English Second Language (AS)·3 · Grammar & Language Usage · NSSCAS 5.3.3
Rhetorical devices for argument & persuasion
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The tools that make an argument land — rhetorical question, tricolon, anaphora, direct address, emotive language, antithesis and inclusive pronouns — plus ethos, pathos and logos, and the AS rule that every device must have a job.
What you'll learn in this lesson
By the end you should be able to (NSSCAS English Second Language (AS) 5.3.3):
- Learners should be able to define a rhetorical device as a purposeful language choice made to move an audience.
- Learners should be able to identify and name the rhetorical question, tricolon, repetition and anaphora, direct address, emotive language, antithesis and inclusive pronouns in a text.
- Learners should be able to explain the effect of each device on a reader or listener, rather than simply naming it.
- Learners should be able to explain ethos, pathos and logos in plain terms, and show how a strong argument balances all three.
- Learners should be able to rewrite a flat claim so that a chosen device does a specific job.
- Learners should be able to judge when a device is purposeful and when it is merely decorative, and to evaluate the effect of overusing devices.
- Learners should be able to place devices appropriately in a speech and in a discursive or argumentative essay, keeping the register formal where required.
- Learners should be able to write about language using the name, quote, effect formula expected in NSSCAS Paper 1 and Paper 2.
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