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Identifying Rhetorical Devices

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Identifying Rhetorical Devices
Running head: IDENTIFYING RHETORICAL DEVICES

Identifying Rhetorical Devices In
Mario C. Boyd
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Abstract
What is a rhetorical device, and how rhetorical devices used. According to University of Phoenix Critical Thinking Glossary (2012) rhetoric is language used primarily to persuade or influence beliefs or attitudes rather than to prove logically. Rhetorical device are used every day by politicians, writers, sales people, and media. Rhetorical devices are used to speak effectively to persuade a reader or an audience. For example rhetorical devices are used for something simple as selling a car, the car sales will use the term pre owned care vs. used car, because pre owned sounds better to the buyer. The words pre owned and used have the same meanings, pre-owned sound better than used. A politician or military leader may claim that enhanced interrogation methods were used on an enemy combatant. Advanced interrogation methods sounds better than telling the public that torture may be used on enemy combatant.
Identifying Rhetorical Devices
Rhetorical devices are used in magazine articles, and the rhetorical devices in the articles are used to persuade the reader. A university student read a magazine article about an NSA contractor who exposed the NSA spying program and discovered some rhetorical devices in the article. The first rhetorical devices found in the article are, rhetorical devices from an individual against NSA spying and individual supporting the spying program. The individual against the spying program claims that the program is an egregious of privacy and evocative of a totalitarian state. The rhetoric device is totalitarian state that could be used to persuade readers that the spying program no different from a totalitarian state. The rhetoric words or phrases found from the individual supporting the spying program claims that the program is crucial to the nation’s ongoing fight against terrorism. Downplaying and



References: * Phoenix Critical Thinking Glossary (2012) *

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