Rhetorical Devices

Assignment
Class Slides
Use these class slides to help
you complete the Rhetorical
Devices Assignment
 Go to English,
Content,
lesson 2.04,
2.05, or 2.06

1. Open the Rhetorical Devices Assignment.

2. Choose File, then SAVE AS and save them to your
English folder on your computer.
3. Give me a green check when you’ve done this.
Let’s take a quick
look at our Rhetorical
Devices Assignment.
Part 1: Rhetorical vocabulary
definitions.

Part 2: Speech elements

Part 3: Rhetorical Devices and

textual evidence (examples from
the studied speeches).

Due next Friday, November 1; Grade = 16 points

 Use these 3 2.04 “Gettysburg
Rhetorical lessons, AND our
work in class, to
Address” by Abraham
Lincoln, rhetoric
Devices help you complete
your assignment:
definitions

2.05 “I Have a Dream” by

Dr. Martin Luther King,
Due Friday, speech elements
November 1
2.06 “I Have a Dream” by
Dr. Martin Luther King,
rhetorical devices
Where do I find examples? Look
in the lessons!

Make sure to do the practice

activities! You can find some good
examples here.
Rhetoric is the
art of persuasive
speaking or
writing. Look! a definition for
my Rhetorical Devices
Assignment!
 Speakers put emphasis on certain words or
phrases to emphasize an idea. These are
often repeated words or phrases.
Emphasis
What idea(s) are emphasized here?
the stressing of
certain words by So even though we face the difficulties of today and
a speaker. tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply
rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one
day this nation will rise up and live out the true
meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-
evident, that all men are created equal.
 Dr. King emphasizes his “dream” of equal
rights for all through the rhetorical device of
repetition.
Emphasis So even though we face the difficulties of today and
tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply
the stressing of rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one
certain words by day this nation will rise up and live out the true
a speaker. meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-
evident, that all men are created equal.
 Tone:
In speaking, the tone of voice is how you
sound as you convey your ideas, thoughts,
emotions and meaning.

Tone Examples:
“Can you please take out the garbage?”
“For the last time, take out the garbage or
else you’re grounded!”
 Pace
The speed, and the changing of
speeds, of the speaker's delivery.

Pace Speakers use this to emphasize

important ideas, and to convey the
mood of the moment. A slow pace
can indicate a solemn or serious
mood. A fast pace can indicate
urgency or danger.
Part 2: Speech Elements

These
come from
the
speech.
 A claim is an opinion-based stance on
Claim a topic or subject.
 “But one hundred years later, the Negro
still is not free. One hundred years later, the
life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the
manacles of segregation and the chains of
discrimination. One hundred years later,
the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty
What are some in the midst of a vast ocean of material
of his claims? prosperity.”
 Choose all correct answers.
1. Physical violence, poverty, and discrimination are
forms of enslavement.
2. African Americans still have not gained equality one
hundred years after emancipation from
enslavement.

These are 2 Claim: African/black Americans

claims he makes STILL do not have equal rights.
in this speech.
 An explanation for an action, event, or
Reasons idea that supports and strengthens the
claim.
 Reasons support a claim.
They tell the audience WHY
there is a problem.
Reasons Problem: America has not kept its promise of
liberty and freedom for all.
Claim: African/black Americans still do not
have equal rights.

This is a problem because __(reasons).

 Now is the time to make real the promises of
democracy. Now is the time to rise from the
dark and desolate valley of segregation to the
Reasons sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to
support a lift our nation from the quick sands of racial
claim. injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now
is the time to make justice a reality for all of
They tell the God's children.
audience WHY
there is a Reasons:
problem. 1. End segregation,
2. End racial injustice, and
3. Make justice a reality for all.
 Evidence:
Facts, statistics, quotes, or anecdotes
Relevant used as proof to strengthen a claim by
evidence supporting the reasons in an argument.
Evidence must directly relate to the
reasons.
 We can never be satisfied as long as the
Negro is the victim of the unspeakable
Evidence: horrors of police brutality.
What facts or
examples does We can never be satisfied, as long as our
he give here? bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel,
cannot gain lodging in the motels of the
highways and the hotels of the cities
(discrimination).

We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s

basic mobility is (limited) from a smaller
ghetto to a larger one (discrimination).
 We can never be satisfied as long as our
Evidence:
What facts or children are stripped of their selfhood
examples does and robbed of their dignity by signs
he give here? stating “For Whites Only” (segregation).

We cannot be satisfied as long as a

Negro in Mississippi (in the South)
cannot vote and a Negro in New York (in
the North) believes he has nothing for
which to vote.
 • Police brutality
Dr. King’s • Discrimination in businesses
Evidence • Segregation (“For Whites Only”)
• Denial of voting rights
 Call to action
Call to What you want your audience to do with the
action claim, reasons, and evidence you have provided
in your argument.
 A call to action in a speech is what you
want the audience to do!
Call to
Action  The speaker presents the problem and
states a claim.
 They’ve provided reasons.
 They’ve provided evidence.
 They’ve used rhetoric and rhetorical
devices.
Now, it’s time to give people something
to do with all this information!
 But there is something that I must say to my people,
who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the
palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful
place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us
not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking
from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever
What actions conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and
does he want discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to
degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we
people to take must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical
here? force with soul force.

King’s call to action:

He wants people to protest, but in a non-violent way.
 You have been the veterans of creative
suffering. Continue to work with the faith
that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go
What is he back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama,
asking for go back to South Carolina, go back to
here? Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to
the slums and ghettos of our Northern
cities, knowing that somehow this
situation can and will be changed.
 These come from
JUST Dr. King’s “I
Have a Dream”
speech.

Allusion Logos Repetition

Ethos Parallel structure Rhetorical question
First-person-plural Pathos
mode of address
 Wait! We learned
about these already!
Allusion

Allusions are Allusions are used

references to a to make an idea
familiar literary more easily
or historical understood in a
person or event. compact way.

She’s just being a Literary allusion – Scrooge is the

character in Dicken’s “A Christmas
Scrooge – don’t Carol” who is known for being
mind her. grumpy and cheap.
The preamble, or opening paragraph, to
the Declaration of Independence was
written in 1776, 87 years before
Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
and before he signed the Emancipation
Proclamation:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that

all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
 Allusions are references to a familiar literary or
historical person or event.

Dr. King’s Five score years ago, a great American, in

speech is whose symbolic shadow we stand today,
delivered 100 signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
years after This momentous decree came as a great
Lincoln signed beacon light of hope to millions of Negro
the slaves who had been seared in the flames
Emancipation of withering injustice. It came as a joyous
daybreak to end the long night of their
Proclamation. captivity.
 10. Ethos
9. Allusion

How does this When the architects of our republic wrote

the magnificent words of the Constitution
allusion lend
and the Declaration of Independence, they
ETHOS, or were signing a promissory note to which
credibility to every American was to fall heir. This note
Dr. King’s was a promise that all men — yes, Black
speech? men as well as white men — would be
guaranteed the unalienable rights of life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
 ETHOS!

Delivering a speech at the memorial of

President Lincoln helps give Dr. King’s speech
about Civil Rights in 1963 extra credibility.
11. First-person-plural mode of
address (FPPMA)

Using Using this mode of

“we/us/ours/ourselves address can provide
” to engage the audience pathos, or an appeal to
and make them feel a emotions, by appealing
part of a community or to people’s sense of
something greater than belonging.
themselves.
How many We refuse to believe that there are
instances of insufficient funds in the great vaults of
first-person- opportunity of this nation. And so
plural mode of we've come to cash this check, a check
address that will give us upon demand the
(FPPMA) do riches of freedom and the security of
you see? justice.
 14. Pathos
How does
using first- We must forever conduct our struggle on
person-plural the high plane of dignity and discipline. We
must not allow our creative protest to
mode of
degenerate into physical violence. Again
address and again, we must rise to the majestic
(FPPMA) heights of meeting physical force with soul
make the force.
audience feel?
Besides FPPMA, what other emotional or
imagery words do you see?
 There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights,
“When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as
Dr. King wants long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of
his listeners to police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our
feel included. bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging
in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.
We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro’s basic mobility
He is is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be
satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-
answering the hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: “For Whites
question with Only.” We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in
“we” to evoke Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he
has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied,
this feeling. and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like
waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
 PATHOS!
With Lincoln’s statue behind
him, it reminds his listeners,
emotionally, what they are
there to do!
 15. Repetition

Restating key words

and phrases to help Repeating facts – using
the audience fasten LOGOS can help them
on the important stick in people’s minds.
meanings.
 We have also come to this hallowed spot to
remind America of the fierce urgency of Now.
This is no time to engage in the luxury of
What repeated cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of
gradualism. Now is the time to make real the
words or phrases promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise
do you see here? from the dark and desolate valley of
segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.
Now is the time to lift our nation from the
quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of
brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a
reality for all of God’s children.
 Speakers put emphasis on certain words or
phrases to emphasize an idea. These are
often repeated words or phrases.
2.Emphasis What idea(s) are emphasized here and how
many times?
the stressing of
certain words by So even though we face the difficulties of today and
a speaker. tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply
rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one
day this nation will rise up and live out the true
meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-
evident, that all men are created equal.
 12. Logos
The Emancipation
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not
Proclamation was
free. One hundred years later, the life of the
signed 100 years
Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of
before this event.
segregation and the chains of discrimination. One
hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely
How does island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of
repeating this material prosperity. One hundred years later, the
fact using LOGOS Negro is still languished in the corners of American
help the society and finds himself an exile in his own land.
audience? And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a
shameful condition.
 11. Parallel Structure

Repetition of identical or
Repeating these phrases
similar phrases, clauses,
or sentences can promote
or sentences, close
logos, or an appeal to
together, which are used
logic, and pathos, the
to introduce concepts or
appeal to emotion.
emphasize ideas.
With repetition You have been the veterans of creative
through suffering. Continue to work with the faith
parallel that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go
back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama,
structure,
go back to South Carolina, go back to
sometimes, Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to
the words are the slums and ghettos of our Northern
exactly the cities, knowing that somehow this
same. situation can and will be changed.
 With this faith, we will be able to hew out of
the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With
this faith, we will be able to transform the
jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful
symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we
will be able
to work together,
to pray together,
to struggle together,
to go to jail together,
Sometimes,
to stand up for freedom together,
it’s a pattern.
knowing that we will be free one day.

What do you notice about this pattern?

 14. Rhetorical question

A rhetorical They are used to emphasize

a point, rather than find out
question is one that information.
does not require, or
They can also be used to
even expect, an introduce a claim, reason or
answer. evidence.

Rhetorical questions help persuade an audience to

think about the speaker or writer’s point of view.
 What is the rhetorical question asked here?
Rhetorical
question There are those who are asking the devotees of
civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?”
A rhetorical
We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is
question is one the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police
that does not brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as
require, or even our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel,
expect, an answer. cannot gain lodging in the motels of the
highways and the hotels of the cities.
 What rhetorical devices are used here? Name the device and evidence.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When
Allusion will you be satisfied?”
FPPMA We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the
Parallel structure unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied
as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot
Repetition gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the
Rhetorical question cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro’s basic mobility
is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied
as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed
of their dignity by signs stating: “For Whites Only.” We cannot be
satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a
Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No,
no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice
rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
DONE? SUBMIT!
English – Tools – Assignments –
Rhetorical Devices Assignment