Writing Help 129 | - Freelance Writer
Mar 25, 2013 | #1
Using Advanced Rhetorical Devices to Surprise and Delight
Many students are surprised to hear that for almost every effect which can be created in language, the rhetoricians have given it a name. The origins of formal rhetoric date back to the Greeks and Romans, who made the study of rhetoric one of the most important aspects of education. Several scholars developed detailed taxonomies of the tropes and figures that they had defined, and many of these terms, complete with their Greek and Latin roots, have survived unaltered through the centuries, despite their journey through different languages and cultures.
Zoomorphism is no exception to the above statements, as we can see from its prefix zoo, shared by such words as zoology, and of course, zoo is itself a word which will no doubt help you remember what this term means. As you might have guessed, it is used to refer to animals, and you can be sure that if a word contains zoo, it has something to do with our furry or scaled friends. Looking at the rest of the word, we see further classical origins, as the word morph is used to denote the process of change or transformation. This leaves us with the roughly translated term animal transformation, and while this is not elegant, it goes a long way toward describing what the term zoomorphism means.
Zoomorphism describes the attribution of animal characteristics to humans or humanlike beings (like gods), or more broadly conceived, to anything at all which is not an animal. The tradition of zoomorphism dates back beyond historical memory, as even the earliest religions and cultures tell stories of gods transforming into animals, or appearing in animal form. In Greek myth, for example, Zeus was anything but a faithful husband, and he often made trips to the realm of the human in order to impregnate human women. To achieve these ends without detection, he would often go in the guise of a given animal, like a swan or even a bull. This resulted in some frightening encounters, but the boundaries of possibility in myth are wide open. A famous example of zoomorphism can also be found in the Bible, where Nebuchadnezzar gets transformed into a bovine. Native American and other tribal traditions often feature totems very prominently, although whether this is simply zoomorphism is open to debate. Attributing animal characteristics to a god fits the bill, but if they are granting the animals human and godlike features, this is anthropomorphism. It seems to me like their belief is a combination of both, although before you cite this in a report you would do well to verify this with a native individual.
Aside from the more obvious forms of zoomorphism discussed above, other more subtle forms pervade speech and literature in all cultures. For example, if I call someone a pig, listeners immediately know I am insulting the person, likely commenting on how sloppy or generally disgusting they are. Every language has a whole host of common animal associations, and English is certainly no exception. A sly person is a fox (as is an attractive woman), a hard worker is a horse, a dishonest person is a snake, a coward is a chicken, a blind person is a bat, and a good swimmer is a fish. Based on these common associations, it is also possible to use less direct zoomorphic comparisons to great effect, often through the use of metaphor, as in the following example: "Billy is still slithering through the grass in Florida, but I expect him to show his fangs again when he gets to Toronto." Here, it becomes evident that Billy is a disreputable fellow, as his slithering and his fangs both point to his snakelike nature.
Zoomorphism
Many students are surprised to hear that for almost every effect which can be created in language, the rhetoricians have given it a name. The origins of formal rhetoric date back to the Greeks and Romans, who made the study of rhetoric one of the most important aspects of education. Several scholars developed detailed taxonomies of the tropes and figures that they had defined, and many of these terms, complete with their Greek and Latin roots, have survived unaltered through the centuries, despite their journey through different languages and cultures.
Zoomorphism is no exception to the above statements, as we can see from its prefix zoo, shared by such words as zoology, and of course, zoo is itself a word which will no doubt help you remember what this term means. As you might have guessed, it is used to refer to animals, and you can be sure that if a word contains zoo, it has something to do with our furry or scaled friends. Looking at the rest of the word, we see further classical origins, as the word morph is used to denote the process of change or transformation. This leaves us with the roughly translated term animal transformation, and while this is not elegant, it goes a long way toward describing what the term zoomorphism means.Zoomorphism describes the attribution of animal characteristics to humans or humanlike beings (like gods), or more broadly conceived, to anything at all which is not an animal. The tradition of zoomorphism dates back beyond historical memory, as even the earliest religions and cultures tell stories of gods transforming into animals, or appearing in animal form. In Greek myth, for example, Zeus was anything but a faithful husband, and he often made trips to the realm of the human in order to impregnate human women. To achieve these ends without detection, he would often go in the guise of a given animal, like a swan or even a bull. This resulted in some frightening encounters, but the boundaries of possibility in myth are wide open. A famous example of zoomorphism can also be found in the Bible, where Nebuchadnezzar gets transformed into a bovine. Native American and other tribal traditions often feature totems very prominently, although whether this is simply zoomorphism is open to debate. Attributing animal characteristics to a god fits the bill, but if they are granting the animals human and godlike features, this is anthropomorphism. It seems to me like their belief is a combination of both, although before you cite this in a report you would do well to verify this with a native individual.
Aside from the more obvious forms of zoomorphism discussed above, other more subtle forms pervade speech and literature in all cultures. For example, if I call someone a pig, listeners immediately know I am insulting the person, likely commenting on how sloppy or generally disgusting they are. Every language has a whole host of common animal associations, and English is certainly no exception. A sly person is a fox (as is an attractive woman), a hard worker is a horse, a dishonest person is a snake, a coward is a chicken, a blind person is a bat, and a good swimmer is a fish. Based on these common associations, it is also possible to use less direct zoomorphic comparisons to great effect, often through the use of metaphor, as in the following example: "Billy is still slithering through the grass in Florida, but I expect him to show his fangs again when he gets to Toronto." Here, it becomes evident that Billy is a disreputable fellow, as his slithering and his fangs both point to his snakelike nature.