Each weekend, you will read short passages in your Rhetorical Devices book about two rhetorical devices or research the assigned devices on Silva Rhetoricae/another online source. The exercises in the book are optional and will not be collected, although we may do some of them in class. However, during the following week, you must either find examples of people using these devices OR make up your own examples and post them as comments to the Course Site blog post corresponding with those devices. Along with each example, you should provide one or two sentences explaining the context and how the rhetorical device affects the rhetor’s message. If you made up the example, make up a context in which it could be used. Write about at least two examples per device per week. You may miss one week without penalty.
Additional Guidance on Analysis:
Good analysis doesn’t just answer the question, “How is your example representative of the rhetorical device?”. To develop your analysis, consider the following questions: “What does this device add to the meaning? ” “What effect does it have on the reader/listener?” or “What does the speaker/writer gain from using this device”? “What makes it different than saying the same information without using the rhetorical device?”
Although the rhetorical device readings are listed as being due on Monday, I strongly recommend you read them as early (e.g. the preceding Thursday or Friday) as your schedule allows. This will give you more time to find examples.
Grading for the rhetorical device examples will be as follows:
0 points if you did not post.
1 point if you only posted one example per device, or if you did not provide context/analysis.
2 points if you completed the assignment.
Although each individual post is worth a very small portion of your grade, habitually not completing this assignment will significantly impact both your overall grade and your ability to do well on other assignments. The purpose of this assignment is to get you into the habit of noticing rhetoric at work around you while also learning about a wide variety of rhetorical strategies beyond the rhetorical appeals.
Optional Alternative Assignment:
For the first week, we will follow the instructions above. For future weeks, if the class votes to do this, INSTEAD of doing reading in the book and/or online each week, one student will be assigned to read/research that week and write a blog post explaining the rhetorical device to the class. The class will be required to read only their classmate’s post and then post examples.
The pros of this option: Probably less reading per week, unless someone writes a really long post.
The cons of this option: Each person completes one additional writing assignment.
Hyperbole: I’m going to die of embarrassment
Analysis: The speaker isn’t going to literally die due to embarrassment but instead the speaker uses a hyperbole to emphasize how embarrassed she’s feeling.
Understatement: Hitler was not a nice person
Analysis: This is an example of an understatement because everyone knows he’s a horrible person. But the understatement being used makes Hitler seem as less worse than he actually is.
Hyperbole #1: My book bag weighs a ton.
Analysis: This is an example of a hyperbole because the bag does not actually weigh a ton. The speaker states the bag weighs a ton to emphasize how heavy it is.
Hyperbole #2: My head hurts so much it’s going to explode.
Analysis: The speaker is using a hyperbole to describe how intense their headache is.
Understatement #1: A person just pulled an all nighter to finish home work. An understatement would be : “I just need to rest my eyes for a second.”
Analysis: This is an understatement because the person clearly needs more than a second of sleep. The understatement being used makes it seem like the person is not tired.
Understatement #2: A person just won a million dollar lottery. An understatement would be : “I’m sort of Happy.”
Analysis: This is an example of an understatement because it is down playing the situation. This person just won the lottery so they should describe their feelings as being ecstatic instead of being “sort of happy”.
Hyperbole #1: He was screaming at the top of my lungs!
Analysis: This is an example of hyperbole because it doesn’t mean a person is literally standing on top of there lungs yelling, but this emphasizes how loud the person was yelling.
Hyperbole #2: He looks like a toothpick
Analysis: This is an example of hyperbole because it doesn’t mean the person is a literal toothpick, but it tells us that the person is very skinny.
Understatement #1: A person broke there leg. An understatement would be “I’m okay”
Analysis: This is an example of an understatement because when a person breaks there leg, its usually a very serious and painful thing. Saying “I’m okay” just shows that you are clearly in pain.
Hyperbole #1: “This train is taking so long, it feels like the whole week went by”
Context: This can be used when waiting for a train that is taking long to arrive as an exaggeration.
Analysis: “whole week went by” doesn’t literally mean a whole week went by, its just an exaggeration trying to make the point of the train is taking so long.
Hyperbole #2: “I ran so much that I’m dying of thirst, and can drink a whole river”
Context: This hyperbole can be used when jogging a few miles or just doing an activity that gets you tired enough for you to be VERY thirsty and not actually “die” of thirst”
Analysis: “dying of thirst” doesn’t actually mean your literally dying because your dehydrated, it means your just really thirsty. Also, “drink a whole river” doesn’t actually mean you can drink a whole river because we all know that isn’t physically possible. This hyperbole can be used to support the point of being VERY thirsty.
Understatement #1: “The doctor told me I broke to parts on my ankle so its going to hurt a little when I walk on it”
Context: Understatements like this can be used when you get injured and you obviously look very hurt, but they still ask if your okay.
Analysis: The “hurt a little when i walk on it” is the understatement because obviously if you break any part in your ankle, you won’t be able to walk on it without feeling severe pain.
Understatement #2: “Its not a big deal, I just failed my final exam”
Context: Understatements like this can be used when you tell someone you failed your final, but they say “its going to be okay” because we obviously know that failing a final means you fail the class.
Analysis: Saying “its not a big deal” is the understatement because we all know failing a FINAL is a huge deal and affects your overall grade.