Rhetorical+Terms+&+Techniques

=**Rhetorical Terms & Techniques of Persuasion**= = = Kennedy used many rhetorical devices during his speech; these three are among the most notable:

Although President Kennedy deploys many rhetorical devices throughout the speech, none was as memorable as one called antimetabole, in which the same words are used in successive clauses, but in reverse order: > “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” > “Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.”
 * [|Antimetabole]**:

[|Anaphora]: repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, Note the repetition of the word “to” at the beginning of six consecutive paragraphs: “To those old allies,” “To those new states,” “To those peoples,” “To our sister republics,” “To that world assembly,” and “Finally, to those nations.” That rhetorical device is known as anaphora, since the repetition occurred at the beginning of each subsequent thought.

=**[|Alliteration]**= This type of phrasing refers to a repeated sound in words, phrases, or sentences. In his last sentence.

Kennedy used the phrase, “…let us go forth to lead the land we love,” a terrific use of alliteration. “Let us go forth to lead the land we love…” “Pay any price, bear any burden…” “its writ may run” **Anastrophe:** transposition of normal word order “ Ask not ” “// Dare not ” // **Antithesis:** contrast of ideas or words in a parallel structure

“ Ask not what you country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. ” “ Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate. ” “We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom...” “not because… not because… but because…” “Not as a call to bear arms…no t as a call to battle.., but a call to bear the burden…”” **Assonance:** Repetition of vowel sounds in non-rhyming words “…the steady spread of the deadly atom.” **Consonance:** repetition of consonant sounds within words or ending words

“whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall…”

**Metaphor:** Implied comparison through a figurative, not literal, use of words

//And if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion//…‖ //“the bonds of mass misery”//

“the chains of poverty”

=Parallelism=  the arrangement of words, phrases, clauses, or larger structures placed side by side, making them similar in form “United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is little we can do…”

**Paradox**
A statement that seems self-contradictory, yet turns out to have a rational <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">meaning

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">“Only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">that they will never be employed.//”//

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Repetition:**
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">a word or phrase used two or more times in close proximity

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">“For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">poverty and all forms of human life.”

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Using Emotion-Arousing Words**
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">freedom, liberty

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Using Fear**
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">“For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">poverty and all forms of human life.”

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">“…its hour of maximum danger.”

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Using References to the Past**
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">“I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago.” <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">“With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">deeds…”

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(Lincoln: “With malice toward none, with charity toward all…”)