Rhetorical Devices: A Handbook and Activities for Student Writers Paperback – November 30, 2007

As a teacher and tutor, I find this paperback title "Rhetorical Devices" to be an indispensable tool in helping my students become better writers. It has also been a great aid for students taking AP English class. This compact book contains chapters devoted to each of the 33 rhetorical devices, with definitions and examples of each as well as practice exercises. The practice exercises range from fairly simple ones requiring students to write sentences reflecting a certain rhetorical device while other exercises are a bit more complex, involving analysis of said rhetorical devices in passages.The content includes:Popular Rhetorical Devices: StrategyHyperboleUnderstatementLitotesAntithesisHypophoraRhetorical QuestionProcatalepsisDistinctioSimileMetaphorAnalogyAllusionEponymSententiaExemplumPopular Rhetorical Devices: OrganizationClimaxParallelism/ ChiasmusAnadiplosis/ ConduplicatioMetabasisParenthesisApostropheEnumeratioAntanagoguePopular Rhetorical Devices: StyleEpithetAsyndeton/ PolysyndetonZeugmaSynecdoche/ MetonymyHyperbatonPopular Rhetorical Devices: Analysis of ReadingAporiaAnaphora/ Epistrophe/ SymploceAmplificationPersonificationParataxisAll in all, this is a great tool for helping a student of English hone his or her writing craft and also as an AP English supplementary tool.

I teach a combined AP U.S. History and AP Lang & Comp class called American Studies. I have taught the History side of the class for the past eight years, this year I took over the English side as well. I was searching for resources for AP Lang and came across this little book. I bought it and started using the writing strategies in class for the first 30 minutes or so and it has been great. The kids enjoy the activities and they say it is the first time that they have had an English class go into depth into the different rhetorical strategies. Going to require this book next year and use it as a workbook for first semester. Highly recommend.

Rhetorical Devices: A Handbook and Activities For Student Writers is 221 pages in length. This books is concise and is a very useful Kindle ebook. I use it a lot! The book provides some examples of rhetorical pitfalls to avoid, explains the four aims of rhetoric, and succinctly explains thirty-three different rhetorical devices:1: Hyperbole, 2: Understatement, 3: Litotes, 4: Antithesis, 5: Hypophora, 6: Rhetorical Question, 7: Procatalepsis, 8: Distinctio, 9: Simile, 10: Metaphor, 11: Analogy, 12: Allusion, 13: Eponym, 14: Sententia, 15: Exemplum, 16: Climax, 17: Parallelism/Chiasmus, 18: Anadiplosis/Conduplicatio, 19: Metabasis, 20: Parenthesis, 21: Apostrophe, 22: Enumeratio, 23: Antanagoge, 24: Epithet, 25: Asyndeton/Polysyndeton, 26: Zeugma, 27: Synecdoche/Metonymy, 28: Hyperbaton, 29: Aporia, 30: Anaphora/Epistrophe/Symploce, 31: Amplification, 32: Personification, 33: ParataxisThe book finishes up with the last twenty-one pages called Cumulative Exercises, which consists of three passages to assess. Brendan McGuigan, writes the following:Cumulative Exercises I: Passages #1, #2, and #3 make use of many of the rhetorical devices that you have studied. Passage # 1 includes Climax, Anadiplosis, Parenthesis, Apostrophe, Analogy, and Enumeratio. There are other devices in the passage, but concentrate on identifying these. Underline and try to identify each device used; then explain why the excerpt you chose illustrates it. Some sentences may have more than one device, so read the entire passage carefully. List your choices in the places supplied after each passage. p. 201

I own some other books that explain rhetorical devices, but they are a little dense and hard to navigate. This guide is very clear and engaging, with explanations, examples, and practice exercises. I'm planning to use it for mini-lessons in my writing classes.

Not what I expected . Explains device with a example however the exercise not specific in teaching device. The reading are too basic level ones they do not require critical thinking or using evidence to support answers.

Bought it upon the recommendation of my daughter’s 12th grade English teacher. My daughter has been using it faithfully, without prompting from me. For a teenager to willingly use this as a resource merits a 5 star rating, in this mom’s opinion!

This book is just what I was looking for when it comes to teaching rhetoric in my AP English Language classes. I wish my district had the money to buy at least a class set for my classroom. Rhetoric is a struggle for some students. The activities in this book will be just perfect for those students. I am expecting to see a great improvement in my scores on the student's rhetorical analysis essays this next school year.

Me gusta porque puedo practicar la forma en que organizo mis discursos y la metodologia que debo seguir sin tener que asistir a una clase de colegio.