Writing Help 129 | - ☆ Freelance Writer
Apr 04, 2013 | #1
Using Advanced Rhetorical Devices to Surprise and Delight
Although neither of these terms enjoys much attention in current usage, their peripheral status and similar sounds (as well as spellings) result in their being confused with each other. So, I can kill two birds with one stone by presenting each of these rhetorical devices in one article, disambiguating the pair and elaborating on each in a single stroke.
When we do hear the term anachronism today, it is most often in the context of a review or critique of a fictional work, whether that be a novel or a film. The reason for this is that anachronism is at least as often an unintended error as it is an intentionally deployed device. Critics revel in spotting and exposing such errors, and publishers and movie studios expend considerable resources ensuring that the works they are responsible for do not contain these kinds of mistakes. To create an obvious example, suppose I am directing a film set in the first century BC, and I want the protagonist to make a comment about how social justice can be achieved. To support this theme, I make sure that a copy of the Communist Manifesto is visible on his bookshelf, which will tip viewers off to the larger issues I want them to consider.
Now, any observer who is at all concerned with historical accuracy will immediately rise up and shout "That's impossible!" with good reason. This book was still almost two millennia at that time away from publication, and so it is impossible that the protagonist could have a copy of it on his bookshelf. Even shrewder observers will be doubly outraged, for the presence of a bookshelf and the books upon it are impossible, as books were still a long way off, and scrolls were the objects upon which texts were recorded and stored at that time. This is a prime example of anachronism, which is the placement of events, objects, people, or any entity in a time or in an order which would have defied the actual progression of history. It can be used intentionally to create humorous effects, or in stories which present alternate histories or entire universes. In order to keep this term straight, remember that it contains the root chron, derived from the Greek word for time, and used in other English words like chronology and (less commonly, though often on older digital watches) chronometer.
Archaism, on the other hand, has little to do with time in general, but a lot to do with the past. The term derives from the Greek word for ancient, and we can see its presence in modern English in words like archaic. If one were to see the following in a modern novel set in modern times, there would be no doubt an archaism was being used: "Thou art a fool, Thomas, and I am going to make you regret ever having been born." Most of the sentence looks like something that could be heard today, but the beginning thou art is an obvious archaism. A word, phrase, or syntactical structure that was used at some point in the history of the language but which has since fallen out of standard use is an archaism. There was a time when thou art was standard English, but if you used this on your classmates tomorrow, you would certainly get some strange looks. Archaism is effective for creating a solemn or ritualistic tone, or to create an atmosphere of a bygone time or place. As a result, it is still present in some modern prayers (Our Father, who art in heaven), and is employed in film and literature to evoke images of a given historical period.
Anachronism and Archaism
Although neither of these terms enjoys much attention in current usage, their peripheral status and similar sounds (as well as spellings) result in their being confused with each other. So, I can kill two birds with one stone by presenting each of these rhetorical devices in one article, disambiguating the pair and elaborating on each in a single stroke.
When we do hear the term anachronism today, it is most often in the context of a review or critique of a fictional work, whether that be a novel or a film. The reason for this is that anachronism is at least as often an unintended error as it is an intentionally deployed device. Critics revel in spotting and exposing such errors, and publishers and movie studios expend considerable resources ensuring that the works they are responsible for do not contain these kinds of mistakes. To create an obvious example, suppose I am directing a film set in the first century BC, and I want the protagonist to make a comment about how social justice can be achieved. To support this theme, I make sure that a copy of the Communist Manifesto is visible on his bookshelf, which will tip viewers off to the larger issues I want them to consider.Now, any observer who is at all concerned with historical accuracy will immediately rise up and shout "That's impossible!" with good reason. This book was still almost two millennia at that time away from publication, and so it is impossible that the protagonist could have a copy of it on his bookshelf. Even shrewder observers will be doubly outraged, for the presence of a bookshelf and the books upon it are impossible, as books were still a long way off, and scrolls were the objects upon which texts were recorded and stored at that time. This is a prime example of anachronism, which is the placement of events, objects, people, or any entity in a time or in an order which would have defied the actual progression of history. It can be used intentionally to create humorous effects, or in stories which present alternate histories or entire universes. In order to keep this term straight, remember that it contains the root chron, derived from the Greek word for time, and used in other English words like chronology and (less commonly, though often on older digital watches) chronometer.
Archaism, on the other hand, has little to do with time in general, but a lot to do with the past. The term derives from the Greek word for ancient, and we can see its presence in modern English in words like archaic. If one were to see the following in a modern novel set in modern times, there would be no doubt an archaism was being used: "Thou art a fool, Thomas, and I am going to make you regret ever having been born." Most of the sentence looks like something that could be heard today, but the beginning thou art is an obvious archaism. A word, phrase, or syntactical structure that was used at some point in the history of the language but which has since fallen out of standard use is an archaism. There was a time when thou art was standard English, but if you used this on your classmates tomorrow, you would certainly get some strange looks. Archaism is effective for creating a solemn or ritualistic tone, or to create an atmosphere of a bygone time or place. As a result, it is still present in some modern prayers (Our Father, who art in heaven), and is employed in film and literature to evoke images of a given historical period.