LITERARY AND RHETORICAL DEVICES

LITERARY AND RHETORICAL DEVICES

1.       Rhetorical question:

Rhetorical questions are questions that do not (expect) need an answer. They are meant to Sway the emotions of the audience, to persuade or to impress e.g. Derek Walcott’s poem, ‘Parades, parades’

The rhetorical questions in Walcolt’s poem communicate bewilderment and hopelessness.

PARADES, PARADES

            There’s the wide desert, but no one marches

            Except in the pads of Old parallels,

            There’s the blue sea above the mountains

            But they scratch the same lines

            In the jet trails

            So the politicians plod

            Without imagination, circling

            The same somber gardens

            With its fountain dry in the forecourt.

            The gri-gri palms desiccating

            Dung pods like goats,

            The same lines rule the white papers,

            The same steps ascend Whitehall,

            And only the name of the fool changes

            Under the plumbed white cork-hat

            For the independence parades

            Revolving round, in calypso,

            To the brazen joy of the tubas.

            Why are the eyes of the beautiful?

            and unmarked children.

            In the uniforms of the country

            bewildered and shy,

            why do they widen in terror

            of the pride drummed into their minds?

            were they true, the old songs?

            when the law lived for away,

            when the veiled queen, her girth

            as comfortable as cushions,

            upheld the Orb with its stern admonitions?

            we wait for the changing of statues,

            for the change of parades.

            here he comes now, here he comes!

            Papa! Papa! With his crowd,

            the sleek, waddling seals of his cabinet,

            trundling up to the dais,

            as the wind puts its tail between

            the cleft of the mountain, and a wave

            coughs once, bruptly.

            who will name this silence?

            respect? Those forced, horse hosannas

            awe? That tin-ringing tune

            from the pumping, circling horns

            the New world? Find a name

            for that look on the faces

            of the electorate. Tell me

            how it all happened, and why

            I said nothing.

-          Derek Walcott (Trinidad)

2.       Euphemism

Euphemism is the use of a polite, pleasant mild and indirect words or phrases in place of move direct ones. E.g. My father has passed away or my father kick the bucket.

3.       Cacophony.

Cacophony is the use of direct words or phrases without an attempt of making it mild and indirect. For example, my father was slaughtered last night.

I am going to defecate.

4.       Parody.

Just as the word suggests, parody is imitating one’s style of singing or writing (artistic style of speech and writing).

Example: Timothy Wangusa’s Poem (Psalms 23 part II)

Original Psalm 23.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

he maketh me to lie down in green pastures;

he leads me beside the still waters.

he restores my soul; He leads in the path of

righteousness for His name’s sake.

yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow os death,

I will fear no evil; for you are with me; Your

rod and your staff, they comfort me.

you prepare a table before me in the presence

of my enemies; you anoint my head with

oil; my cup runs over.

surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all

the days of my life; and I will dwell in the

house of the Lord forever.

Psalms 23 Part II

The State is my shepherd, I shall not want; it makes me to

lie down in a subsidized house.

It leads me into political tranquility; it restores my

faith in the lucrative future.

It leads me into paths of loans and pensions, for its

international reputation’s sake.

yea, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow

      of Kivvulu I will for no kondos;

for the state is with me, its tanks and guns comfort me.

It preserves for me a bank account, in the presence of

      devaluation’

It fills my pocket with allowances, my salary overflows

surely increments and promotion shall follow me all the days of my life;

And I shall dwell in the senior staff quarters forever.

-          Timithy Wangusa (Uganda)                          

1.       Paradox: A paradox is a self-contradictory statement which may seem absurd, but expresses a felt truth. For example:

a.       eloquent silence

b.       A good wedding without food

c.       Sweet o dour (smell)

d.       Ugly beauty

2.       Spoonerism:

Spoonerism is a faulty speech usually accidental whereby there is changing of initial sounds of words. For example, instead of saying oiled bicycles, one says boiled bicycle, instead of saying; district one says biscuits.

3.       Ambiguity:

Ambiguity is when words, statements or phrases have two or more possible meanings compressed into this one word, statement or phrase or even a whole poem. All the meanings may be important. For example; Spacious house (can mean, the house has a good or disorganized arrangement) it can also mean, the home is very large.

4.       A postrophe/Apostrophise.

This is an exclamatory address to a particular person or thing that may even be death as though they are present. It’s also a direct address to a thing as if it were a person (human being) For example the poem, “Death be not proud” Refer also to the, “In the loving memory.” In the newspapers.

5.       Oxymoron   

This is a statement that seems to be self contradictory. it consists of words that are opposite in meaning to each other. They however are used more as compound words. Example: virtues robber, Cruel kindness, friendly fire,

rebel angels, etc

 

6.       Metonym

        This is when an object/thing is referred to by another thing.object closely associated to it. That object/thing is however not part of the described or referred object. example, a crowd is associated to authority or power and a pen to peace or education and a sword to brute force.

7.       Synechdoche

        A synechdoche is when a part of the whole is used to refer to the whole. For example, referring to a male as a beard and a female as a skirt.