Rhetorical devices
What is a rhetorical device we used in our presentation?
Repetition + Anaphora
Imagery
Allusion
Colloquial language
Who is the speaker?
David McCullough Jr
What is the rhetorical triangle?
What highschool was this speech given at?
Wellesley High School
Give one example of allusion used in the speech.
Some acceptable answers include:
- "A certain corpulent purple dinosaur" (Barney)
- "That nice Mister Rogers"
- "Your batty Aunt Sylvia"
Who is the audience?
The graduating students of Wellesley High School, along with local community members
McCullough establishes credibility as a teachers who knows the students personally
What is this an example of?
Ethos (credibility)
What is David McCullough Jr's job?
Give an example of imagery he used in the speech
Possible answers:
- “You’ve been pampered, cosseted, doted upon, hemleted, bubble-wrapped.”
- Corpulent purple dinosaur,” “Mister Rogers,” “batty Aunt Sylvia,” “Maternal caped crusader”
What one purpose of this speech?
Possible answers:
Challenge students and opens up their perspective onto the world they are now entering
Encourages genuine effort and being able to learn from mistakes
Inspires graduates to seek passion and purpose rather than seeking out recognition
When he uses humor to appeal to the audience, what is that an example of?
Pathos
What are the pair of shoes that McCullough gives in his statistic?
Uggs
Whats the difference between repetitions and anaphora?
Repetition is the general repeating of a word or phrase, while Anaphora refers to the repetition where the same word or phrase begins successive clauses or sentences.
Tone (overall speech)
Possible answers:
- blunt and ironic
- reflective and sincere
- uplifting towards the end
McCullough gives a statistic and says "“2,000 high school graduates just in local towns. 3.2 million seniors graduating nationwide from 37,000 high schools...etc". What is this an example of?
Logos
What childhood character does McCullough NOT mention in his speech?
- Mister Rogers
- Barney
- Elmo
Identify an example of a rhetorical device used in the selected portion that we did not mention
Answers vary
- irony
The idea that “you are not special” tells the audience to enter the next chapter of their life with a humble mindset and to work hard to build a meaningful life
What is this an example of in a SOAPST chart
Subject - main idea of the text
Using childhood characters like Barney, Mister Rogers, Aunt Sylvia, caped crusader, is an example of what?
Pathos - evokes emotion
What year was this speech given?
2012