Rhetorical TermsWeek 6 – Terms we’ve missed

Didactic, Pedantic, & Homily

Didactic (Greek for “teaching”) – Writing that teaches moral or ethical principles.

• Normally, calling something didactic has a negative connotation (dull, boring, concentrates on sin, etc.). However, some works like Animal Farm are both entertaining and didactic.

Ped (child) antic – (comes from pedagogue meaning “teacher of children”) Writing that uses overly scholarly, academic, or bookish words. Definitely has a negative connotation.

• Legal documents, contracts, etc.“Though I employ so much of my time in writing to you, I confess I have often my doubts whether it is to any purpose. I know how unwelcome advice generally is; I know that those who want it most, like it and follow it least; and I know, too, that the advice of parents, more particularly, is ascribed to the moroseness, the imperiousness, or the garrulity of old age.” - Lord Chesterfield, “Letter to His Son”

Didactic, Pedantic, & Homily

Homily – literally means “sermon”; any serious talk, speech or lecture involving moral or spiritual advice.

Didactic, Pedantic, & Homily

Jargon & Vernacular

Jargon – “speech full of unfamiliar words for the audience”; use of specific phrases and words by writers in a particular situation, profession or trade.

- Medical field, IT Technician, Lawyer, etc.

- Snowboarder jargon: airdog, alien lid, ass pass, angelo style, bail, Betty, beef wellington, blasted a dookie, bono, crust-bustin’, death cookie, dust on crust, Leonard, scorch muffins, etc.

Jargon & Vernacular

Verna (home-born slave) cular (related to) – same thing as dialect (a way of speaking related to a geographical group) with more emphasis placed on lower class.

Jim: “We’s safe, Huck, we’s safe! Jump up and crack yo’ heels. Dat’s de good ole Cairo at las’, I jis knows it.” Huck: “I’ll take the canoe and go see, Jim. It mightn’t be, you know.”

Hypophora & Anaphora

Hypo (under) phora (bear, carry) – when a writer asks a question and then immediately answers it, typically in a successive paragraph

"What is George Bush doing about our economic problems? He has raised taxes on the people driving pickup trucks and lowered taxes on the people riding in limousines.“ - William Jefferson Clinton, 1992 DNC Acceptance Address

"When the enemy struck on that June day of 1950, what did America do? It did what it always has done in all its times of peril. It appealed to the heroism of its youth.“ - Dwight D. Eisenhower, I Shall Go to Korea Address

Hypophora & AnaphoraAna (back) phora (carry, bear) - deliberate repetition of

the first part of the sentence in order to achieve an artistic or memorable effect.

“Every day, every night, in every way, I am getting better and better”

“We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender.” – Winston Churchill

EllipsisEn (in, on) lipsis (to leave) - to omit some parts of a

sentence or event, which gives the reader a chance to fill the gaps while acting or reading it out. It is usually written between the sentences as “…” but not always. Sometimes a writer just skips a word or skips a part of the story.

The American soldiers killed eight civilians, and the French…eight.

The American soldiers killed eight civilians, and the French eight.

Diacope

Dia (through) cope (cut) – literally means “cut apart”; the repetition of a word or phrase broken up by another word or words.

We will do it, I tell you; we will do it!

“Free at last! Free at last! Thank God, Almighty, we are free at last!” – Martin Luther King Jr.