The document discusses various rhetorical devices used in scripted speeches including repetition, lists of three, use of abstract nouns, adjectives, imagery, cumulative phrases, and irony. It provides examples for each device from famous speeches and poems to illustrate their effective usage. Repetition emphasizes key ideas, lists of three increase memorability, abstract nouns provoke deeper thought, and adjectives add nuance and precision. Imagery, cumulative phrases, and irony allow for indirect and engaging communication.

1. Rhetorical
Devices used in
Scripted
Speeches

2. Repetition
– Repetition is a literary device that repeats the same words or phrases a few times to
make an idea clearer. There are several types of repetitions commonly used in
both prose and poetry.
– As a rhetorical device, it could be a word, a phrase or a full sentence or a poetical
line repeated to emphasize its significance in the entire text. Repetition is not
distinguished solely as a figure of speech but more as a rhetorical device.
– Example: “Because I do not hope to turn again / Because I do not hope / Because I
do not hope to turn…” - These three lines have been taken from “Ash-Wednesday”
authored by T. S. Eliot, a famous modern poet of the 20th century. The repetition of
a full phrase shows us mastery the poet has acquired in using words and phrases to
make his point clear and emphasize that he has no hope of coming back.

3. Lists of Three
– The rule of three is powerful speechwriting technique.
– Using the Rule of Three allows a writer or speaker to express concepts more
completely, emphasise points, and increase the memorability of a message.
– That’s the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
– Examples:
– Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar: “Friends, Romans, Countrymen. Lend me your ears.“
– Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address: “We can not dedicate — we can not
consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground” and “Government of the
people, by the people, for the people“

4. Use of Abstract Nouns to Offer
Vision
– Abstract nouns are words such as help, love, and fraternity.
– Their non-tangible qualities are used to inspire and connect with people.
– Abstract nouns turn verbs into things, e.g. satisfy = satisfaction; think = thought.
– The intangible nature of abstract nouns means that people have to create their
own meaning, internalising and reflecting on the concept. This provokes deeper
thought in the listener.
– Example: We are here to give help to the needy.

5. Adjectives
– An adjective is often defined as a word which describes or gives more information
about a noun or pronoun.
– Adjectives describe nouns in terms of such qualities as size, colour, number, and
kind.
– Adjectives are used in speeches to give nuance and precision to the speaker’s
subject.
– Demonstrative adjectives such as “this” or “that” can be used to make the subject
clear.
– Example: “the greatest demonstration in history”; “withering injustice”; “We have
also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now” –
Martin Luther King I Have a Dream speech.

6. Imagery
– Imagery means to use figurative language to represent objects, actions and
ideas in such a way that it appeals to our physical senses.
– Usually it is thought that imagery makes use of particular words that create
visual representation of ideas in our minds.
– Example from Martin Luther King:
One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of
segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on
a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One
hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and
finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a
shameful condition. (Note also the use of the rule of three).

7. Cumulative Phrases
– A cumulative sentence is known as a “loose sentence,” that starts with an independent clause or main clause,
which is simple and straight, provides main idea, and then adds subordinate elements or modifiers.
– It adds subordinate or modifying elements after the subject and the predicate.
– Writers or speakers use these types of sentences when they want to put forth the main idea first, and provide
details to elucidate the idea further thereafter.
– They use these details in the form of dependent or subordinate phrases or clauses.
– Cumulative sentences are easier to understand, straightforward, and simple.
– The additional details in these sentences become relatively important, as they elucidate the main idea, given in a
few words at the beginning.
– They are useful when the goal of a writer is clarity rather than suspense.
– Cumulative sentences give an informal, conversational, and relaxed feeling to a work of art.
– Example: “The radiators put out lots of heat, too much, in fact, and old-fashioned sounds and smells came with it,
exhalations of the matter that composes our own mortality, and reminiscent of the intimate gases we all diffuse.”
More Die of Heartbreak by Saul Bellow.

8. Irony
– Irony is used in order to indirectly call attention to a point that is different from
the specific words a given person is using.
– For example, if someone were to say in a snide tone of voice that he just "loves"
a given book, this would actually mean that he does not care for the book at all.
– Irony is thus a very important tool for indirect communication, or when one
wishes to call attention to some state of affairs that cannot be addressed in a
direct way.
– Example: "Water, water, everywhere, / And all the boards did shrink; / Water,
water, everywhere, / Nor any drop to drink” (Coleridge – Rhyme of the Ancient
Mariner).