Question

Match each phrase with the rhetorical technique it demonstrates

Answer 1

Answer:

1) Millions will be affected by the traffic: overstatement

2) As a dentist, I can recommend this brand of toothpaste. : appeal

3) On the other hand, he couldn’t be more incorrect. : shift

4) To err is human, to forgive is divine. : parallelism

Explanation:

Answer 2

Answer:

Rhetorical techniques or rhetorical devices represent a set of methods used to persuade a person or to convey a message or a point more effectively. There are lot of rhetorical techniques, but let us consider the ones given above.

Overstatement means exaggerating, stating things in an exaggerated manner in order to inhance the effect of a claim. Best fitting given example is "Millions will be affected by the traffic". Since we can not know for sure the precise number of people affected, we estimate an exaggerated number to emphasize the seriousness of the issue.

Next we have parallelism. That basically means that we use words in a certain manner to achieve a repetition, rhythm or flow that will sound more persuasive. It is most often achieved by using parts of sentence that are similar in meaning, construction or grammatically. Matching example for this is "To err is human, to forgive is divine". The two clauses forming this sentence have the similar meaning, rhythm and are using similar words.

Shift is rhetorical device with its main feature of suddenly changing the tone or the style in the text. They can be identified by conjunctions that suggest opposition and contrast, like "On the other hand, he couldn't be more incorrect". We can conclude that previous sentence had different meaning and tone and that this sencence altered it to a complete opposition.

There are three basic types of appeal:

- logical appeal (logos) which is using of logical arguments to persuade a person

- emotional appeal (pathos) which is using emotions to persuade person

- ethical appeal (ethos) which is using one's character or credibility to persuade person.

In example "As a dentist, I can recommend this brand of toothpaste", we clearly see using dentist's profession, knowledge and title as a reliable source of information that persuades us into buying that particular toothpaste which makes it an ethical appeal.