self explanatory
Apostrophe: (line 8)-addressing the
heavens as someone or thing with the answer
Apposition: (line 10)-looking at the
two phrases “think of the paperwork involved, as steep as Mount Everest” they
coordinate and the second describes the subject in the first
Asiatic: (line 17)-it could be argued
that this line has an Asiatic style for saying, “education has been a long term
goal”
Assonance: (line 3 and 6)-“control
broke” and “speeding around me”, “Goody Two-Shoes”
Asyndeton: (line 12)-self explanatory
Attic: (line 7)-the description is
brief and vivid (and perhaps witty or funny in some way)
Auxesis: (line 16)-increasing of
intensity in ways to meet my goal
Bdelygmia: (line 6)-the description of
the guy is critical
Catachresis: (line 10)-the metaphor of
the paperwork described as
Categoria: (lines 6 and 7)-he is a
sick, psycho killer, and she is a crazy loon
Cliché: (lines 8, 13, and 18)-heard
‘em a million times
Climax: (line 16)-increasing methods of
reaching my goal
Complex sentence: (line 3)-self
explanatory
Compound sentence: (line 6)-if you cut
the sentence in half between “ticket” and “while”
Concession: (lines 2 to 3)-it is
passively-aggressively conceding to being in the wrong
Confirmation: (lines 2 to 19)-the
majority of the piece is elaborating my stance on the argument
Connotation: (lines 6 and
7)-“acting like Charles Manson” and “old” both have negative
connotations
Deduction: (line 6)-because he stopped
me, he is letting criminals go without penalty for their crimes
Dehortatio: (lines 7, 11, and 17)-these
are command sentences and the authority comes from logic or compassion
Diacope: (lines 4 to 5 and 14 to
15)-“me” and “I know you” are repeated
Ellipsis: (line 12)-reader needs to
supply “gives me”
Energia: (lines 6 and 7)-the
descriptions of both people are easy to see
Epideictic: (lines 1 to 20)-I am
blaming him for having the bad judgment of pulling me over by giving reasons why he
didn’t need to
Epimone: (lines 1 to 20)-the point I am
dwelling on is “let me out of this ticket”
Epiphora: (line 15)-“job” is
repeated
Epiplexis: (line 13)-used to make him
feel bad
Epithet: (line 17)-“sweet” is
habitually used as an adjective for dream
Epixeuxis: (lines 3 to
4)-“me” is repeated with no words in between
Erotesis: (line 6 and 13)-they both
seek strong reactions, whether it is for or against the statement
Ethopoeia: (line 15)-I understand his
position and responsibility
Euphemism: (line 6)-“acting like
Charles Manson” is better than saying committing a heinous crime of killing innocent
people
Exuscitatio: (lines 6 to 8)-showing me
as the victim, building up to “why me?”
Figure of Speech: (line
10)-“catching your death” is a figure of speech for getting sick
Hyperbole: (line 6)-the comparison of
me and the guy is exaggerated for effect
Hypophora: (lines 13 and 14)-self
explanatory
Hypotaxis: (line 6)-the description of
the guy is a combination of subordinate clauses
Hysteron proteron: (line
5)-“choose me to get” would naturally be “choose to get me”
Induction: (lines 1 to 20)-I don’t
explicitly say “let me out of this ticket” but I do give arguments to support
this implied statement
Invective: (lines 1 to 20)-it is
implied that the officer is to blame for making bad judgment on stopping me instead of
getting the real criminals off of the streets
Irony: (lines 2 and 3)-I say one thing
and then support the opposite of what I just said
Isocolon: (line 15)-they are balanced
clauses
Kairos: (lines 1 to 20)-what better
time to argue my point then right before I receive a ticket?
Meiosis: (line 7)-“old” for
elderly or senior
Metaphor: (line 17)-“education is
a sweet dream”
Metonymy: (lines 6 and 11)-“acting
like Charles Manson” and “give yourself a break” are descriptive to their
real, literal meanings
Mondegreen: (line 7)-“old-timers
disease” means Alzheimer’s disease
Oxymoron: (line 6)-“terribly
pleased with himself” (self explanatory)
Paradox: (line 12)-contradicts the
conventional police attitude that the weak officers give the warnings and the good ones
never sway from justice
Paralepsis: (lines 3 and
20)-“nothing can excuse” and “can’t tell you” both dismiss the
point but highlight it at the same time
Parallelism: (lines 2 to 3 and line
17)-“no excuse” and “nothing can excuse”, “sweet dream” and
“sweetly dreamed”
Paranomasia: (line 6)-“gets away
with murder” (self explanatory)
Parenthesis: (line 9)-there is an
interruption
Parison: (line 16)-repetition of
“and”
Paromoisosis: (line 15)-sounds similar
and equal in size
Persona: (lines 1 to 20)-see ethos for
more info
Personification: (line 15)-his heart is
being personified
Pleonasm: (line 10)-“standing out
in the elements”-where else would you stand in the elements…inside? It is
redundant.
Ploce: (line 17)-“sweet
dream” to “sweetly dreamed” the beginning is a goal turned into an ongoing
action
Polyptoton: (line 17)-“dream”
to “dreamed”
Polysyndeton: (line 16)-“and”
is the conjunction used several times
Prolepsis: (line 15)-anticipated an
argument or what he might respond with later
Proverb: (line 12)-this is clearly one
that I made up, but it could apply to a general audience, especially those who have been
in this situation
Refutation: (line 15)-anticipated his
argument and told him how to get around it
Rhetorical question: (lines 6 and
13)-self explanatory
Running style: (lines 1 to 20)-this is
sort of like stream of consciousness
Senecan: (lines 1 to 20)-the style is
not ornamental like Ciceronian style, it is in plain language
Sign: (lines 10 and 11)-“Mount
Everest” and “good cop…bad cop”
Simile: (lines 6 and 10)-guy and
Charles Manson and paperwork and
Simple sentence: (line 14)-self
explanatory
Sprezzatura: (lines 1 to 20)-if this
was rehearsed prior to the altercation, then it could be a great example of sprezzatura
Syllepsis: (line 19)-one is the
physical act of my eyes and the other is a figure of speech for driving carefully
Synathroesmus: (line 6)-there are
adjectives piled up describing the guy
Synecdoche: (line 19)-“my eyes on
the road” is a part of careful driving
Tapinosis: (line 7)-“old” for
elderly or senior
Tenor: (line 17)-the underlying theme
was a long term goal
Testimony: (lines 1 to 20)-this is a
testimony or my account of the state of affairs concerning traffic police
Topic: (lines 1 to 20)-explicitly shown
as getting out of a ticket
Tricolon: (line 16)-self explanatory
Vehicle: (line 17)-the “sweet dream”
is used for the tenor, and transforms in the second half of the sentence
Zeugma: (line 5)-the last part of the
sentence does not fit well with the previous subject, crime
English 5730 is taught by Dr. Richard Nordquist.
Armstrong Atlantic State University
Savannah, Georgia 31419
912-921-5991
02 March 2005