Writing Help 129 | - Freelance Writer
Mar 29, 2013 | #1
Using Advanced Rhetorical Devices to Surprise and Delight
Almost everyone knows that parentheses (note the es ending for the plural) are those little curved lines (also commonly called brackets or round brackets) used to set pieces of text off from each other, like the ones enclosing the words note through plural and also through brackets in this very sentence. However, the term parenthesis also has a broader meaning in the realm of rhetoric, and while those little lines can be used to create a rhetorical example of parenthesis, they are not necessary, as there are many ways to set some text off from what surrounds it.
The rhetorical device parenthesis occurs when a word, phrase, clause, or even sentence is inserted into a sentence in order to qualify or elaborate on something mentioned in that sentence. It need not be grammatically compatible with the words which occur on either side of it, and it can be set off by commas or dashes as well as parentheses themselves. In the following example, parenthesis is used to qualify what comes before it: "All of the people I have spoken to, or at least all those who were of reasonable intelligence, agreed that my plan was the best one by far." Here, we can see that the individual uttering this sentence feels the need to modify his first thoughts with a touch of honesty, although even this ends up being conveniently self-serving. In the lead phrase, he claims something is true of all of the people he has spoken to. However, he seems to think better of this inclusive totalizing statement, and inserts a qualification which explains what he means by all. One may wonder why he just didn't begin his sentence with "All the people of reasonable intelligence," but this would reduce the rhetorical impact of the statement somewhat. In the actual example, he beings with the powerful and all-inclusive all, which immediately makes his statement more convincing. This puts the reader in the right mode from the beginning, so that when he introduces the parenthesis, we read it as a minor qualification, an afterthought to the strong main point. Parenthesis is usually read (and spoken) with less emphasis than the other parts of the sentence, and so it becomes an excellent way to make important qualifications that limit or weaken your original claims seem unimportant. Think of it as a more subtle form of the fine print you see in contracts and television commercials.
Parenthesis can also be used to create humorous effects, as it does in the following example: "The president announced that the enemy (by which he meant Canada) was massing troops (by which meant civilians) on our border, and so an appropriate reaction (a massive nuclear strike) was taken." Although the device is taken to its limits in this example, we can see how effective parenthesis can be. In this case, the author makes sure to separate the actual words and sentiments of the president from his own thoughts on the matter, making it obvious that the president, while not lying, is using hyperbole (enemy, massing troops) and then understatement (appropriate reaction) to make the nuclear strike he is trying to defend seem just. The obvious contrast between the text itself and the comments and qualifications inserted into the sentence results in some subtle political humor, setting up the president's words for ridicule at the same time it presents them. In this way, the usual function of parenthesis as inclusion of afterthought is inverted because the repeated use of the device causes us to focus on it. This makes the parenthetical insertions the dominant aspect of the sentence, made even more so by the fact that these insertions combine to provide us with the opinions of the narrator or author of the sentence. Parenthesis often offers us insight into the true thoughts and feelings of narrators and characters, and while we might be tempted to pass over parenthetical information as less important, doing so can leave you clueless as to the actual aim of a given sentence.
Parenthesis
Almost everyone knows that parentheses (note the es ending for the plural) are those little curved lines (also commonly called brackets or round brackets) used to set pieces of text off from each other, like the ones enclosing the words note through plural and also through brackets in this very sentence. However, the term parenthesis also has a broader meaning in the realm of rhetoric, and while those little lines can be used to create a rhetorical example of parenthesis, they are not necessary, as there are many ways to set some text off from what surrounds it.
The rhetorical device parenthesis occurs when a word, phrase, clause, or even sentence is inserted into a sentence in order to qualify or elaborate on something mentioned in that sentence. It need not be grammatically compatible with the words which occur on either side of it, and it can be set off by commas or dashes as well as parentheses themselves. In the following example, parenthesis is used to qualify what comes before it: "All of the people I have spoken to, or at least all those who were of reasonable intelligence, agreed that my plan was the best one by far." Here, we can see that the individual uttering this sentence feels the need to modify his first thoughts with a touch of honesty, although even this ends up being conveniently self-serving. In the lead phrase, he claims something is true of all of the people he has spoken to. However, he seems to think better of this inclusive totalizing statement, and inserts a qualification which explains what he means by all. One may wonder why he just didn't begin his sentence with "All the people of reasonable intelligence," but this would reduce the rhetorical impact of the statement somewhat. In the actual example, he beings with the powerful and all-inclusive all, which immediately makes his statement more convincing. This puts the reader in the right mode from the beginning, so that when he introduces the parenthesis, we read it as a minor qualification, an afterthought to the strong main point. Parenthesis is usually read (and spoken) with less emphasis than the other parts of the sentence, and so it becomes an excellent way to make important qualifications that limit or weaken your original claims seem unimportant. Think of it as a more subtle form of the fine print you see in contracts and television commercials.Parenthesis can also be used to create humorous effects, as it does in the following example: "The president announced that the enemy (by which he meant Canada) was massing troops (by which meant civilians) on our border, and so an appropriate reaction (a massive nuclear strike) was taken." Although the device is taken to its limits in this example, we can see how effective parenthesis can be. In this case, the author makes sure to separate the actual words and sentiments of the president from his own thoughts on the matter, making it obvious that the president, while not lying, is using hyperbole (enemy, massing troops) and then understatement (appropriate reaction) to make the nuclear strike he is trying to defend seem just. The obvious contrast between the text itself and the comments and qualifications inserted into the sentence results in some subtle political humor, setting up the president's words for ridicule at the same time it presents them. In this way, the usual function of parenthesis as inclusion of afterthought is inverted because the repeated use of the device causes us to focus on it. This makes the parenthetical insertions the dominant aspect of the sentence, made even more so by the fact that these insertions combine to provide us with the opinions of the narrator or author of the sentence. Parenthesis often offers us insight into the true thoughts and feelings of narrators and characters, and while we might be tempted to pass over parenthetical information as less important, doing so can leave you clueless as to the actual aim of a given sentence.