1.8 Persuading with Style and Tone

ImageryWords that create a picture or a sensation in the reader’s mind. creates pictures with words that stir our minds and emotions. An image can communicate a point more effectively than several pages of explication. It may be as pungent as Hart Crane’s “burnt match skating in a urinal” in The Bridge or as psychologically penetrating as George Orwell’s description of a dying elephant shot in British-ruled Burma: “The thick blood welled out of him like red velvet.”

IronyThe use of a word or phrase that means the opposite of what it says literally. is the use of a word or phrase that means the opposite of what it says literally. For example, a coworker might ironically refer to a tyrannical boss as a “sweetheart.” In the following passage from Innocents Abroad, Mark Twain complains about the ignorance of the people of Europe, but we understand that he is being ironic; he is really twitting the Americans’ ignorance, including his own:

A simileA comparison using the connective like or as. is a comparison using the connective like or as. In “The Death of Paret,” about a boxing match between Emile Griffith and Benny Paret, Norman Mailer describes Paret’s reaction to eighteen right-hand punches in a row: “He went down more slowly than any fighter had ever gone down, he went down like a large ship that turns on end and slides second by second into its grave. As he went down, the sound of Griffith’s punches echoed in the mind like a heavy ax in the distance chopping into a wet log.”

A metaphorA nonliteral comparison that does not use like or as but that presents one thing as another. juxtaposes two things so that one thing is seen in terms of the other. In “The Library of Babel” by Jorge Luis Borges, the Library is a metaphor for the interminable, infinite universe.

An analogyA comparison based on a resemblance of some aspect of examples that are otherwise not alike. is a comparison based on a resemblance of some aspect of examples that are otherwise not alike. Analogies often clarify the nature of a subject. About his ability to dance, Leonard Pitts wrote, “I am to dancing what Roseanne is to singing and Donald Duck to motivational speeches.” Aptitude tests often present analogies as problems to solve by filling in the blank, such as _________: communication :: weapon : fighting. When two examples are alike in pertinent ways, we say they are analogous.

An allegoryA fictitious story intended to represent an idea of moral, social, or political significance., often defined as an extended metaphor, is a fictitious story in which abstract ideas are made concrete for the purpose of communicating meaning that has moral, political, or social significance. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the animals and farmyard skirmishes can be seen allegorically. For example, the pig, Old Major, embodies Stalin seizing power. Through allegory, Orwell universalizes his point beyond what might have been possible, had he written an essay condemning the inhumane excesses of Stalinist Russia.

PersonificationThe presentation of a nonhuman thing as human. endows something inanimate or abstract with human characteristics, such as emotions, manners, and speech. Lyndon B. Johnson personifies America in an address to the nation after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.: “Once again, the heart of America is heavy.” By saying that a country—America—has a heart, Johnson captures the impact of King’s assassination on Americans.

A symbolAn object that stands for something else, usually an abstraction. (or emblem, cipher, or sign) is something, usually a concrete object, that stands for something else, usually an abstraction, such as an American flag to represent liberty or a wedding ring to represent marriage. A symbol can be explicit and brief, like the white lilies signifying purity in the center of Simone Martini’s painting Annunciation with Two Saints 

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Simone_Martini__The_Annunciation_and_Two_Saints.JPG).

A symbol also can be elaborate and lingering. The white whale in Herman’s Melville’s Moby Dick, for example, represents different things to different characters in the novel: a malevolent force to Captain Ahab, marketable merchandise to the first mate Starbuck, and something beyond conscious understanding to the storyteller Ishmael.

An allusionA reference to a familiar person, place, or thing from literature, history, or art. is an explicit or indirect reference to a person, place, event, or thing, often a familiar detail from history, literature, or a work of art. In “About Men” Gretel Ehrlich alludes to Robert Redford’s stoical character in the film Electric Horseman to describe the uncomplaining nature of cowboys. Find the link here at http://downloads.flatworldknowledge.com/hudson/hudson_1_0-AboutMen.pdf.

Writers also may use hyperboleExaggerated language., in which statements are exaggerated to create emphasis and impose a point of view. Humorist Dave Barry overstates the resilience of household roaches when he says, “Roaches love poisonous chemicals. They’ll often gather under the sink late at night and lick the residue off the Black Flag can. The more chemicals you spray, the more roaches you attract.”

The opposite of hyperbole is understatementLanguage that attributes less importance to a thing than it deserves., in which something is spoken of as less important or serious than it is. On redecorating a kitchen, Dave Barry understates the process: “All that remains is for you to take out the old appliances and put in new ones according to your plan! And put in the new floor! And cabinets! And change the wiring and plumbing all around! Let me know how it goes.”

A punA play on words that sound alike or on a word with more than one meaning. is a play on words, either different senses of the same word or a similar sense or sound of different words. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Mercutio often exchange puns. In the following interchange, Romeo makes a pun when he uses the word “sole” to refer to Mercutio’s shoes and then to his own “soul.”

AlliterationThe use of words in succession that begin with the same sound. is the use of words in succession that begin with the same sound. “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers” is an alliteration. Alliteration is a popular marketing device because it makes brand names such as Coca-Cola and Krispy Kreme memorable. Poets use alliteration for various reasons. In Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the character Quince uses it to comic effect: “Whereat with blade—with bloody blameful blade—he bravely broached his bloody boiling breast” (5.1.145–46).

SlangInformal, nonstandard language that often passes out of fashion. is nonstandard vocabulary known and used by a particular set or class that may come in and out of vogue or pass into legitimate speech. In Zora Neale Hurston’s “Glossary of Harlem Slang,” the word peckerwood is slang for a poor and unloved class of Southern whites, and stormbuzzard is slang for a shiftless, homeless character. Often, the use of slang conveys the speaker’s attitude toward the person or object being described.

JargonTechnical vocabulary, understood and used primarily by specific groups of people. is a hybrid, and often obscure, technical vocabulary peculiar to certain trades or professions. For example, the term voir dire is French, meaning “to see” and “to speak,” but in the legal profession it refers to the questioning of potential jurors. An information technology specialist in the 1960s may have used the acronym WYSIWYG, pronounced “wizzy-wig,” which means “what you see is what you get,” a reference to the user-friendliness of a computer. Jargon, while useful in communicating with specialists, often excludes a general audience. Still, it can serve a creative purpose: Anthony Burgess makes effective use of jargon in A Clockwork Orange, narrated in the main characters’ language of “Nadsat.”

An idiomAn expression in which the words mean something other than their collective literal meaning. is an expression in which particular words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of each individual word. For example, if you have “an ace in the hole,” you probably have neither an ace nor a hole, much less one in the other. But you do have something that other people are not aware of and that you can use to your advantage when the time is right.

A euphemismAn expression used in place of one that may be offensive or unpleasant. substitutes an acceptable, or inoffensive, expression in place of one that may offend or suggest unpleasantness. In Monty Python’s “Dead Parrot” sketch, a British character at a pet shop uses several euphemisms for death (https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2hwqnp).