1Rhetorical Devices A.Schemes of construction 1.Schemes of Balance.Schemes are figures of speech that deal with word order, syntax, letters and sounds, rather than the meaning of words. Parallelism–similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses.This basic principle of grammar and rhetoric demands that equivalent things to be set forth in coordinate grammatical structures: nouns with nouns, infinitives with infinitives, and adverb clauses with adverb clauses. a.“…for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge for each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”—The Declaration of Independence b.“…the love of liberty, jury trial, the writ ofhabeus corpus, and all the blessings of free government….”—John Randolph of Roanoke,Speech on the Greek Cause c.“SoJaney waited a bloom time, and a green time and anorange time.”—Zora Neale Hurston,Their Eyes Were Watching God d.“It will be long before our larger life interprets itself in such imagination as Hawthorne’s, such wisdom as Emerson’s, such poetry as Longfellow’s such as prophesy as Whittier’s, such as Holmes’s, such humor and humanity as Lowell’s.”—William Dean Howells Isocolonis a scheme of parallel structure that occurs when the parallel elements are similar not only in grammatical structure but also in length (number of words or even number of syllabus).This is very effective, but a little goes a long way. a.“His purpose was to impress the ignorant, to perplex the dubious, and to confound the scrupulous.” b.“An envious heart makes a treacherous ear.”—Zora Neale Hurston,Their Eyes Were WatchingGod Antithesis–the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas, often in parallel structure.The contrast may be in words or in ideas or both. When used well, antithesis can be very effective, even witty. a.“What if I am rich, and another is poor—strong, and he is weak—intelligent, and he is benighted—elevated, and he is depraved? Have we not one Father? Hath not one God created us?”—William Lloyd Garrison,No Compromise with Slavery b.“Your forefather crosses the great water and landed on this island. Their numbers were small. They found friends and not enemies. They told us they had fled form their own country for fear of wicked men, and had come here to enjoy their religion. They asked for a small seat. We took pity on them, granted their request; and they sat down amongst us. We gave them corn and meat; they gave us poison in return.”—Red Jacket,1805 2.Schemes of universal or inverted word order Anastrophe–inversion of the natural or usual word order.This deviation can emphasize a point or it can just sound awkward. It is most effective if the author rarely writes awkwardly, because when set among well structured sentences it emphasizes the inverted phrase.
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