{"id":480,"date":"2025-05-26T17:00:06","date_gmt":"2025-05-26T17:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=480"},"modified":"2025-09-07T16:24:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T16:24:11","slug":"using-style-to-harness-the-power-of-language","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/chapter\/using-style-to-harness-the-power-of-language\/","title":{"raw":"Using Style to Harness the Power of Language","rendered":"Using Style to Harness the Power of Language"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox textbox--learning-objectives\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\r\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Chapter Objectives<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\r\n<p class=\"import-pf\">Students will:<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Assess a speech\u2019s style for how well it meets four core goals.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Identify and distinguish common stylistic devices.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Employ stylistic devices in a presentation.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_177\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"375\"]<img class=\"wp-image-177\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image133.png\" alt=\"Photo looking down at the tops of several soda cans\" width=\"375\" height=\"247\" \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/freerangestock.com\/photos\/90474\/close-up-of-many-cans-of-soda.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Many Cans of Soda<\/a> by Freerange Public Domain Archives, <a href=\"\/\/creativecommons.org\/public-domain\/pdm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Public Domain<\/a>.[\/caption]\r\n<p class=\"import-p0\" style=\"text-indent: 0pt;\">If you live in the United States and speak English, do you use the word \u201cpop,\u201d \u201csoda,\u201d or \u201ccoke\u201d to refer to a sweetened carbonated beverage? What kind of shoes do you wear: sneakers or tennis shoes? When you want to get others\u2019 attention, do you say \u201cyou guys\u201d or \u201cy\u2019all\u201d?<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-p0\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">These are just a few of the questions linguists Bert Vaux and Scott Golder asked Americans across the country in the early 2000s. Graphic artist Josh Katz updated and illustrated the responses with <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId234\" href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/american-english-dialects-maps-2018-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">colorful maps<\/span><\/a><\/span> for his 2016 book <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">Speaking American<\/em><\/span>. As you might expect, US residents differ considerably in their responses depending on where they live.[footnote]Mark Abadi, \u201c27 Fascinating Maps That Show How Americans Speak English Differently Across the US,\u201d <em>Business Insider<\/em>, January 3, 2018, <a href=\"http:\/\/businessinsider.com\/american-english-dialects-maps-2018-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/businessinsider.com\/american-english-dialects-maps-2018-1<\/a>.[\/footnote] Your language probably reflects the words you heard where you grew up.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-p0\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Of course, geographic region is just one of many factors that influence our word choice. Family upbringing, education, race, socioeconomic status, and age play roles too. Have you ever used popular slang terms with older adults, and they scratched their heads in confusion? If so, you know age contributes to language. What teenagers found \u201cboss\u201d in the 1960s, they called \u201crad\u201d in the 1980s, \u201csweet\u201d in the early 2000s, and \u201csigma\u201d in the 2020s. That is, each generation develops its own style.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-p0\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\"><img class=\"alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image134.png\" alt=\"image\" width=\"128.6px\" height=\"128.6px\" \/>As defined in chapter 1, style is the language or expression we use\u2014the words we choose. Style can significantly influence a message\u2019s reception. To be an effective speaker, you must adopt a speaking style that suits your audience and purpose.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-p0\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">In what follows, we discuss four goals for style in public speaking. We then explore a few of the most helpful stylistic devices speakers can use to fulfill those goals.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h1 class=\"import-ah\">The Goals of Style in Presentations<\/h1>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\">In everyday life, we often use style to mean how someone uniquely expresses themselves. Stylish people dress or walk in ways that exude sophistication, swag, or pizzazz. The same holds true for style in public speaking. A speaker who develops their personal speaking style is more likely to grab and hold their audience\u2019s attention.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-p0\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">However, style can and should accomplish much more in public speaking. In this section, we discuss four desired outcomes of style: to create clarity, to maintain audience attention, to construct an appropriate mood or emotional state, and to generate a perspective on a topic for the audience. When we refer to the audience in this section, we are talking about your direct audience (unless we indicate otherwise). In chapter 10, we defined the direct audience as the people who are exposed to and attend to your speech.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\"><em>Clarity<\/em><\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\">Aristotle claimed that making ideas clear to the listener was the proper goal and result of all stylistic choices.[footnote]Aristotle, <em>On Rhetoric: A Theory of Civic Discourse<\/em>, trans. George A. Kennedy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), sec. 1404b.[\/footnote] If a speech is composed primarily of technical terms, puzzling language, or unfamiliar words, audience members will not understand nor act upon the information presented. They will also not likely listen for very long.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\"><em>Attention<\/em><\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\">Our language should capture and hold the attention of audience members. You have probably experienced boring or dry speakers. To be sure, this can be a product of delivery, but it is also an element of style. A speaker must create interesting, engaging images in our minds through words, such as by sharing vivid anecdotes, statistics, quotations, and rhetorical questions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\"><em>Emotion<\/em><\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\">Stylistic choices also help shape the emotional element of communication. Language can encourage listeners to overcome apathy by creating a feeling of intensity. Style also has the power to bring us together by emphasizing communal values and using inclusive words and phrases. Such feelings of unity can increase the persuasiveness of the message. Consequently, speakers must be ethical and reflective about the creation and use of such emotional bonds.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\"><em>Perspective Creation<\/em><\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\">Finally, word selection has incredible power. Language shapes perspectives on the world\u2014an idea we have alluded to in previous chapters.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Most of what we know we\u2019ve learned through words rather than firsthand experience. For example, many people know a good bit about the country of China, including specific features of the topography such as the Yangtze River and the Great Wall, the population size, and its dramatic economic development over the last several decades. However, relatively few have traveled to China and seen any of this firsthand.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-p0\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Words even influence how we perceive and react to things we do experience firsthand. For example, students sometimes describe their college education like a product they are purchasing from a business: \u201cI need to get my money\u2019s worth.\u201d \u201cThe cost of time and money will pay off for me after graduation.\u201d This metaphor turns students into customers and professors into service providers. Their relationship becomes purely transactional (an exchange of goods for payment) instead of potentially transformational to achieve a shared vision.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-p0\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">The words you choose to label or characterize your topic invite your audience to adopt a perspective on that issue. That means you must be especially thoughtful when talking about groups who are not part of your direct audience (and\/or who will be impacted by your message). In chapter 10, we labeled these groups your implied and implicated audiences. The words you choose to describe them will shape your and your direct audience\u2019s perspectives about them.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-p0\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Style, then, is critical to forming your community\u2019s attitudes, thinking, and even desire to act. Read box 16.1 for an example of how word choices shape your and your direct audience\u2019s perspectives and actions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 16.1 Word Choices Shape Perspectives and Actions<\/strong>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_179\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"400\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-179\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image135.png\" alt=\"Drunk salary man sleeping outside\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/113325057@N03\/33725785688\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Image<\/a> by Laurent Fintonivia Flickr, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/2.0\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY-NC-SA<\/a>.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nImagine a drunk man sleeping in public.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>A court judge walks by, sees this publicly intoxicated man, and thinks, \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Criminal<\/strong><\/span>.\u201d<\/li>\r\n \t<li>A priest walks by, sees the same man, and thinks, \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Sinner<\/strong><\/span>.\u201d<\/li>\r\n \t<li>A medical doctor passes by next and thinks, \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Sufferer<\/strong><\/span>.\u201d<\/li>\r\n \t<li>A business owner walks by and thinks, \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Loafer<\/strong><\/span>.\u201d<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Four different words are used to label the same person in the same situation, and each of these words is likely accompanied by a whole vocabulary. For example, along with \u201csinner,\u201d the priest might use words like \u201crepentance,\u201d \u201cforgiveness,\u201d \u201cGod,\u201d \u201cweakness,\u201d \u201cspirit,\u201d and \u201cflesh.\u201d The doctor, on the other hand, might adopt words like \u201cblood alcohol level,\u201d \u201caddiction,\u201d \u201chealing,\u201d \u201cpatient,\u201d and \u201cwithdrawal.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Each label\u2014and the vocabularies that accompany them\u2014evokes a different set of attitudes and likely encourages a different set of actions toward the man.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>The judge might <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">fine or even incarcerate<\/strong><\/span> the man.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The priest might attempt to <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">bring the man to repentance<\/strong><\/span> to experience forgiveness and spiritual renewal.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The doctor may medically examine him to <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">help him physically recover<\/strong><\/span>.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The business owner may simply walk past the man, <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">determined to not hire him<\/strong><\/span>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">This example demonstrates the power of language to create each person\u2019s perspective about, and (in)action toward, another person or group.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">In sum, when chosen thoughtfully, your language choices should clarify your ideas, capture your audience\u2019s attention, appeal to their emotions, and encourage them to adopt perspectives that facilitate community problem-solving. The next section examines specific devices you can use to help fulfill these goals.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 16.2 Tips for Meeting the Goals of Style<\/strong>\r\n\r\nAs you develop your speech, use this set of questions to reflect on and possibly revise your language choices. Doing so will help ensure your style fulfills the four core goals of style.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Clarify the speaker\u2019s ideas:<\/strong><\/span> Are all or most of the words you plan to say familiar to your audience? If not, will you supply clear definitions for words new to them? If you are using technical language, is it appropriate for your audience? If not, can you restate the ideas in more common language? How might you express your ideas in creative or imaginative ways that might better help the audience understand them?<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Maintain the audience\u2019s attention:<\/strong><\/span> How well will your words themselves intrigue the audience? Can you communicate your ideas in interesting or engaging ways? How might language help the audience envision the problem or its solution?<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Evoke emotion:<\/strong><\/span> What words or phrases might help your audience feel strongly about the issue you will address? What forms of expression might move them to action? How might you adopt language to unify the audience in response?<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Create perspective:<\/strong><\/span> How might your labels and word choices shape the audience\u2019s perceptions of the issue and the people affected? What vocabulary do you plan to employ, and what aspects of the issue does it highlight? Obscure? Which alternative labels and vocabularies could you use instead, and how might they shape the audience\u2019s perceptions differently?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h1 class=\"import-ah\">Stylistic Devices<\/h1>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Stylistic devices<\/strong><\/span> are language techniques and literary tools effective speakers use to present their ideas to their audience. These devices help fulfill the four goals previously covered by creating a sense of rhythm, providing visualization, enhancing argumentation, and developing a sense of community.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\"><em>Rhythm<\/em><\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><span class=\"import-strk\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image136.png\" alt=\"image\" width=\"111.8px\" height=\"111.8px\" \/><\/span>One effective function of stylistic language is to create a sense of rhythm in a speech. Rhythm helps maintain the audience\u2019s attention because it creates a familiar and inviting pattern or cadence. Rhythmic language also heightens the audience\u2019s emotions. There are several devices that develop rhythm, but here we briefly comment on four: parallelism, repetition, antithesis, and alliteration.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Parallelism<\/h3>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Parallelism<\/strong><\/span> is a series of ideas that is conveyed through language choices in a similar way. This can occur in a single sentence or across successive sentences. When he took the first steps on the moon, for example, astronaut Neil Armstrong famously said, \u201cThat\u2019s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.\u201d His repeated use of \u201cone\u201d followed by two words illustrated parallelism.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 16.3 Parallelism in Practice<\/strong>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_181\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"259\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-181\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image137.png\" alt=\"Nikki Haley\" width=\"259\" height=\"271\" \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Nikki_Haley_event_Keene_Country_Club_Keene_NH_January_2024_13.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nikki Haley<\/a> by Artaxerxes via Wikimedia Commons, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY<\/a>.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nAn example of parallelism occurred in 2024 during a <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId238\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/H3VE-94N7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">campaign speech by former South Carolina Governor and US Ambassador Nikki Haley<\/span><\/a><\/span> when she ran for the Republican presidential nomination. About halfway through her speech, Haley shifted to the topic of national security: \u201cNow let\u2019s talk about national security. The world is on fire literally. <strong>You\u2019ve got<\/strong> a war in Europe. <strong>You\u2019ve got<\/strong> a war in the Middle East. <strong>You\u2019ve got<\/strong> North Korea testing intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of hitting the US. <strong>You\u2019ve got<\/strong> China on the march. But make no mistake, none of that would\u2019ve happened had we not had that debacle in Afghanistan.\u201d[footnote]Nikki Haley, \u201cNikki Haley Speaks at South Carolina Campaign Rally\u201d (transcript, Conway, SC, January 28, 2024), <em>Rev,<\/em> https:\/\/www.rev.com\/transcripts\/nikki-haley-speaks-at-south-carolina-campaign-rally-transcript, archived at <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/H3VE-94N7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/perma.cc\/H3VE-94N7<\/a>.[\/footnote]\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">The four parallel phrases (each beginning with \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">you\u2019ve got<\/span>\u201d) amplified anxiety about the country\u2019s vulnerable and perilous state. They also invited listeners to join in the rhythm created, leading them to conclude that the country needs better leadership. Her final sentence bluntly ended the rhythm by blaming President Joe Biden for the calamities when she referenced his decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan in 2021.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Repetition<\/h3>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\">When using <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">repetition<\/strong><\/span>, a speaker restates a word, sentence, idea, or theme. Repetition can emphasize a point and improve its retention. We often hear political leaders, for example, sprinkle a repeated phrase throughout their comments or even just within a sentence or paragraph.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 16.4 Repetition in Practice<\/strong>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_182\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"375\"]<img class=\"wp-image-182\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image138.png\" alt=\"Al Shaprton\" width=\"375\" height=\"250\" \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Reverend_Al_Sharpton_speaking_outside_the_Hennepin_County_Government_Center_in_Minneapolis,_Minnesota_(51081587603).jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Reverend Al Sharpton<\/a> by Lorie Shaull via Wikimedia Commons, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/2.0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY-SA<\/a>.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nIn August 2020, civil rights protesters organized a March on Washington in response to George Floyd and other Black Americans who died at the hands of police officers. During the event, <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId240\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/XC8A-J53F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">Reverend Al Sharpton addressed<\/span><\/a><\/span> the crowd from the same spot where Martin Luther King Jr. spoke in 1963 during the original March on Washington. At one point, Sharpton repeated a word to advocate for racial justice and police reform: \u201cThey keep telling me about how it\u2019s a shame that Black parents have to have \u2018the <strong>conversation<\/strong>\u2019 with our children, how we have to explain if a cop stops you, don\u2019t reach for the glove compartment, don\u2019t talk back, the <strong>conversation<\/strong>. Well, we\u2019ve had the <strong>conversation<\/strong> for decades. It\u2019s time we have a <strong>conversation<\/strong> with America. We need to have a <strong>conversation<\/strong> about your racism, about your bigotry, about your hate, about how you would put your knee on our neck while we cry for our lives. We need a new <strong>conversation<\/strong>.\u201d[footnote]Al Sharpton, \u201c2020 March on Washington\" (transcript, Washington, DC, August 28, 2020), <em>Rev<\/em>, https:\/\/www.rev.com\/transcripts\/al-sharpton-speech-transcript-2020-march-on-washington, archived at <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/XC8A-J53F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/perma.cc\/XC8A-J53F<\/a>.[\/footnote]\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Sharpton\u2019s repeated use of \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">conversation<\/span>\u201d cleverly shifted responsibility from Black parents to the broader country for keeping Black children safe during police interactions. It also created a sense of urgency for reform and built a connection with the audience through shared frustrations.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Antithesis<\/h3>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Antithesis<\/strong><\/span> is the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas, typically in the same sentence. For example, in his inaugural address, former President John F. Kennedy famously stated, \u201cAsk not what your country can do for you\u2014ask what you can do for your country.\u201d[footnote]John F. Kennedy, \u201cInaugural Address, January 20, 1961,\u201d in <em>American Speeches: Political Oratory from Abraham Lincoln to Bill Clinton<\/em>, ed. Ted Widmer (New York: Library of America, 2006), 538.[\/footnote] The contrasting commands (\u201cAsk not\u201d and \u201cask\u201d) and the flipped positioning of words (\u201ccountry\u201d and \u201cyou\u201d) are catchy to the ear and invite the audience to rethink a familiar idea.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 16.5 Antithesis in Practice<\/strong>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_183\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"170\"]<img class=\"wp-image-183\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image139.png\" alt=\"Malcolm X\" width=\"170\" height=\"275\" \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/picryl.com\/media\/malcolm-x-nywts-6824df\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Malcom X<\/a>, Library of Congress via Picryl, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/public-domain\/pdm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Public Domain<\/a>.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nCivil rights activist and Nation of Islam leader <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId242\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/L426-BJAE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">Malcolm X delivered a famous speech, \u201cThe Ballot or the Bullet,\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/span> in 1964. He used a powerful antithesis wherein he contrasted a hopeful and patriotic sense of America (and identifying as American) with a cruel and exploitative characterization of the country: \u201cNo, I\u2019m not an American. I\u2019m one of the 22 million black people who are the victims of Americanism. One of the 22 million black people who are the victims of democracy, nothing but disguised hypocrisy. So, I\u2019m not standing here speaking to you as an American, or a patriot, or a flag-saluter, or a flag-waver\u2014no, not I. I\u2019m speaking as a victim of this American system. And I see America through the eyes of the victim. I don\u2019t see any <strong>American dream<\/strong>; I see an <strong>American nightmare<\/strong>.\u201d[footnote]Malcolm X, \u201cThe Ballot or the Bullet,\u201d in <em>American Speeches: Political Oratory from Abraham Lincoln to Bill Clinton<\/em>, ed. Ted Widmer (New York: Library of America, 2006), 576.[\/footnote]\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">The contrasting views of America climaxed in the last sentence with the direct antithesis between the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">dream and nightmare<\/span>. The \u201cAmerican dream\u201d was no doubt familiar to his audience, but the \u201cAmerican nightmare,\u201d he argued, was his and other African Americans\u2019 experience. His use of antithesis highlighted the difference between white and Black Americans\u2019 lives, bringing sharp clarity and emotional intensity to the distinction.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Alliteration<\/h3>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Alliteration<\/strong><\/span> is the repetition of a single consonant in a sentence or series of sentences. It\u2019s prominent in tongue twisters such as \u201cPeter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.\u201d Alliteration is also frequently featured in songs and poetry because it can be melodic. In speeches, alliteration prompts us to repeat a phrase over in our minds.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 16.6 Alliteration in Practice<\/strong>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_184\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"306\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-184\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image140.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"306\" height=\"250\" \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Dolores_Huerta_(25854563002).jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dolores Huerta<\/a> by Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/2.0\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY-SA<\/a>.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nBeginning in the 1960s, Dolores Huerta helped farmworkers organize to advocate for better working conditions and payment. She cofounded the United Farmworker\u2019s Association with Cesar Chavez in 1962 and helped organize several grape boycotts. In 1969, <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId244\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/6NYG-HPAB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">her proclamation of one such boycott<\/span><\/a><\/span> included the following: \u201cWe did not choose the grape boycott, but we had chosen to leave our <strong>peonage<\/strong>, <strong>poverty<\/strong> and despair behind.\u2026The boycott was the only way forward the growers left to us. We called upon our fellow men and were answered by consumers who said\u2014as all men [<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">sic<\/em><\/span>] of conscience must\u2014that they would no longer allow their tables to be <strong>subsidized<\/strong> by our <strong>sweat<\/strong> and our <strong>sorrow<\/strong>: They shunned the grapes, fruit of our affliction.\u201d[footnote]Delores Huerta, \u201cProclamation of the Delano Grape Workers for International Boycott Day<em>,\u201d <\/em><em>Digital History<\/em>, May 10, 1969, https:\/\/www.digitalhistory.uh.edu\/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&amp;psid=613, archived at <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/6NYG-HPAB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/perma.cc\/6NYG-HPAB<\/a>.[\/footnote]\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Her use of \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">peonage<\/span>\u201d and \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">poverty<\/span>\u201d as well as \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">subsidized by our sweat and sorrow<\/span>\u201d illustrates alliteration by the repeated use of the letters <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">p<\/em><\/span> and <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">s<\/em><\/span>. These repetitions helped make the statements melodic and memorable, thus augmenting their persuasiveness concerning the plight of farmworkers at the time.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\"><em>Visualization<\/em><\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image141.png\" alt=\"image\" width=\"125.666666666667px\" height=\"125.666666666667px\" \/>In addition to rhythm, stylistic language offers audiences visualization through vivid imagery. Such language heightens audience interest and helps an audience\u2019s understanding and retention. Many stylistic devices can be used for visualization; here we highlight five: concrete language, visual imagery, simile, metaphor, and personification.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Concrete Language<\/h3>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Concrete language<\/strong><\/span> includes words that ground ideas in examples from the physical world. Good speakers move up and down the ladder of abstraction as they discuss their ideas. We can take the concept of transportation as an example. We can imagine a speaker discussing transportation and, as they do, also discussing automobiles, then American-made cars, and finally, Ralph\u2019s beat-up 1975 metallic blue Ford Maverick. By moving \u201cdown\u201d the ladder of abstraction, the speaker will make the concept of transportation concrete and easier for the audience to understand.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 16.7 Concrete Language in Practice<\/strong>\r\n\r\nWe find a gripping example of concrete language in <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId247\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/7UG8-WQC7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">President <\/span><span class=\"import-url\">Ronald <\/span><span class=\"import-url\">Reagan\u2019s 1984 speech<\/span><\/a><\/span> on the fortieth anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy by American and Allied forces during World War II. He spoke at Pointe-du-Hoc, where American Rangers climbed the one-hundred-foot cliffs under heavy fire to take the strategic location during the invasion. Some of the surviving Army Rangers were seated before him as he spoke.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_186\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"334\"]<img class=\"wp-image-186\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image142.png\" alt=\"Ronald Reagan speaking at a podium outdoors\" width=\"334\" height=\"500\" \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/nara.getarchive.net\/media\/president-ronald-reagan-speaks-during-a-ceremony-commemorating-the-40th-anniversary-36d362\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">President Ronald Reagan<\/a>, The U.S. National Archives via NARA &amp; DVIDS Public Domain Archive, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/public-domain\/pdm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Public Domain<\/a>.[\/caption]\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Reagan first described the events abstractly as when \u201cthe Allies stood and fought against tyranny\u201d and the particular battle as when the Rangers \u201cbegan to seize back the continent of Europe.\u201d But then he turned to very concrete language to describe this battle:<\/p>\r\n\r\n<blockquote>We stand on a lonely, windswept point on the northern shore of France. The air is soft, but 40 years ago at this moment, the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">air was dense with smoke and the cries of men<\/strong><\/span>, and the air was filled with the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">crack of rifle fire and the roar of cannon<\/strong><\/span>. At <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">dawn<\/strong><\/span>, on the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">morning of the 6th of June, 1944, 225 Rangers<\/strong><\/span> jumped off the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">British landing craft<\/strong><\/span> and <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">ran to the bottom of these cliffs<\/strong><\/span>. Their mission was one of the most difficult and daring of the invasion: to climb these <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">sheer and desolate cliffs<\/strong><\/span> and take out the enemy guns. The Allies had been told that some of the mightiest of these guns were here and they would be trained on the beaches to stop the Allied advance.[footnote]Ronald Reagan, \u201cRemarks at a Ceremony Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion, D-Day\u201d (transcript, Normandy, France, June 6, 1984), <em>Ronald Reagan Presidential Library &amp; Museum Archives<\/em>, https:\/\/www.reaganlibrary.gov\/archives\/speech\/remarks-ceremony-commemorating-40th-anniversary-normandy-invasion-d-day, archived at <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/7UG8-WQC7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/perma.cc\/7UG8-WQC7<\/a>.[\/footnote]<\/blockquote>\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">This powerful passage helps us appreciate how concrete language can clarify and drive home a much more abstract point.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Visual Imagery<\/h3>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Visual imagery<\/strong><\/span> is a way to describe ideas with word pictures so your audience can see in their mind\u2019s eye a double-decker bus traveling through downtown London or a seagull flying in the sky above the beach in Santa Monica, California. The idea is to help your audience see, hear, and even smell and taste what you describe.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 16.8 Visual Imagery in Practice<\/strong>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_187\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"500\"]<img class=\"wp-image-187\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image143.png\" alt=\"George W Bush\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/picryl.com\/media\/911-president-george-w-bush-addresses-joint-session-of-congress-938954\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">President George W. Bush<\/a>, The U.S. National Archives via Picryl, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/public-domain\/pdm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Public Domain<\/a>.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nIn his <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId249\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/R5ZB-N9MP\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">September 20, 2001<\/span><span class=\"import-url\">,<\/span><span class=\"import-url\"> State of the Union address to Congress<\/span><\/a><\/span>, President George W. Bush began with powerful visual imagery to help Americans see the country\u2019s condition just nine days after the terrorist attacks of 9\/11:\r\n<blockquote>Mr. Speaker, Mr. President Pro Tempore, members of Congress, and fellow Americans, in the normal course of events, presidents come to this chamber to report on the state of the union. Tonight, no such report is needed; it has already been delivered by the American people.\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">We have seen it in the courage of <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">passengers who rushed terrorists<\/strong><\/span> to save others on the ground. Passengers like an exceptional man named Todd Beamer. And would you please help me welcome his wife Lisa Beamer here tonight?<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">We have seen the state of our union in the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">endurance of rescuers working past exhaustion<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">We\u2019ve seen the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">unfurling of flags, the lighting of candles, the giving of blood, the saying of prayers in English, Hebrew, and Arabic<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">We have seen the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">decency of a loving and giving people who have made the grief of strangers their own<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">My fellow citizens, for the last nine days, the entire world has seen for itself the state of our union, and it is strong.[footnote]George W. Bush, \u201cAddress to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People\u201d (transcript, Washington, DC, September 20, 2001), <em>President George W. Bush White House Archives<\/em>, <a href=\"https:\/\/georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov\/news\/releases\/2001\/09\/20010920-8.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov\/news\/releases\/2001\/09\/20010920-8.html<\/a>.[\/footnote]<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Here President Bush used visual descriptions of actions his listeners could actually see in their minds to capture an abstract idea\u2014that the state of the union of the United States was strong.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Simile and Metaphor<\/h3>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Metaphor<\/strong><strong class=\"import-b\">s<\/strong><\/span> and similes compare things that are essentially different. <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Similes<\/strong><\/span> make the comparisons <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">explicit<\/em><\/span> through keywords (e.g., \u201clike\u201d or \u201cas\u201d). For example, the great boxer Muhammad Ali described his boxing style in this way: \u201cFloat like a butterfly, sting like a bee.\u201d Metaphors make comparisons <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">implicitly<\/em><\/span>. Box 16.9 provides examples of metaphors.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 16.9 Metaphor in Practice<\/strong>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_188\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"256\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-188\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image144.png\" alt=\"Ben Shapiro\" width=\"256\" height=\"356\" \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Ben_Shapiro_by_Gage_Skidmore_2.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ben Shapiro<\/a> by Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY-SA<\/a>.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nIn 2024, <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId251\" href=\"https:\/\/lexfridman.com\/ben-shapiro-destiny-debate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro debated liberal political commentator Steven Bonnell, who goes by Destiny<\/span><\/a><\/span>. While talking about the idea of free school meals to improve students\u2019 education, Shapiro argued that improvements need to occur at a deeper level (such as increasing two-parent households). He explained, \u201cIt seems to me that one of the big flaws in the way that many people of the left approach government is, \u2018What if we <strong>hit every gnat with a hammer<\/strong>?\u2019 And my question is, what if the gnat isn\u2019t even the problem? What if there is a much bigger substructure problem.\u2026<strong>If you\u2019re shifting deck chairs on the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">Titanic<\/em><\/span>, sure, you can make the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">Titanic<\/em><\/span> slightly more balanced because the deck chairs are slightly better oriented. But the real question is the water that\u2019s gaping into the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">Titanic<\/em><\/span>, right?<\/strong>\u201d[footnote]Lex Fridman, host, <em>Lex Fridman Podcast, <\/em>episode 410, \"Ben Shapiro vs. Destiny Debate: Politics, Jan 6, Israel, Ukraine and Wokeism,\" January 23 2024, <a href=\"https:\/\/lexfridman.com\/ben-shapiro-destiny-debate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/lexfridman.com\/ben-shapiro-destiny-debate\/<\/a>.[\/footnote]\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Here Shapiro <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">compared student hunger to a gnat<\/span> and <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">free school meals to a hammer and then to <em>Titanic<\/em>\u2019s deck chairs<\/span>. In doing so, he helped listeners perceive meal programs as an excessively inefficient effort to target a minuscule contributor to poor student performance while ignoring the much bigger, more pressing cause.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Personification<\/h3>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Personification<\/strong><\/span> involves referring to an inanimate object or an abstract concept as if it were alive. Most often, personification works by giving human characteristics or abilities to something that is not human. For example, \u201cTradition richly rewards those who stick to the path she has set.\u201d Here tradition is characterized as a person with the power to reward.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 16.10 Personification in Practice<\/strong>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_189\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"400\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-189\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image145.png\" alt=\"Kamala Harris\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/113325057@N03\/33725785688\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kamala Harris<\/a> by Adam Schultz \/ Biden for President via Flickr, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/2.0\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY-NC-SA<\/a>.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nIn 2020, then\u2013Senator Kamala Harris made history by being the first woman to be elected vice president of the United States. She was also the first Black person and Asian American to be vice president. In 2024, she became the first Black woman and Asian American to be a major party\u2019s presidential candidate.\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">In her <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId254\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/C9PN-TT7T\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">victory speech given on November 7, 2020<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Harris celebrated becoming vice president and inspired children to recognize the US as a \u201ccountry of possibilities.\u201d She added, \u201cAnd to the children of our country, regardless of your gender, <strong>our country has sent you a clear message<\/strong>: Dream with ambition, lead with conviction, and see yourself in a way that others might not see you, simply because they\u2019ve never seen it before. And we will applaud you every step of the way.\u201d[footnote]Kamala Harris, \u201c<span class=\"gtOSm FbbUW tUtYa vOCwz EQwFq yCufu eEak Qmvg nyTIa SRXVc vzLa jgBfc WXDas CiUCW kqbG zrdEG txGfn ygKVe BbezD UOtxr CVfpq xijV soGRS XgdC sEIlf daWqJ \">Speech after Historic Election Win\u201d<\/span>\u00a0(transcript, Washington DC, November 7, 2020), <em>ABC News,<\/em> https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Politics\/read-kamala-harris-full-speech-historic-election-win\/story?id=74084644, archived at <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/C9PN-TT7T\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/perma.cc\/C9PN-TT7T<\/a>.[\/footnote]<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">In stating that <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">the country had sent children a message<\/span>, she personified the country to make the positive message for young people more vivid. She presented the whole country as speaking directly to young kids with dreams.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n<p class=\"import-sbh\"><strong>Box 16.11 Stylistic Devices<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n<table>\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr class=\"TableGrid-R\">\r\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\r\n<p class=\"import-tch\"><strong>Rhythm<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\r\n<p class=\"import-tch\"><strong>Visualization<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\r\n<p class=\"import-tch\"><strong>Argumentation<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\r\n<p class=\"import-tch\"><strong>Community<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr class=\"TableGrid-R\">\r\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\r\n<p class=\"import-td\">Parallelism<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\r\n<p class=\"import-td\">Concrete language<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\r\n<p class=\"import-td\">Irony<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\r\n<p class=\"import-td\">Inclusive pronouns<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr class=\"TableGrid-R\">\r\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\r\n<p class=\"import-td\">Repetition<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\r\n<p class=\"import-td\">Visual imagery<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\r\n<p class=\"import-td\">Satire<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\r\n<p class=\"import-td\">Gender-neutral language<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr class=\"TableGrid-R\">\r\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\r\n<p class=\"import-td\">Antithesis<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\r\n<p class=\"import-td\">Simile and metaphor<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\r\n<p class=\"import-td\">Reference to the unusual<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\r\n<p class=\"import-td\">Maxim<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr class=\"TableGrid-R\">\r\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\r\n<p class=\"import-td\">Alliteration<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\r\n<p class=\"import-td\">Personification<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\r\n<p class=\"import-td\"><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\r\n<p class=\"import-td\">Ideograph<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\"><em>Argumentation<\/em><\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image146.png\" alt=\"image\" width=\"110.8px\" height=\"110.8px\" \/>A third function of stylistic language is to enhance argumentation. In other words, style choices themselves can help argue your case. Ideally, <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">all<\/em><\/span> stylistic language contributes to this end, but some devices do this particularly effectively. Metaphor is one device we have already discussed. Beyond metaphor, additional elements of style that directly advance argumentation include irony, satire, and reference to the unusual.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Irony<\/h3>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Irony<\/strong><\/span> is the use of words in a way that is the opposite of their intended or normal use. For example, when someone says to you \u201cnice shot\u201d in a basketball game when the ball entirely misses the rim and backboard, they have employed irony. This technique functions as argument insofar as it offers an unexpected or surprising perspective on the underlying thought.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 16.12 Irony in Practice<\/strong>\r\n\r\nFrederick Douglass, an African American and former slave, was asked to speak in celebration of Independence Day in Rochester, New York, on July 5, 1852. <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId256\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/MJE2-HBN6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">His speech, \u201cWhat to the Slave <\/span><span class=\"import-url\">Is <\/span><span class=\"import-url\">the 4th of July?\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/span> is recognized as one of the greatest speeches in American history.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_191\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"256\"]<img class=\"wp-image-191 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image147.png\" alt=\"Frederick Douglass\" width=\"256\" height=\"337\" \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Frederick_Douglass_MET_DT1144_Retouched_by_N-Shea.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Frederick Douglass<\/a>, Metropolitan Museum of Art via Wikimedia Commons, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Public Doman<\/a>.[\/caption]\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Douglass answered the question in the speech\u2019s title by noting that, <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">ironically<\/strong><\/span>, it is a day that points out more than any other day of the year \u201cthe gross injustice and cruelty to which [the slave] is the constant victim.\u201d He called out the disparity between his white audience members who enjoyed freedom and African American slaves who experienced oppression and brutalization: \u201cThe rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me.\u201d He continued: \u201cThis Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. <strong>Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak today?<\/strong>\u201d[footnote]Frederick Douglass, \u201cWhat to the Slave Is the 4th of July?\" (transcript, Rochester, NY, July 5, 1852), <em>EDSITEment: The Best of the Humanities on the Web<\/em>, https:\/\/edsitement.neh.gov\/student-activities\/frederick-douglasss-what-slave-fourth-july, archived at <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/MJE2-HBN6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/perma.cc\/MJE2-HBN6<\/a>.[\/footnote]<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Douglass ended this passage with an <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">ironic question<\/span>. He was not actually asking his audience to answer, and he presumably knew they did not mean to mock him. By employing irony, Douglass highlighted ongoing injustice and shifted the audience\u2019s emotions from celebrating America\u2019s freedom from British rule to shamefully condemning the country for hypocritically maintaining slavery.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Satire<\/h3>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Satire<\/strong><\/span> is a particular form of ridicule that is typically used to attack people or ideas or to highlight human vices and failings. Rather than a specific speech element, satire often characterizes the entirety of a piece of discourse.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 16.13 Satire in Practice<\/strong>\r\n\r\nAustralian comedian Hannah Gadsby frequently employs satire in their performances. In a <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId258\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/C2NF-DFQH\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">2024 Netflix Special called <\/span><em class=\"import-url-i\">Gender Agenda<\/em><\/a><\/span>, Gatsby showcased several queer comedians but opened the show with their own spot.\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">During their comedic monologue, Gadsby referenced public debates about transgender athletes and, in particular, some male critics\u2019 objections to trans female athletes participating in women\u2019s sports: <strong>\u201cI think it\u2019s adorable how so many men are all of a sudden very concerned about women\u2019s sport. That\u2019s new. That\u2019s real new. The idea that men are transitioning to become women so they can dominate <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">women\u2019s<\/em><\/span> sports. Like, you know, pick up all those amazing perks you get in women\u2019s sports!\u2026Women get <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">all<\/em><\/span> the perks. They get kisses and everything.\u201d<\/strong>[footnote]Hannah Gadsby, \"Hannah Gadsby's Gender Agenda,\" Netflix stand-up special, 2024, https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/watch\/81607199?trackId=268410292&amp;tctx=0%2C0%2C856d1017-c5d3-4bd6-add5-7bae4235b041-362449649%2C856d1017-c5d3-4bd6-add5-7bae4235b041-362449649%7C2%2Cunknown%2C%2C%2CtitlesResults%2C81607199%2CVideo%3A81607199%2CminiDpPlayButton, archived at <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/C2NF-DFQH\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/perma.cc\/C2NF-DFQH<\/a>.[\/footnote]<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Gadsby used satire to <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">ridicule male critics\u2019 concerns as disingenuous and wrongheaded<\/span>. The satire prompted laughter at the critics, but it also held up for scrutiny a broader cultural devaluing of women\u2019s sports. The comedian added irony to satire with the last sentence. It referenced the notorious kiss that former president of Spain\u2019s soccer federation Luis Rubiales gave (without consent) to player Jenni Hermoso after her team won the Women\u2019s World Cup in 2023.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Reference to the Unusual<\/h3>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\">In making use of a <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">reference to the unusual<\/strong><\/span>, a speaker includes an unbelievable story or a startling statistic or fact to catch people\u2019s attention and interest. The uniqueness and often surprising nature of such references encourage audience members to process and reflect on the reference.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 16.14 Reference to the Unusual in Practice<\/strong>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_193\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"256\"]<img class=\"wp-image-193 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image149.png\" alt=\"RuPaul speaking at at Dragcon \" width=\"256\" height=\"346\" \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:RuPaul_at_Dragcon_2019_by_dvsross_(cropped).jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">RuPaul<\/a> by dvsross via Wikimedia Commons, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY<\/a>.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nRuPaul Andres Charles (known simply as \u201cRuPaul\u201d) became nationally famous in the 1980s and 1990s as a drag queen who appeared in films and television shows and even recorded popular music. In 2009, he developed and starred in the competition television show <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race<\/em><\/span>, which has aired for many seasons.\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">In 2021, RuPaul hosted <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">Saturday Night Live<\/em><\/span>. During <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId261\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/GD85-A4WV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">his opening monologue<\/span><\/a><\/span>, RuPaul introduced himself: \u201cMy name is Ru which is short for <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race<\/em><\/span>. Now, for anyone who\u2019s not familiar with my show, how dare you? And second of all, let me break it down for you in terms you can understand. So our girls <strong>gag<\/strong> us with their <strong>eleganza<\/strong>, <strong>death drop<\/strong> for the children, and <strong>slay<\/strong> the house down, <strong>boots<\/strong>. Make sense?\u201d[footnote]RuPaul, \u201cMonologue\u201d (transcript, New York, NY, February 21, 2020), <em>SNL Transcripts Tonight<\/em>, http:\/\/snltranscripts.jt.org\/2020\/rupaul-monologue.phtml, archived at <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/GD85-A4WV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/perma.cc\/GD85-A4WV<\/a>.[\/footnote]<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">RuPaul\u2019s description of the popular show used unusual language for anyone unfamiliar with it. The <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">vocabulary<\/span>\u2014\u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">eleganza<\/span>,\u201d \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">death drop<\/span>,\u201d \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">slay<\/span>,\u201d \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">boots<\/span>,\u201d and so on\u2014likely piqued the curiosity and interest of novices as it demonstrated the drama and playfulness of drag. It simultaneously enabled devotees of the show to feel like true insiders of drag culture.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\"><em>Community<\/em><\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image150.png\" alt=\"image\" width=\"110.8px\" height=\"110.8px\" \/>Finally, speakers can utilize stylistic devices to create or reinforce the idea of <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">community<\/em><\/span>. Such devices are used to bring audiences together for a common cause or concern or to create separation between one audience (\u201cus\u201d) and an oppositional group (\u201cthem\u201d). We might think about how speakers use stylistic devices to unite or differentiate their direct audience from their implied audience (referenced in the speech) and implicated audience (impacted by the message if it succeeds). Language tools that accomplish such ends include the use of inclusive pronouns, gender-neutral language, maxims, and ideographs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Inclusive Pronouns<\/h3>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Inclusive pronouns<\/strong><\/span> are pronouns that create community and unity between the speaker and their direct audience and can be extended to include their implied and implicated audiences. Most prominently inclusive pronouns are the terms <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">we<\/em><\/span>, <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">us<\/em><\/span>, and <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">our<\/em><\/span>. The terms are used to create identity and put the speaker in league with their audiences, expressing shared purpose and concern, which can be particularly useful when a community experiences division.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 16.15 Inclusive Pronouns in Practice<\/strong>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_195\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"256\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-195\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image151.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"256\" height=\"341\" \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Steve_Gleason_(49396121841).jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Steve Gleason<\/a> by Senate Democrats via Wikimedia Commons, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY<\/a>.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nIn 2024, Steve Gleason won the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs. The former football player was diagnosed with ALS in 2011 and later formed Team Gleason to inspire other ALS sufferers to live meaningful lives. <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId264\" href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/new-orleans\/2024\/07\/12\/steve-gleason-transcript-espys-acceptance-speech\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">Gleason delivered his award acceptance speech<\/span><\/a><\/span> from a wheelchair and through a speech-generating device.\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">He quickly pivoted, though, from talking about his own experience with ALS to \u201call of you who experience fear and suffering.\u201d Referring to everyone in his direct, and possibly implied, audiences, he went on to say, \u201cIt\u2019s clear to me that <strong>our<\/strong> ability to courageously share <strong>our<\/strong> vulnerabilities with each other is <strong>our<\/strong> greatest strength. By doing this, <strong>we\u2019re<\/strong> able to understand the issue compassionately, collaborate with each other to solve problems and overcome fear.\u201d[footnote]Steve Gleason, \u201cAcceptance Speech for the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs\u201d (transcript, Hollywood, CA, July 11, 2024), <em>Axios<\/em>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/new-orleans\/2024\/07\/12\/steve-gleason-transcript-espys-acceptance-speech\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/new-orleans\/2024\/07\/12\/steve-gleason-transcript-espys-acceptance-speech<\/a>.[\/footnote]<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">In making use of the inclusive pronouns <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">\u201cour\u201d<\/span> and <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">\u201cwe,\u201d<\/span> Gleason abolished divisions between people with ALS and people who have not developed ALS, and he bonded them together through shared experiences of fear. He used that bond to encourage his audience(s) to work together in more compassionate and collaborative ways in the future.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Gender-Neutral Language<\/h3>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\"><img class=\"alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image152.png\" alt=\"image\" width=\"105.866666666667px\" height=\"137.333333333333px\" \/><\/strong><strong class=\"import-b\">Gender-neutral language<\/strong><\/span> refers to words that do not specify a particular gender. The meaning of gender-neutral language expanded during the twenty-first century.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-p0\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Initially, it referred to language choices that do not explicitly or implicitly favor one gender over another. So, for example, instead of using terms like \u201cpoliceman,\u201d speakers should say \u201cpolice officer\u201d to avoid gendering the word as male. Speakers also should not make gender-biased assumptions, such as referring to nurses as female and to doctors as male.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-p0\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Today, gender-neutral language also includes pronoun use. <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId266\" href=\"https:\/\/owl.purdue.edu\/owl\/general_writing\/grammar\/pronouns\/gendered_pronouns_and_singular_they.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">The Purdue Online Writing Lab<\/span><\/a><\/span>, which many teachers and scholars turn to for guidance, explains:<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-bqf\" style=\"margin-left: 18pt; margin-right: 18pt; text-indent: 0pt;\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">H<\/em><em class=\"import-i\">e<\/em><\/span> and <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">she<\/em><\/span> are not sufficient to describe the genders of all people, because not all people identify as either male or female. As such, the phrase \u201che or she\u201d does not cover the full range of persons.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_197\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-197\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image153.png\" alt=\"Circle with &quot;they,&quot; &quot;them,&quot; &quot;their&quot; inside\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/lyricsofmylife\/40628812023\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Image<\/a> by Kira Josie Murphy via Flickr, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/2.0\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY-NC-SA<\/a>.[\/caption]\r\n<p class=\"import-bq\" style=\"margin-left: 18pt; margin-right: 18pt; text-indent: 36pt;\">The alternative pronoun most commonly used is <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">they<\/em><\/span>, often referred to as <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">singular they<\/em><\/span>. Here\u2019s an example:<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-bql\" style=\"margin-left: 18pt; margin-right: 18pt; text-indent: 36pt;\">Someone left <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">his or her<\/em><\/span> backpack behind. \u2192 Someone left <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">their<\/em><\/span> backpack behind.[footnote]\u201cGendered Pronouns and the Singular \u2018They,\u2019\u201d Purdue Online Writing Lab, <a href=\"https:\/\/owl.purdue.edu\/owl\/general_writing\/grammar\/pronouns\/gendered_pronouns_and_singular_they.html#:~:text=When%20individuals%20whose%20gender%20is,range%20of%20people%20and%20identities\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/owl.purdue.edu\/owl\/general_writing\/grammar\/pronouns\/gendered_pronouns_and_singular_they.html#:~:text=When%20individuals%20whose%20gender%20is,range%20of%20people%20and%20identities<\/a>.[\/footnote]<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-p0\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">As part of adopting an effective and ethical speaking style, then, you should use a person\u2019s preferred pronouns to refer to them\u2014whether they are in your direct audience or part of your implied or implicated audiences. If their pronoun is unknown, then default to the neutral and singular \u201cthey.\u201d Using singular \u201cthey\u201d avoids the risk of misgendering someone and\/or creating divisions rather than unity within a community.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 16.16 Using \u201cThey\u201d as Singular<\/strong>\r\n\r\nIf it sounds oddly new or incorrect to use \u201cthey\u201d for an individual, it\u2019s not!\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>The singular \u201cthey\u201d first appeared in writing at least as far back as the fourteenth century.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>In 2019, Merriam-Webster added the singular \u201cthey\u201d to the dictionary and made it the \u201cword of the year.\u201d<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Maxim<\/h3>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\">A <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">maxim<\/strong><\/span> is a statement of a general truth or rule of conduct believed by a culture, such as \u201cthe best defense is a good offense.\u201d A maxim makes a main point accessible and memorable for the audience. However, don\u2019t overuse this device or else your speech may seem trite or vacuous.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 16.17 Maxim in Practice<\/strong>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_198\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"378\"]<img class=\"wp-image-198 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image154.png\" alt=\"Michelle Obama \" width=\"378\" height=\"491\" \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Michelle_Obama_DNC_July_2016_(cropped).jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Michelle Obama<\/a> by Ali Shaker\/VOA via Wikimedia Commons, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/public-domain\/pdm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Public Domain<\/a>.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nIn her <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId268\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/4A6X-96MZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">speech to the 2016 Democratic National Convention<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Michelle Obama sought to respond positively to the negative political talk and growing polarization in the country.\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Her efforts were noteworthy given her role as First Lady at the time and given the persistent and unfounded claims by critics that Barack Obama was not a United States citizen and therefore not eligible to hold the office of president.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Michelle Obama used a maxim to express what she believed is the most effective way to respond to untrue and hateful political claims: <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">\u201cWhen they go low, we go high.\u201d<\/strong>[footnote]Michelle Obama, \u201cRemarks by the First Lady at the Democratic National Convention 2016\u201d (transcript, Philadelphia, PA, July 25, 2016), <em>President Barack Obama White House Archives<\/em>, https:\/\/obamawhitehouse.archives.gov\/the-press-office\/2016\/07\/25\/remarks-first-lady-democratic-national-convention, archived at <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/4A6X-96MZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/perma.cc\/4A6X-96MZ<\/a>.[\/footnote]<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">This pithy phrase captured an honorable approach to politics in a polarized environment. Though it divided her direct audience (\u201cwe\u201d) from an implied audience (\u201cthey\u201d), it did so to encourage listeners to take the \u201chigh road\u201d in politics and not return insult for insult. Listeners could extend her advice to interactions with such implicated audiences as their coworkers, friends, and family members.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Ideograph<\/h3>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\">An <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">ideograph<\/strong><\/span> is a culturally specific term that has great emotive power because it represents a deeply held value or vice.[footnote]Michael Calvin McGee, \u201cThe \u2018Ideograph\u2019: A Link Between Rhetoric and Ideology,\u201d <em>Quarterly Journal of Speech<\/em> 66 (1980): 1\u201316.[\/footnote] Core positive ideographs in American culture include \"equality,\" \"freedom,\" \"liberty,\" and \"property.\" Core negative ideographs include \"terrorism,\" \"communism,\" and \"slavery.\" Appeals to such values and vices generally need little elaboration and are accepted easily as rallying points for what is <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">right<\/em><\/span> or <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">wrong<\/em><\/span> even though their exact meaning is vague and unclear.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 16.18 Ideographs in Practice<\/strong>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_199\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"400\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-199\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image155.png\" alt=\"President Donald Trump\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/190109359@N08\/53481310366\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">President Donald Trump<\/a> by Liam Enea via Flickr, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/2.0\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY-SA<\/a>.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nDuring his <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId271\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/07\/19\/us\/politics\/trump-rnc-speech-transcript.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">2024 acceptance speech as the Republican <\/span><span class=\"import-url\">presidential <\/span><span class=\"import-url\">candidate<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Donald Trump employed both positive and negative ideographs.\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">At one point he stated, \u201cToday, our cities are flooded with <strong>illegal aliens<\/strong>. Americans are being squeezed out of the labor force and their jobs are taken. By the way, you know who\u2019s taking the jobs, the jobs that are created? One hundred and seven percent of those jobs are taken by <strong>illegal aliens<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">The phrase \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">illegal aliens<\/span>\u201d functioned as an ideograph that likely triggered strongly negative and judgmental reactions about this implied and implicated audience. The label has become a kind of shorthand reference to people who are characterized as unwanted lawbreakers who don\u2019t belong in the US. By fomenting fear and anger toward them, the ideograph helped Trump make a case for his needed return as president.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">He later shifted to a positive ideograph when he proclaimed, \u201cSo tonight, whether you\u2019ve supported me in the past or not, I hope you will support me in the future, because I will bring back the <strong>American dream.<\/strong> That\u2019s what we\u2019re going to do. You don\u2019t even hear about the American dream anymore.\u201d[footnote]Donald Trump, \"Convention Speech\" (transcript, Milwaukee, WI, July 18 2024), <em>New York Times<\/em>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/07\/19\/us\/politics\/trump-rnc-speech-transcript.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/07\/19\/us\/politics\/trump-rnc-speech-transcript.html<\/a>.[\/footnote] The \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">American dream<\/span>\u201d represents a deeply, positively held vision and characterization of the country as a place of limitless possibilities. Trump\u2019s use of the phrase helped associate his candidacy with this vision.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">You can observe stylistic devices by examining the style of nearly any speech, from well-known presentations to everyday sermons and lectures. You may be surprised at the number and range of stylistic appeals in the discourse all around you.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 16.19 Using Stylistic Devices<\/strong>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Incorporate stylistic devices that will appeal to your audience.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Use stylistic devices in a manner that clarifies your points.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Adopt stylistic devices to capture and maintain audience attention.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Consider how stylistic devices can generate the best emotional tone for your speech.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Reflect on how the devices you choose will shape the perspectives of your audience.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Seek moderation in your use of stylistic devices.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--exercises\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\r\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Summary<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\">In this chapter, we have addressed style, or the language or expression a speaker uses to communicate with an audience. Thoughtfully choosing words can help speakers engage their audience while clarifying the content, eliciting listeners\u2019 emotions, and shaping their perspective. More specifically, this chapter has made the following clear:<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>The stylistic use of language serves the important goals of creating clarity, maintaining audience interest, evoking emotion, and creating perspective.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Stylistic devices are language techniques and literary tools that can be used to create a sense of rhythm (e.g., parallelism, repetition, antithesis, alliteration), enable visualization (e.g., concrete language, visual imagery, simile, metaphor, personification), enhance argumentation (e.g., irony, satire, reference to the unusual), and develop a sense of community (e.g., inclusive pronouns, gender-neutral language, maxims, ideographs).<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--key-takeaways\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\r\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Key Terms<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\r\n\r\nalliteration\r\nantithesis\r\nconcrete language\r\ngender-neutral language\r\nideograph\r\ninclusive pronouns\r\nirony\r\nmaxim\r\nmetaphor\r\nparallelism\r\npersonification\r\nreference to the unusual\r\nrepetition\r\nsatire\r\nsimile\r\nstylistic devices\r\nvisual imagery\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--examples\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\r\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Review Questions<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>What goals should a speaker try to accomplish through their style?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>What are four devices to generate rhythm discussed in this chapter?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>What are five ways to foster visualization?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>What are the three devices mentioned to aid argumentation?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>What are four ways to build community through language choices?<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--examples\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\r\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Discussion Questions<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Think of a public presentation that had a particularly strong style. Which devices did the speaker use? What was their impact on the message and audience?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>What kind of style have you developed for presentations in the past? What kind of language did you use? How would you like to improve your style?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>How does\u2014or should\u2014style change based on the audience, setting, and occasion?<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox textbox--learning-objectives\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Chapter Objectives<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\n<p class=\"import-pf\">Students will:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Assess a speech\u2019s style for how well it meets four core goals.<\/li>\n<li>Identify and distinguish common stylistic devices.<\/li>\n<li>Employ stylistic devices in a presentation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure id=\"attachment_177\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-177\" style=\"width: 375px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img class=\"wp-image-177\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image133.png\" alt=\"Photo looking down at the tops of several soda cans\" width=\"375\" height=\"247\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image133.png 537w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image133-300x198.png 300w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image133-65x43.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image133-225x148.png 225w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image133-350x231.png 350w\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-177\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/freerangestock.com\/photos\/90474\/close-up-of-many-cans-of-soda.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Many Cans of Soda<\/a> by Freerange Public Domain Archives, <a href=\"\/\/creativecommons.org\/public-domain\/pdm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Public Domain<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"import-p0\" style=\"text-indent: 0pt;\">If you live in the United States and speak English, do you use the word \u201cpop,\u201d \u201csoda,\u201d or \u201ccoke\u201d to refer to a sweetened carbonated beverage? What kind of shoes do you wear: sneakers or tennis shoes? When you want to get others\u2019 attention, do you say \u201cyou guys\u201d or \u201cy\u2019all\u201d?<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-p0\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">These are just a few of the questions linguists Bert Vaux and Scott Golder asked Americans across the country in the early 2000s. Graphic artist Josh Katz updated and illustrated the responses with <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId234\" href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/american-english-dialects-maps-2018-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">colorful maps<\/span><\/a><\/span> for his 2016 book <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">Speaking American<\/em><\/span>. As you might expect, US residents differ considerably in their responses depending on where they live.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Mark Abadi, \u201c27 Fascinating Maps That Show How Americans Speak English Differently Across the US,\u201d Business Insider, January 3, 2018, http:\/\/businessinsider.com\/american-english-dialects-maps-2018-1.\" id=\"return-footnote-480-1\" href=\"#footnote-480-1\" aria-label=\"Footnote 1\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[1]<\/sup><\/a> Your language probably reflects the words you heard where you grew up.<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-p0\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Of course, geographic region is just one of many factors that influence our word choice. Family upbringing, education, race, socioeconomic status, and age play roles too. Have you ever used popular slang terms with older adults, and they scratched their heads in confusion? If so, you know age contributes to language. What teenagers found \u201cboss\u201d in the 1960s, they called \u201crad\u201d in the 1980s, \u201csweet\u201d in the early 2000s, and \u201csigma\u201d in the 2020s. That is, each generation develops its own style.<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-p0\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\"><img class=\"alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image134.png\" alt=\"image\" width=\"128.6px\" height=\"128.6px\" \/>As defined in chapter 1, style is the language or expression we use\u2014the words we choose. Style can significantly influence a message\u2019s reception. To be an effective speaker, you must adopt a speaking style that suits your audience and purpose.<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-p0\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">In what follows, we discuss four goals for style in public speaking. We then explore a few of the most helpful stylistic devices speakers can use to fulfill those goals.<\/p>\n<h1 class=\"import-ah\">The Goals of Style in Presentations<\/h1>\n<p class=\"import-paft\">In everyday life, we often use style to mean how someone uniquely expresses themselves. Stylish people dress or walk in ways that exude sophistication, swag, or pizzazz. The same holds true for style in public speaking. A speaker who develops their personal speaking style is more likely to grab and hold their audience\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-p0\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">However, style can and should accomplish much more in public speaking. In this section, we discuss four desired outcomes of style: to create clarity, to maintain audience attention, to construct an appropriate mood or emotional state, and to generate a perspective on a topic for the audience. When we refer to the audience in this section, we are talking about your direct audience (unless we indicate otherwise). In chapter 10, we defined the direct audience as the people who are exposed to and attend to your speech.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\"><em>Clarity<\/em><\/h2>\n<p class=\"import-paft\">Aristotle claimed that making ideas clear to the listener was the proper goal and result of all stylistic choices.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Aristotle, On Rhetoric: A Theory of Civic Discourse, trans. George A. Kennedy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), sec. 1404b.\" id=\"return-footnote-480-2\" href=\"#footnote-480-2\" aria-label=\"Footnote 2\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[2]<\/sup><\/a> If a speech is composed primarily of technical terms, puzzling language, or unfamiliar words, audience members will not understand nor act upon the information presented. They will also not likely listen for very long.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\"><em>Attention<\/em><\/h2>\n<p class=\"import-paft\">Our language should capture and hold the attention of audience members. You have probably experienced boring or dry speakers. To be sure, this can be a product of delivery, but it is also an element of style. A speaker must create interesting, engaging images in our minds through words, such as by sharing vivid anecdotes, statistics, quotations, and rhetorical questions.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\"><em>Emotion<\/em><\/h2>\n<p class=\"import-paft\">Stylistic choices also help shape the emotional element of communication. Language can encourage listeners to overcome apathy by creating a feeling of intensity. Style also has the power to bring us together by emphasizing communal values and using inclusive words and phrases. Such feelings of unity can increase the persuasiveness of the message. Consequently, speakers must be ethical and reflective about the creation and use of such emotional bonds.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\"><em>Perspective Creation<\/em><\/h2>\n<p class=\"import-paft\">Finally, word selection has incredible power. Language shapes perspectives on the world\u2014an idea we have alluded to in previous chapters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Most of what we know we\u2019ve learned through words rather than firsthand experience. For example, many people know a good bit about the country of China, including specific features of the topography such as the Yangtze River and the Great Wall, the population size, and its dramatic economic development over the last several decades. However, relatively few have traveled to China and seen any of this firsthand.<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-p0\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Words even influence how we perceive and react to things we do experience firsthand. For example, students sometimes describe their college education like a product they are purchasing from a business: \u201cI need to get my money\u2019s worth.\u201d \u201cThe cost of time and money will pay off for me after graduation.\u201d This metaphor turns students into customers and professors into service providers. Their relationship becomes purely transactional (an exchange of goods for payment) instead of potentially transformational to achieve a shared vision.<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-p0\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">The words you choose to label or characterize your topic invite your audience to adopt a perspective on that issue. That means you must be especially thoughtful when talking about groups who are not part of your direct audience (and\/or who will be impacted by your message). In chapter 10, we labeled these groups your implied and implicated audiences. The words you choose to describe them will shape your and your direct audience\u2019s perspectives about them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-p0\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Style, then, is critical to forming your community\u2019s attitudes, thinking, and even desire to act. Read box 16.1 for an example of how word choices shape your and your direct audience\u2019s perspectives and actions.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 16.1 Word Choices Shape Perspectives and Actions<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_179\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-179\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-179\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image135.png\" alt=\"Drunk salary man sleeping outside\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image135.png 400w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image135-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image135-65x49.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image135-225x169.png 225w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image135-350x263.png 350w\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-179\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/113325057@N03\/33725785688\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Image<\/a> by Laurent Fintonivia Flickr, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/2.0\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY-NC-SA<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Imagine a drunk man sleeping in public.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A court judge walks by, sees this publicly intoxicated man, and thinks, \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Criminal<\/strong><\/span>.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>A priest walks by, sees the same man, and thinks, \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Sinner<\/strong><\/span>.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>A medical doctor passes by next and thinks, \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Sufferer<\/strong><\/span>.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>A business owner walks by and thinks, \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Loafer<\/strong><\/span>.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Four different words are used to label the same person in the same situation, and each of these words is likely accompanied by a whole vocabulary. For example, along with \u201csinner,\u201d the priest might use words like \u201crepentance,\u201d \u201cforgiveness,\u201d \u201cGod,\u201d \u201cweakness,\u201d \u201cspirit,\u201d and \u201cflesh.\u201d The doctor, on the other hand, might adopt words like \u201cblood alcohol level,\u201d \u201caddiction,\u201d \u201chealing,\u201d \u201cpatient,\u201d and \u201cwithdrawal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Each label\u2014and the vocabularies that accompany them\u2014evokes a different set of attitudes and likely encourages a different set of actions toward the man.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The judge might <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">fine or even incarcerate<\/strong><\/span> the man.<\/li>\n<li>The priest might attempt to <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">bring the man to repentance<\/strong><\/span> to experience forgiveness and spiritual renewal.<\/li>\n<li>The doctor may medically examine him to <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">help him physically recover<\/strong><\/span>.<\/li>\n<li>The business owner may simply walk past the man, <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">determined to not hire him<\/strong><\/span>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">This example demonstrates the power of language to create each person\u2019s perspective about, and (in)action toward, another person or group.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">In sum, when chosen thoughtfully, your language choices should clarify your ideas, capture your audience\u2019s attention, appeal to their emotions, and encourage them to adopt perspectives that facilitate community problem-solving. The next section examines specific devices you can use to help fulfill these goals.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 16.2 Tips for Meeting the Goals of Style<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As you develop your speech, use this set of questions to reflect on and possibly revise your language choices. Doing so will help ensure your style fulfills the four core goals of style.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Clarify the speaker\u2019s ideas:<\/strong><\/span> Are all or most of the words you plan to say familiar to your audience? If not, will you supply clear definitions for words new to them? If you are using technical language, is it appropriate for your audience? If not, can you restate the ideas in more common language? How might you express your ideas in creative or imaginative ways that might better help the audience understand them?<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Maintain the audience\u2019s attention:<\/strong><\/span> How well will your words themselves intrigue the audience? Can you communicate your ideas in interesting or engaging ways? How might language help the audience envision the problem or its solution?<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Evoke emotion:<\/strong><\/span> What words or phrases might help your audience feel strongly about the issue you will address? What forms of expression might move them to action? How might you adopt language to unify the audience in response?<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Create perspective:<\/strong><\/span> How might your labels and word choices shape the audience\u2019s perceptions of the issue and the people affected? What vocabulary do you plan to employ, and what aspects of the issue does it highlight? Obscure? Which alternative labels and vocabularies could you use instead, and how might they shape the audience\u2019s perceptions differently?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h1 class=\"import-ah\">Stylistic Devices<\/h1>\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Stylistic devices<\/strong><\/span> are language techniques and literary tools effective speakers use to present their ideas to their audience. These devices help fulfill the four goals previously covered by creating a sense of rhythm, providing visualization, enhancing argumentation, and developing a sense of community.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\"><em>Rhythm<\/em><\/h2>\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><span class=\"import-strk\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image136.png\" alt=\"image\" width=\"111.8px\" height=\"111.8px\" \/><\/span>One effective function of stylistic language is to create a sense of rhythm in a speech. Rhythm helps maintain the audience\u2019s attention because it creates a familiar and inviting pattern or cadence. Rhythmic language also heightens the audience\u2019s emotions. There are several devices that develop rhythm, but here we briefly comment on four: parallelism, repetition, antithesis, and alliteration.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Parallelism<\/h3>\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Parallelism<\/strong><\/span> is a series of ideas that is conveyed through language choices in a similar way. This can occur in a single sentence or across successive sentences. When he took the first steps on the moon, for example, astronaut Neil Armstrong famously said, \u201cThat\u2019s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.\u201d His repeated use of \u201cone\u201d followed by two words illustrated parallelism.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 16.3 Parallelism in Practice<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_181\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-181\" style=\"width: 259px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-181\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image137.png\" alt=\"Nikki Haley\" width=\"259\" height=\"271\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image137.png 259w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image137-65x68.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image137-225x235.png 225w\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-181\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Nikki_Haley_event_Keene_Country_Club_Keene_NH_January_2024_13.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nikki Haley<\/a> by Artaxerxes via Wikimedia Commons, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>An example of parallelism occurred in 2024 during a <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId238\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/H3VE-94N7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">campaign speech by former South Carolina Governor and US Ambassador Nikki Haley<\/span><\/a><\/span> when she ran for the Republican presidential nomination. About halfway through her speech, Haley shifted to the topic of national security: \u201cNow let\u2019s talk about national security. The world is on fire literally. <strong>You\u2019ve got<\/strong> a war in Europe. <strong>You\u2019ve got<\/strong> a war in the Middle East. <strong>You\u2019ve got<\/strong> North Korea testing intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of hitting the US. <strong>You\u2019ve got<\/strong> China on the march. But make no mistake, none of that would\u2019ve happened had we not had that debacle in Afghanistan.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Nikki Haley, \u201cNikki Haley Speaks at South Carolina Campaign Rally\u201d (transcript, Conway, SC, January 28, 2024), Rev, https:\/\/www.rev.com\/transcripts\/nikki-haley-speaks-at-south-carolina-campaign-rally-transcript, archived at https:\/\/perma.cc\/H3VE-94N7.\" id=\"return-footnote-480-3\" href=\"#footnote-480-3\" aria-label=\"Footnote 3\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[3]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">The four parallel phrases (each beginning with \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">you\u2019ve got<\/span>\u201d) amplified anxiety about the country\u2019s vulnerable and perilous state. They also invited listeners to join in the rhythm created, leading them to conclude that the country needs better leadership. Her final sentence bluntly ended the rhythm by blaming President Joe Biden for the calamities when she referenced his decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan in 2021.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Repetition<\/h3>\n<p class=\"import-paft\">When using <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">repetition<\/strong><\/span>, a speaker restates a word, sentence, idea, or theme. Repetition can emphasize a point and improve its retention. We often hear political leaders, for example, sprinkle a repeated phrase throughout their comments or even just within a sentence or paragraph.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 16.4 Repetition in Practice<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_182\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-182\" style=\"width: 375px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img class=\"wp-image-182\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image138.png\" alt=\"Al Shaprton\" width=\"375\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image138.png 512w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image138-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image138-65x43.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image138-225x150.png 225w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image138-350x233.png 350w\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-182\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Reverend_Al_Sharpton_speaking_outside_the_Hennepin_County_Government_Center_in_Minneapolis,_Minnesota_(51081587603).jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Reverend Al Sharpton<\/a> by Lorie Shaull via Wikimedia Commons, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/2.0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY-SA<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In August 2020, civil rights protesters organized a March on Washington in response to George Floyd and other Black Americans who died at the hands of police officers. During the event, <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId240\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/XC8A-J53F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">Reverend Al Sharpton addressed<\/span><\/a><\/span> the crowd from the same spot where Martin Luther King Jr. spoke in 1963 during the original March on Washington. At one point, Sharpton repeated a word to advocate for racial justice and police reform: \u201cThey keep telling me about how it\u2019s a shame that Black parents have to have \u2018the <strong>conversation<\/strong>\u2019 with our children, how we have to explain if a cop stops you, don\u2019t reach for the glove compartment, don\u2019t talk back, the <strong>conversation<\/strong>. Well, we\u2019ve had the <strong>conversation<\/strong> for decades. It\u2019s time we have a <strong>conversation<\/strong> with America. We need to have a <strong>conversation<\/strong> about your racism, about your bigotry, about your hate, about how you would put your knee on our neck while we cry for our lives. We need a new <strong>conversation<\/strong>.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Al Sharpton, \u201c2020 March on Washington&quot; (transcript, Washington, DC, August 28, 2020), Rev, https:\/\/www.rev.com\/transcripts\/al-sharpton-speech-transcript-2020-march-on-washington, archived at https:\/\/perma.cc\/XC8A-J53F.\" id=\"return-footnote-480-4\" href=\"#footnote-480-4\" aria-label=\"Footnote 4\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[4]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Sharpton\u2019s repeated use of \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">conversation<\/span>\u201d cleverly shifted responsibility from Black parents to the broader country for keeping Black children safe during police interactions. It also created a sense of urgency for reform and built a connection with the audience through shared frustrations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Antithesis<\/h3>\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Antithesis<\/strong><\/span> is the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas, typically in the same sentence. For example, in his inaugural address, former President John F. Kennedy famously stated, \u201cAsk not what your country can do for you\u2014ask what you can do for your country.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"John F. Kennedy, \u201cInaugural Address, January 20, 1961,\u201d in American Speeches: Political Oratory from Abraham Lincoln to Bill Clinton, ed. Ted Widmer (New York: Library of America, 2006), 538.\" id=\"return-footnote-480-5\" href=\"#footnote-480-5\" aria-label=\"Footnote 5\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[5]<\/sup><\/a> The contrasting commands (\u201cAsk not\u201d and \u201cask\u201d) and the flipped positioning of words (\u201ccountry\u201d and \u201cyou\u201d) are catchy to the ear and invite the audience to rethink a familiar idea.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 16.5 Antithesis in Practice<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_183\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-183\" style=\"width: 170px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img class=\"wp-image-183\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image139.png\" alt=\"Malcolm X\" width=\"170\" height=\"275\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image139.png 241w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image139-185x300.png 185w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image139-65x105.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image139-225x365.png 225w\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-183\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/picryl.com\/media\/malcolm-x-nywts-6824df\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Malcom X<\/a>, Library of Congress via Picryl, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/public-domain\/pdm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Public Domain<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Civil rights activist and Nation of Islam leader <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId242\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/L426-BJAE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">Malcolm X delivered a famous speech, \u201cThe Ballot or the Bullet,\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/span> in 1964. He used a powerful antithesis wherein he contrasted a hopeful and patriotic sense of America (and identifying as American) with a cruel and exploitative characterization of the country: \u201cNo, I\u2019m not an American. I\u2019m one of the 22 million black people who are the victims of Americanism. One of the 22 million black people who are the victims of democracy, nothing but disguised hypocrisy. So, I\u2019m not standing here speaking to you as an American, or a patriot, or a flag-saluter, or a flag-waver\u2014no, not I. I\u2019m speaking as a victim of this American system. And I see America through the eyes of the victim. I don\u2019t see any <strong>American dream<\/strong>; I see an <strong>American nightmare<\/strong>.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Malcolm X, \u201cThe Ballot or the Bullet,\u201d in American Speeches: Political Oratory from Abraham Lincoln to Bill Clinton, ed. Ted Widmer (New York: Library of America, 2006), 576.\" id=\"return-footnote-480-6\" href=\"#footnote-480-6\" aria-label=\"Footnote 6\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[6]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">The contrasting views of America climaxed in the last sentence with the direct antithesis between the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">dream and nightmare<\/span>. The \u201cAmerican dream\u201d was no doubt familiar to his audience, but the \u201cAmerican nightmare,\u201d he argued, was his and other African Americans\u2019 experience. His use of antithesis highlighted the difference between white and Black Americans\u2019 lives, bringing sharp clarity and emotional intensity to the distinction.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Alliteration<\/h3>\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Alliteration<\/strong><\/span> is the repetition of a single consonant in a sentence or series of sentences. It\u2019s prominent in tongue twisters such as \u201cPeter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.\u201d Alliteration is also frequently featured in songs and poetry because it can be melodic. In speeches, alliteration prompts us to repeat a phrase over in our minds.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 16.6 Alliteration in Practice<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_184\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-184\" style=\"width: 306px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-184\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image140.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"306\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image140.png 306w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image140-300x245.png 300w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image140-65x53.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image140-225x184.png 225w\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-184\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Dolores_Huerta_(25854563002).jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dolores Huerta<\/a> by Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/2.0\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY-SA<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Beginning in the 1960s, Dolores Huerta helped farmworkers organize to advocate for better working conditions and payment. She cofounded the United Farmworker\u2019s Association with Cesar Chavez in 1962 and helped organize several grape boycotts. In 1969, <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId244\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/6NYG-HPAB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">her proclamation of one such boycott<\/span><\/a><\/span> included the following: \u201cWe did not choose the grape boycott, but we had chosen to leave our <strong>peonage<\/strong>, <strong>poverty<\/strong> and despair behind.\u2026The boycott was the only way forward the growers left to us. We called upon our fellow men and were answered by consumers who said\u2014as all men [<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">sic<\/em><\/span>] of conscience must\u2014that they would no longer allow their tables to be <strong>subsidized<\/strong> by our <strong>sweat<\/strong> and our <strong>sorrow<\/strong>: They shunned the grapes, fruit of our affliction.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Delores Huerta, \u201cProclamation of the Delano Grape Workers for International Boycott Day,\u201d Digital History, May 10, 1969, https:\/\/www.digitalhistory.uh.edu\/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&amp;psid=613, archived at https:\/\/perma.cc\/6NYG-HPAB.\" id=\"return-footnote-480-7\" href=\"#footnote-480-7\" aria-label=\"Footnote 7\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[7]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Her use of \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">peonage<\/span>\u201d and \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">poverty<\/span>\u201d as well as \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">subsidized by our sweat and sorrow<\/span>\u201d illustrates alliteration by the repeated use of the letters <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">p<\/em><\/span> and <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">s<\/em><\/span>. These repetitions helped make the statements melodic and memorable, thus augmenting their persuasiveness concerning the plight of farmworkers at the time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\"><em>Visualization<\/em><\/h2>\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image141.png\" alt=\"image\" width=\"125.666666666667px\" height=\"125.666666666667px\" \/>In addition to rhythm, stylistic language offers audiences visualization through vivid imagery. Such language heightens audience interest and helps an audience\u2019s understanding and retention. Many stylistic devices can be used for visualization; here we highlight five: concrete language, visual imagery, simile, metaphor, and personification.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Concrete Language<\/h3>\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Concrete language<\/strong><\/span> includes words that ground ideas in examples from the physical world. Good speakers move up and down the ladder of abstraction as they discuss their ideas. We can take the concept of transportation as an example. We can imagine a speaker discussing transportation and, as they do, also discussing automobiles, then American-made cars, and finally, Ralph\u2019s beat-up 1975 metallic blue Ford Maverick. By moving \u201cdown\u201d the ladder of abstraction, the speaker will make the concept of transportation concrete and easier for the audience to understand.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 16.7 Concrete Language in Practice<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We find a gripping example of concrete language in <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId247\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/7UG8-WQC7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">President <\/span><span class=\"import-url\">Ronald <\/span><span class=\"import-url\">Reagan\u2019s 1984 speech<\/span><\/a><\/span> on the fortieth anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy by American and Allied forces during World War II. He spoke at Pointe-du-Hoc, where American Rangers climbed the one-hundred-foot cliffs under heavy fire to take the strategic location during the invasion. Some of the surviving Army Rangers were seated before him as he spoke.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_186\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-186\" style=\"width: 334px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img class=\"wp-image-186\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image142.png\" alt=\"Ronald Reagan speaking at a podium outdoors\" width=\"334\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image142.png 428w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image142-201x300.png 201w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image142-65x97.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image142-225x336.png 225w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image142-350x523.png 350w\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-186\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nara.getarchive.net\/media\/president-ronald-reagan-speaks-during-a-ceremony-commemorating-the-40th-anniversary-36d362\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">President Ronald Reagan<\/a>, The U.S. National Archives via NARA &amp; DVIDS Public Domain Archive, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/public-domain\/pdm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Public Domain<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Reagan first described the events abstractly as when \u201cthe Allies stood and fought against tyranny\u201d and the particular battle as when the Rangers \u201cbegan to seize back the continent of Europe.\u201d But then he turned to very concrete language to describe this battle:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>We stand on a lonely, windswept point on the northern shore of France. The air is soft, but 40 years ago at this moment, the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">air was dense with smoke and the cries of men<\/strong><\/span>, and the air was filled with the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">crack of rifle fire and the roar of cannon<\/strong><\/span>. At <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">dawn<\/strong><\/span>, on the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">morning of the 6th of June, 1944, 225 Rangers<\/strong><\/span> jumped off the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">British landing craft<\/strong><\/span> and <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">ran to the bottom of these cliffs<\/strong><\/span>. Their mission was one of the most difficult and daring of the invasion: to climb these <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">sheer and desolate cliffs<\/strong><\/span> and take out the enemy guns. The Allies had been told that some of the mightiest of these guns were here and they would be trained on the beaches to stop the Allied advance.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Ronald Reagan, \u201cRemarks at a Ceremony Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion, D-Day\u201d (transcript, Normandy, France, June 6, 1984), Ronald Reagan Presidential Library &amp; Museum Archives, https:\/\/www.reaganlibrary.gov\/archives\/speech\/remarks-ceremony-commemorating-40th-anniversary-normandy-invasion-d-day, archived at https:\/\/perma.cc\/7UG8-WQC7.\" id=\"return-footnote-480-8\" href=\"#footnote-480-8\" aria-label=\"Footnote 8\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[8]<\/sup><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">This powerful passage helps us appreciate how concrete language can clarify and drive home a much more abstract point.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Visual Imagery<\/h3>\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Visual imagery<\/strong><\/span> is a way to describe ideas with word pictures so your audience can see in their mind\u2019s eye a double-decker bus traveling through downtown London or a seagull flying in the sky above the beach in Santa Monica, California. The idea is to help your audience see, hear, and even smell and taste what you describe.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 16.8 Visual Imagery in Practice<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_187\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-187\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img class=\"wp-image-187\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image143.png\" alt=\"George W Bush\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image143.png 589w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image143-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image143-65x43.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image143-225x150.png 225w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image143-350x234.png 350w\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-187\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/picryl.com\/media\/911-president-george-w-bush-addresses-joint-session-of-congress-938954\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">President George W. Bush<\/a>, The U.S. National Archives via Picryl, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/public-domain\/pdm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Public Domain<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In his <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId249\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/R5ZB-N9MP\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">September 20, 2001<\/span><span class=\"import-url\">,<\/span><span class=\"import-url\"> State of the Union address to Congress<\/span><\/a><\/span>, President George W. Bush began with powerful visual imagery to help Americans see the country\u2019s condition just nine days after the terrorist attacks of 9\/11:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Mr. Speaker, Mr. President Pro Tempore, members of Congress, and fellow Americans, in the normal course of events, presidents come to this chamber to report on the state of the union. Tonight, no such report is needed; it has already been delivered by the American people.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">We have seen it in the courage of <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">passengers who rushed terrorists<\/strong><\/span> to save others on the ground. Passengers like an exceptional man named Todd Beamer. And would you please help me welcome his wife Lisa Beamer here tonight?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">We have seen the state of our union in the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">endurance of rescuers working past exhaustion<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">We\u2019ve seen the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">unfurling of flags, the lighting of candles, the giving of blood, the saying of prayers in English, Hebrew, and Arabic<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">We have seen the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">decency of a loving and giving people who have made the grief of strangers their own<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">My fellow citizens, for the last nine days, the entire world has seen for itself the state of our union, and it is strong.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"George W. Bush, \u201cAddress to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People\u201d (transcript, Washington, DC, September 20, 2001), President George W. Bush White House Archives, https:\/\/georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov\/news\/releases\/2001\/09\/20010920-8.html.\" id=\"return-footnote-480-9\" href=\"#footnote-480-9\" aria-label=\"Footnote 9\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[9]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Here President Bush used visual descriptions of actions his listeners could actually see in their minds to capture an abstract idea\u2014that the state of the union of the United States was strong.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Simile and Metaphor<\/h3>\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Metaphor<\/strong><strong class=\"import-b\">s<\/strong><\/span> and similes compare things that are essentially different. <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Similes<\/strong><\/span> make the comparisons <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">explicit<\/em><\/span> through keywords (e.g., \u201clike\u201d or \u201cas\u201d). For example, the great boxer Muhammad Ali described his boxing style in this way: \u201cFloat like a butterfly, sting like a bee.\u201d Metaphors make comparisons <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">implicitly<\/em><\/span>. Box 16.9 provides examples of metaphors.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 16.9 Metaphor in Practice<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_188\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-188\" style=\"width: 256px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-188\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image144.png\" alt=\"Ben Shapiro\" width=\"256\" height=\"356\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image144.png 256w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image144-216x300.png 216w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image144-65x90.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image144-225x313.png 225w\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-188\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Ben_Shapiro_by_Gage_Skidmore_2.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ben Shapiro<\/a> by Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY-SA<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In 2024, <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId251\" href=\"https:\/\/lexfridman.com\/ben-shapiro-destiny-debate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro debated liberal political commentator Steven Bonnell, who goes by Destiny<\/span><\/a><\/span>. While talking about the idea of free school meals to improve students\u2019 education, Shapiro argued that improvements need to occur at a deeper level (such as increasing two-parent households). He explained, \u201cIt seems to me that one of the big flaws in the way that many people of the left approach government is, \u2018What if we <strong>hit every gnat with a hammer<\/strong>?\u2019 And my question is, what if the gnat isn\u2019t even the problem? What if there is a much bigger substructure problem.\u2026<strong>If you\u2019re shifting deck chairs on the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">Titanic<\/em><\/span>, sure, you can make the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">Titanic<\/em><\/span> slightly more balanced because the deck chairs are slightly better oriented. But the real question is the water that\u2019s gaping into the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">Titanic<\/em><\/span>, right?<\/strong>\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Lex Fridman, host, Lex Fridman Podcast, episode 410, &quot;Ben Shapiro vs. Destiny Debate: Politics, Jan 6, Israel, Ukraine and Wokeism,&quot; January 23 2024, https:\/\/lexfridman.com\/ben-shapiro-destiny-debate\/.\" id=\"return-footnote-480-10\" href=\"#footnote-480-10\" aria-label=\"Footnote 10\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[10]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Here Shapiro <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">compared student hunger to a gnat<\/span> and <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">free school meals to a hammer and then to <em>Titanic<\/em>\u2019s deck chairs<\/span>. In doing so, he helped listeners perceive meal programs as an excessively inefficient effort to target a minuscule contributor to poor student performance while ignoring the much bigger, more pressing cause.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Personification<\/h3>\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Personification<\/strong><\/span> involves referring to an inanimate object or an abstract concept as if it were alive. Most often, personification works by giving human characteristics or abilities to something that is not human. For example, \u201cTradition richly rewards those who stick to the path she has set.\u201d Here tradition is characterized as a person with the power to reward.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 16.10 Personification in Practice<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_189\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-189\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-189\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image145.png\" alt=\"Kamala Harris\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image145.png 400w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image145-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image145-65x43.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image145-225x150.png 225w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image145-350x234.png 350w\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-189\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/113325057@N03\/33725785688\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kamala Harris<\/a> by Adam Schultz \/ Biden for President via Flickr, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/2.0\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY-NC-SA<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In 2020, then\u2013Senator Kamala Harris made history by being the first woman to be elected vice president of the United States. She was also the first Black person and Asian American to be vice president. In 2024, she became the first Black woman and Asian American to be a major party\u2019s presidential candidate.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">In her <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId254\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/C9PN-TT7T\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">victory speech given on November 7, 2020<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Harris celebrated becoming vice president and inspired children to recognize the US as a \u201ccountry of possibilities.\u201d She added, \u201cAnd to the children of our country, regardless of your gender, <strong>our country has sent you a clear message<\/strong>: Dream with ambition, lead with conviction, and see yourself in a way that others might not see you, simply because they\u2019ve never seen it before. And we will applaud you every step of the way.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Kamala Harris, \u201cSpeech after Historic Election Win\u201d\u00a0(transcript, Washington DC, November 7, 2020), ABC News, https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Politics\/read-kamala-harris-full-speech-historic-election-win\/story?id=74084644, archived at https:\/\/perma.cc\/C9PN-TT7T.\" id=\"return-footnote-480-11\" href=\"#footnote-480-11\" aria-label=\"Footnote 11\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[11]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">In stating that <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">the country had sent children a message<\/span>, she personified the country to make the positive message for young people more vivid. She presented the whole country as speaking directly to young kids with dreams.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p class=\"import-sbh\"><strong>Box 16.11 Stylistic Devices<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr class=\"TableGrid-R\">\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\n<p class=\"import-tch\"><strong>Rhythm<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\n<p class=\"import-tch\"><strong>Visualization<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\n<p class=\"import-tch\"><strong>Argumentation<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\n<p class=\"import-tch\"><strong>Community<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"TableGrid-R\">\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\n<p class=\"import-td\">Parallelism<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\n<p class=\"import-td\">Concrete language<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\n<p class=\"import-td\">Irony<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\n<p class=\"import-td\">Inclusive pronouns<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"TableGrid-R\">\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\n<p class=\"import-td\">Repetition<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\n<p class=\"import-td\">Visual imagery<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\n<p class=\"import-td\">Satire<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\n<p class=\"import-td\">Gender-neutral language<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"TableGrid-R\">\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\n<p class=\"import-td\">Antithesis<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\n<p class=\"import-td\">Simile and metaphor<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\n<p class=\"import-td\">Reference to the unusual<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\n<p class=\"import-td\">Maxim<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"TableGrid-R\">\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\n<p class=\"import-td\">Alliteration<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\n<p class=\"import-td\">Personification<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\n<p class=\"import-td\">\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"TableGrid-C\" style=\"border: solid windowtext 0.5pt;\">\n<p class=\"import-td\">Ideograph<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\"><em>Argumentation<\/em><\/h2>\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image146.png\" alt=\"image\" width=\"110.8px\" height=\"110.8px\" \/>A third function of stylistic language is to enhance argumentation. In other words, style choices themselves can help argue your case. Ideally, <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">all<\/em><\/span> stylistic language contributes to this end, but some devices do this particularly effectively. Metaphor is one device we have already discussed. Beyond metaphor, additional elements of style that directly advance argumentation include irony, satire, and reference to the unusual.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Irony<\/h3>\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Irony<\/strong><\/span> is the use of words in a way that is the opposite of their intended or normal use. For example, when someone says to you \u201cnice shot\u201d in a basketball game when the ball entirely misses the rim and backboard, they have employed irony. This technique functions as argument insofar as it offers an unexpected or surprising perspective on the underlying thought.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 16.12 Irony in Practice<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Frederick Douglass, an African American and former slave, was asked to speak in celebration of Independence Day in Rochester, New York, on July 5, 1852. <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId256\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/MJE2-HBN6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">His speech, \u201cWhat to the Slave <\/span><span class=\"import-url\">Is <\/span><span class=\"import-url\">the 4th of July?\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/span> is recognized as one of the greatest speeches in American history.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_191\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-191\" style=\"width: 256px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img class=\"wp-image-191 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image147.png\" alt=\"Frederick Douglass\" width=\"256\" height=\"337\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image147.png 256w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image147-228x300.png 228w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image147-65x86.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image147-225x296.png 225w\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-191\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Frederick_Douglass_MET_DT1144_Retouched_by_N-Shea.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Frederick Douglass<\/a>, Metropolitan Museum of Art via Wikimedia Commons, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Public Doman<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Douglass answered the question in the speech\u2019s title by noting that, <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">ironically<\/strong><\/span>, it is a day that points out more than any other day of the year \u201cthe gross injustice and cruelty to which [the slave] is the constant victim.\u201d He called out the disparity between his white audience members who enjoyed freedom and African American slaves who experienced oppression and brutalization: \u201cThe rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me.\u201d He continued: \u201cThis Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. <strong>Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak today?<\/strong>\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Frederick Douglass, \u201cWhat to the Slave Is the 4th of July?&quot; (transcript, Rochester, NY, July 5, 1852), EDSITEment: The Best of the Humanities on the Web, https:\/\/edsitement.neh.gov\/student-activities\/frederick-douglasss-what-slave-fourth-july, archived at https:\/\/perma.cc\/MJE2-HBN6.\" id=\"return-footnote-480-12\" href=\"#footnote-480-12\" aria-label=\"Footnote 12\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[12]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Douglass ended this passage with an <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">ironic question<\/span>. He was not actually asking his audience to answer, and he presumably knew they did not mean to mock him. By employing irony, Douglass highlighted ongoing injustice and shifted the audience\u2019s emotions from celebrating America\u2019s freedom from British rule to shamefully condemning the country for hypocritically maintaining slavery.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Satire<\/h3>\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Satire<\/strong><\/span> is a particular form of ridicule that is typically used to attack people or ideas or to highlight human vices and failings. Rather than a specific speech element, satire often characterizes the entirety of a piece of discourse.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 16.13 Satire in Practice<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby frequently employs satire in their performances. In a <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId258\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/C2NF-DFQH\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">2024 Netflix Special called <\/span><em class=\"import-url-i\">Gender Agenda<\/em><\/a><\/span>, Gatsby showcased several queer comedians but opened the show with their own spot.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">During their comedic monologue, Gadsby referenced public debates about transgender athletes and, in particular, some male critics\u2019 objections to trans female athletes participating in women\u2019s sports: <strong>\u201cI think it\u2019s adorable how so many men are all of a sudden very concerned about women\u2019s sport. That\u2019s new. That\u2019s real new. The idea that men are transitioning to become women so they can dominate <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">women\u2019s<\/em><\/span> sports. Like, you know, pick up all those amazing perks you get in women\u2019s sports!\u2026Women get <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">all<\/em><\/span> the perks. They get kisses and everything.\u201d<\/strong><a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Hannah Gadsby, &quot;Hannah Gadsby's Gender Agenda,&quot; Netflix stand-up special, 2024, https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/watch\/81607199?trackId=268410292&amp;tctx=0%2C0%2C856d1017-c5d3-4bd6-add5-7bae4235b041-362449649%2C856d1017-c5d3-4bd6-add5-7bae4235b041-362449649%7C2%2Cunknown%2C%2C%2CtitlesResults%2C81607199%2CVideo%3A81607199%2CminiDpPlayButton, archived at https:\/\/perma.cc\/C2NF-DFQH.\" id=\"return-footnote-480-13\" href=\"#footnote-480-13\" aria-label=\"Footnote 13\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[13]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Gadsby used satire to <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">ridicule male critics\u2019 concerns as disingenuous and wrongheaded<\/span>. The satire prompted laughter at the critics, but it also held up for scrutiny a broader cultural devaluing of women\u2019s sports. The comedian added irony to satire with the last sentence. It referenced the notorious kiss that former president of Spain\u2019s soccer federation Luis Rubiales gave (without consent) to player Jenni Hermoso after her team won the Women\u2019s World Cup in 2023.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Reference to the Unusual<\/h3>\n<p class=\"import-paft\">In making use of a <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">reference to the unusual<\/strong><\/span>, a speaker includes an unbelievable story or a startling statistic or fact to catch people\u2019s attention and interest. The uniqueness and often surprising nature of such references encourage audience members to process and reflect on the reference.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 16.14 Reference to the Unusual in Practice<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_193\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-193\" style=\"width: 256px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img class=\"wp-image-193 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image149.png\" alt=\"RuPaul speaking at at Dragcon\" width=\"256\" height=\"346\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image149.png 256w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image149-222x300.png 222w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image149-65x88.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image149-225x304.png 225w\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-193\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:RuPaul_at_Dragcon_2019_by_dvsross_(cropped).jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">RuPaul<\/a> by dvsross via Wikimedia Commons, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>RuPaul Andres Charles (known simply as \u201cRuPaul\u201d) became nationally famous in the 1980s and 1990s as a drag queen who appeared in films and television shows and even recorded popular music. In 2009, he developed and starred in the competition television show <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race<\/em><\/span>, which has aired for many seasons.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">In 2021, RuPaul hosted <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">Saturday Night Live<\/em><\/span>. During <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId261\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/GD85-A4WV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">his opening monologue<\/span><\/a><\/span>, RuPaul introduced himself: \u201cMy name is Ru which is short for <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race<\/em><\/span>. Now, for anyone who\u2019s not familiar with my show, how dare you? And second of all, let me break it down for you in terms you can understand. So our girls <strong>gag<\/strong> us with their <strong>eleganza<\/strong>, <strong>death drop<\/strong> for the children, and <strong>slay<\/strong> the house down, <strong>boots<\/strong>. Make sense?\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"RuPaul, \u201cMonologue\u201d (transcript, New York, NY, February 21, 2020), SNL Transcripts Tonight, http:\/\/snltranscripts.jt.org\/2020\/rupaul-monologue.phtml, archived at https:\/\/perma.cc\/GD85-A4WV.\" id=\"return-footnote-480-14\" href=\"#footnote-480-14\" aria-label=\"Footnote 14\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[14]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">RuPaul\u2019s description of the popular show used unusual language for anyone unfamiliar with it. The <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">vocabulary<\/span>\u2014\u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">eleganza<\/span>,\u201d \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">death drop<\/span>,\u201d \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">slay<\/span>,\u201d \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">boots<\/span>,\u201d and so on\u2014likely piqued the curiosity and interest of novices as it demonstrated the drama and playfulness of drag. It simultaneously enabled devotees of the show to feel like true insiders of drag culture.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\"><em>Community<\/em><\/h2>\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image150.png\" alt=\"image\" width=\"110.8px\" height=\"110.8px\" \/>Finally, speakers can utilize stylistic devices to create or reinforce the idea of <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">community<\/em><\/span>. Such devices are used to bring audiences together for a common cause or concern or to create separation between one audience (\u201cus\u201d) and an oppositional group (\u201cthem\u201d). We might think about how speakers use stylistic devices to unite or differentiate their direct audience from their implied audience (referenced in the speech) and implicated audience (impacted by the message if it succeeds). Language tools that accomplish such ends include the use of inclusive pronouns, gender-neutral language, maxims, and ideographs.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Inclusive Pronouns<\/h3>\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Inclusive pronouns<\/strong><\/span> are pronouns that create community and unity between the speaker and their direct audience and can be extended to include their implied and implicated audiences. Most prominently inclusive pronouns are the terms <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">we<\/em><\/span>, <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">us<\/em><\/span>, and <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">our<\/em><\/span>. The terms are used to create identity and put the speaker in league with their audiences, expressing shared purpose and concern, which can be particularly useful when a community experiences division.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 16.15 Inclusive Pronouns in Practice<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_195\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-195\" style=\"width: 256px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-195\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image151.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"256\" height=\"341\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image151.png 256w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image151-225x300.png 225w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image151-65x87.png 65w\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-195\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Steve_Gleason_(49396121841).jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Steve Gleason<\/a> by Senate Democrats via Wikimedia Commons, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In 2024, Steve Gleason won the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs. The former football player was diagnosed with ALS in 2011 and later formed Team Gleason to inspire other ALS sufferers to live meaningful lives. <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId264\" href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/new-orleans\/2024\/07\/12\/steve-gleason-transcript-espys-acceptance-speech\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">Gleason delivered his award acceptance speech<\/span><\/a><\/span> from a wheelchair and through a speech-generating device.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">He quickly pivoted, though, from talking about his own experience with ALS to \u201call of you who experience fear and suffering.\u201d Referring to everyone in his direct, and possibly implied, audiences, he went on to say, \u201cIt\u2019s clear to me that <strong>our<\/strong> ability to courageously share <strong>our<\/strong> vulnerabilities with each other is <strong>our<\/strong> greatest strength. By doing this, <strong>we\u2019re<\/strong> able to understand the issue compassionately, collaborate with each other to solve problems and overcome fear.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Steve Gleason, \u201cAcceptance Speech for the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs\u201d (transcript, Hollywood, CA, July 11, 2024), Axios, https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/new-orleans\/2024\/07\/12\/steve-gleason-transcript-espys-acceptance-speech.\" id=\"return-footnote-480-15\" href=\"#footnote-480-15\" aria-label=\"Footnote 15\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[15]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">In making use of the inclusive pronouns <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">\u201cour\u201d<\/span> and <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">\u201cwe,\u201d<\/span> Gleason abolished divisions between people with ALS and people who have not developed ALS, and he bonded them together through shared experiences of fear. He used that bond to encourage his audience(s) to work together in more compassionate and collaborative ways in the future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Gender-Neutral Language<\/h3>\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\"><img class=\"alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image152.png\" alt=\"image\" width=\"105.866666666667px\" height=\"137.333333333333px\" \/><\/strong><strong class=\"import-b\">Gender-neutral language<\/strong><\/span> refers to words that do not specify a particular gender. The meaning of gender-neutral language expanded during the twenty-first century.<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-p0\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Initially, it referred to language choices that do not explicitly or implicitly favor one gender over another. So, for example, instead of using terms like \u201cpoliceman,\u201d speakers should say \u201cpolice officer\u201d to avoid gendering the word as male. Speakers also should not make gender-biased assumptions, such as referring to nurses as female and to doctors as male.<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-p0\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Today, gender-neutral language also includes pronoun use. <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId266\" href=\"https:\/\/owl.purdue.edu\/owl\/general_writing\/grammar\/pronouns\/gendered_pronouns_and_singular_they.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">The Purdue Online Writing Lab<\/span><\/a><\/span>, which many teachers and scholars turn to for guidance, explains:<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-bqf\" style=\"margin-left: 18pt; margin-right: 18pt; text-indent: 0pt;\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">H<\/em><em class=\"import-i\">e<\/em><\/span> and <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">she<\/em><\/span> are not sufficient to describe the genders of all people, because not all people identify as either male or female. As such, the phrase \u201che or she\u201d does not cover the full range of persons.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_197\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-197\" style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-197\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image153.png\" alt=\"Circle with &quot;they,&quot; &quot;them,&quot; &quot;their&quot; inside\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image153.png 150w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image153-65x65.png 65w\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-197\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/lyricsofmylife\/40628812023\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Image<\/a> by Kira Josie Murphy via Flickr, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/2.0\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY-NC-SA<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"import-bq\" style=\"margin-left: 18pt; margin-right: 18pt; text-indent: 36pt;\">The alternative pronoun most commonly used is <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">they<\/em><\/span>, often referred to as <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">singular they<\/em><\/span>. Here\u2019s an example:<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-bql\" style=\"margin-left: 18pt; margin-right: 18pt; text-indent: 36pt;\">Someone left <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">his or her<\/em><\/span> backpack behind. \u2192 Someone left <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">their<\/em><\/span> backpack behind.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"\u201cGendered Pronouns and the Singular \u2018They,\u2019\u201d Purdue Online Writing Lab, https:\/\/owl.purdue.edu\/owl\/general_writing\/grammar\/pronouns\/gendered_pronouns_and_singular_they.html#:~:text=When%20individuals%20whose%20gender%20is,range%20of%20people%20and%20identities.\" id=\"return-footnote-480-16\" href=\"#footnote-480-16\" aria-label=\"Footnote 16\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[16]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"import-p0\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">As part of adopting an effective and ethical speaking style, then, you should use a person\u2019s preferred pronouns to refer to them\u2014whether they are in your direct audience or part of your implied or implicated audiences. If their pronoun is unknown, then default to the neutral and singular \u201cthey.\u201d Using singular \u201cthey\u201d avoids the risk of misgendering someone and\/or creating divisions rather than unity within a community.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 16.16 Using \u201cThey\u201d as Singular<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If it sounds oddly new or incorrect to use \u201cthey\u201d for an individual, it\u2019s not!<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The singular \u201cthey\u201d first appeared in writing at least as far back as the fourteenth century.<\/li>\n<li>In 2019, Merriam-Webster added the singular \u201cthey\u201d to the dictionary and made it the \u201cword of the year.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Maxim<\/h3>\n<p class=\"import-paft\">A <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">maxim<\/strong><\/span> is a statement of a general truth or rule of conduct believed by a culture, such as \u201cthe best defense is a good offense.\u201d A maxim makes a main point accessible and memorable for the audience. However, don\u2019t overuse this device or else your speech may seem trite or vacuous.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 16.17 Maxim in Practice<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_198\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-198\" style=\"width: 378px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img class=\"wp-image-198 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image154.png\" alt=\"Michelle Obama\" width=\"378\" height=\"491\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image154.png 378w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image154-231x300.png 231w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image154-65x84.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image154-225x292.png 225w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image154-350x455.png 350w\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-198\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Michelle_Obama_DNC_July_2016_(cropped).jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Michelle Obama<\/a> by Ali Shaker\/VOA via Wikimedia Commons, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/public-domain\/pdm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Public Domain<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In her <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId268\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/4A6X-96MZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">speech to the 2016 Democratic National Convention<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Michelle Obama sought to respond positively to the negative political talk and growing polarization in the country.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Her efforts were noteworthy given her role as First Lady at the time and given the persistent and unfounded claims by critics that Barack Obama was not a United States citizen and therefore not eligible to hold the office of president.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Michelle Obama used a maxim to express what she believed is the most effective way to respond to untrue and hateful political claims: <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">\u201cWhen they go low, we go high.\u201d<\/strong><a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Michelle Obama, \u201cRemarks by the First Lady at the Democratic National Convention 2016\u201d (transcript, Philadelphia, PA, July 25, 2016), President Barack Obama White House Archives, https:\/\/obamawhitehouse.archives.gov\/the-press-office\/2016\/07\/25\/remarks-first-lady-democratic-national-convention, archived at https:\/\/perma.cc\/4A6X-96MZ.\" id=\"return-footnote-480-17\" href=\"#footnote-480-17\" aria-label=\"Footnote 17\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[17]<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">This pithy phrase captured an honorable approach to politics in a polarized environment. Though it divided her direct audience (\u201cwe\u201d) from an implied audience (\u201cthey\u201d), it did so to encourage listeners to take the \u201chigh road\u201d in politics and not return insult for insult. Listeners could extend her advice to interactions with such implicated audiences as their coworkers, friends, and family members.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Ideograph<\/h3>\n<p class=\"import-paft\">An <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">ideograph<\/strong><\/span> is a culturally specific term that has great emotive power because it represents a deeply held value or vice.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Michael Calvin McGee, \u201cThe \u2018Ideograph\u2019: A Link Between Rhetoric and Ideology,\u201d Quarterly Journal of Speech 66 (1980): 1\u201316.\" id=\"return-footnote-480-18\" href=\"#footnote-480-18\" aria-label=\"Footnote 18\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[18]<\/sup><\/a> Core positive ideographs in American culture include &#8220;equality,&#8221; &#8220;freedom,&#8221; &#8220;liberty,&#8221; and &#8220;property.&#8221; Core negative ideographs include &#8220;terrorism,&#8221; &#8220;communism,&#8221; and &#8220;slavery.&#8221; Appeals to such values and vices generally need little elaboration and are accepted easily as rallying points for what is <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">right<\/em><\/span> or <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">wrong<\/em><\/span> even though their exact meaning is vague and unclear.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 16.18 Ideographs in Practice<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_199\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-199\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-199\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image155.png\" alt=\"President Donald Trump\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image155.png 400w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image155-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image155-65x43.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image155-225x150.png 225w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image155-350x234.png 350w\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-199\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/190109359@N08\/53481310366\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">President Donald Trump<\/a> by Liam Enea via Flickr, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/2.0\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY-SA<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>During his <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId271\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/07\/19\/us\/politics\/trump-rnc-speech-transcript.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">2024 acceptance speech as the Republican <\/span><span class=\"import-url\">presidential <\/span><span class=\"import-url\">candidate<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Donald Trump employed both positive and negative ideographs.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">At one point he stated, \u201cToday, our cities are flooded with <strong>illegal aliens<\/strong>. Americans are being squeezed out of the labor force and their jobs are taken. By the way, you know who\u2019s taking the jobs, the jobs that are created? One hundred and seven percent of those jobs are taken by <strong>illegal aliens<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">The phrase \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">illegal aliens<\/span>\u201d functioned as an ideograph that likely triggered strongly negative and judgmental reactions about this implied and implicated audience. The label has become a kind of shorthand reference to people who are characterized as unwanted lawbreakers who don\u2019t belong in the US. By fomenting fear and anger toward them, the ideograph helped Trump make a case for his needed return as president.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">He later shifted to a positive ideograph when he proclaimed, \u201cSo tonight, whether you\u2019ve supported me in the past or not, I hope you will support me in the future, because I will bring back the <strong>American dream.<\/strong> That\u2019s what we\u2019re going to do. You don\u2019t even hear about the American dream anymore.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Donald Trump, &quot;Convention Speech&quot; (transcript, Milwaukee, WI, July 18 2024), New York Times,\u00a0https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/07\/19\/us\/politics\/trump-rnc-speech-transcript.html.\" id=\"return-footnote-480-19\" href=\"#footnote-480-19\" aria-label=\"Footnote 19\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[19]<\/sup><\/a> The \u201c<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">American dream<\/span>\u201d represents a deeply, positively held vision and characterization of the country as a place of limitless possibilities. Trump\u2019s use of the phrase helped associate his candidacy with this vision.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">You can observe stylistic devices by examining the style of nearly any speech, from well-known presentations to everyday sermons and lectures. You may be surprised at the number and range of stylistic appeals in the discourse all around you.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 16.19 Using Stylistic Devices<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Incorporate stylistic devices that will appeal to your audience.<\/li>\n<li>Use stylistic devices in a manner that clarifies your points.<\/li>\n<li>Adopt stylistic devices to capture and maintain audience attention.<\/li>\n<li>Consider how stylistic devices can generate the best emotional tone for your speech.<\/li>\n<li>Reflect on how the devices you choose will shape the perspectives of your audience.<\/li>\n<li>Seek moderation in your use of stylistic devices.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--exercises\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Summary<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\n<p class=\"import-paft\">In this chapter, we have addressed style, or the language or expression a speaker uses to communicate with an audience. Thoughtfully choosing words can help speakers engage their audience while clarifying the content, eliciting listeners\u2019 emotions, and shaping their perspective. More specifically, this chapter has made the following clear:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The stylistic use of language serves the important goals of creating clarity, maintaining audience interest, evoking emotion, and creating perspective.<\/li>\n<li>Stylistic devices are language techniques and literary tools that can be used to create a sense of rhythm (e.g., parallelism, repetition, antithesis, alliteration), enable visualization (e.g., concrete language, visual imagery, simile, metaphor, personification), enhance argumentation (e.g., irony, satire, reference to the unusual), and develop a sense of community (e.g., inclusive pronouns, gender-neutral language, maxims, ideographs).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--key-takeaways\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Key Terms<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\n<p>alliteration<br \/>\nantithesis<br \/>\nconcrete language<br \/>\ngender-neutral language<br \/>\nideograph<br \/>\ninclusive pronouns<br \/>\nirony<br \/>\nmaxim<br \/>\nmetaphor<br \/>\nparallelism<br \/>\npersonification<br \/>\nreference to the unusual<br \/>\nrepetition<br \/>\nsatire<br \/>\nsimile<br \/>\nstylistic devices<br \/>\nvisual imagery<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--examples\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Review Questions<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\n<ol>\n<li>What goals should a speaker try to accomplish through their style?<\/li>\n<li>What are four devices to generate rhythm discussed in this chapter?<\/li>\n<li>What are five ways to foster visualization?<\/li>\n<li>What are the three devices mentioned to aid argumentation?<\/li>\n<li>What are four ways to build community through language choices?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--examples\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Discussion Questions<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\n<ol>\n<li>Think of a public presentation that had a particularly strong style. Which devices did the speaker use? What was their impact on the message and audience?<\/li>\n<li>What kind of style have you developed for presentations in the past? What kind of language did you use? How would you like to improve your style?<\/li>\n<li>How does\u2014or should\u2014style change based on the audience, setting, and occasion?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr class=\"before-footnotes clear\" \/><div class=\"footnotes\"><ol><li id=\"footnote-480-1\">Mark Abadi, \u201c27 Fascinating Maps That Show How Americans Speak English Differently Across the US,\u201d <em>Business Insider<\/em>, January 3, 2018, <a href=\"http:\/\/businessinsider.com\/american-english-dialects-maps-2018-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/businessinsider.com\/american-english-dialects-maps-2018-1<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-480-1\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 1\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-480-2\">Aristotle, <em>On Rhetoric: A Theory of Civic Discourse<\/em>, trans. George A. Kennedy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), sec. 1404b. <a href=\"#return-footnote-480-2\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 2\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-480-3\">Nikki Haley, \u201cNikki Haley Speaks at South Carolina Campaign Rally\u201d (transcript, Conway, SC, January 28, 2024), <em>Rev,<\/em> https:\/\/www.rev.com\/transcripts\/nikki-haley-speaks-at-south-carolina-campaign-rally-transcript, archived at <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/H3VE-94N7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/perma.cc\/H3VE-94N7<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-480-3\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 3\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-480-4\">Al Sharpton, \u201c2020 March on Washington\" (transcript, Washington, DC, August 28, 2020), <em>Rev<\/em>, https:\/\/www.rev.com\/transcripts\/al-sharpton-speech-transcript-2020-march-on-washington, archived at <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/XC8A-J53F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/perma.cc\/XC8A-J53F<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-480-4\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 4\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-480-5\">John F. Kennedy, \u201cInaugural Address, January 20, 1961,\u201d in <em>American Speeches: Political Oratory from Abraham Lincoln to Bill Clinton<\/em>, ed. Ted Widmer (New York: Library of America, 2006), 538. <a href=\"#return-footnote-480-5\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 5\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-480-6\">Malcolm X, \u201cThe Ballot or the Bullet,\u201d in <em>American Speeches: Political Oratory from Abraham Lincoln to Bill Clinton<\/em>, ed. Ted Widmer (New York: Library of America, 2006), 576. <a href=\"#return-footnote-480-6\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 6\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-480-7\">Delores Huerta, \u201cProclamation of the Delano Grape Workers for International Boycott Day<em>,\u201d <\/em><em>Digital History<\/em>, May 10, 1969, https:\/\/www.digitalhistory.uh.edu\/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&amp;psid=613, archived at <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/6NYG-HPAB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/perma.cc\/6NYG-HPAB<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-480-7\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 7\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-480-8\">Ronald Reagan, \u201cRemarks at a Ceremony Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion, D-Day\u201d (transcript, Normandy, France, June 6, 1984), <em>Ronald Reagan Presidential Library &amp; Museum Archives<\/em>, https:\/\/www.reaganlibrary.gov\/archives\/speech\/remarks-ceremony-commemorating-40th-anniversary-normandy-invasion-d-day, archived at <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/7UG8-WQC7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/perma.cc\/7UG8-WQC7<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-480-8\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 8\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-480-9\">George W. Bush, \u201cAddress to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People\u201d (transcript, Washington, DC, September 20, 2001), <em>President George W. Bush White House Archives<\/em>, <a href=\"https:\/\/georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov\/news\/releases\/2001\/09\/20010920-8.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov\/news\/releases\/2001\/09\/20010920-8.html<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-480-9\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 9\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-480-10\">Lex Fridman, host, <em>Lex Fridman Podcast, <\/em>episode 410, \"Ben Shapiro vs. Destiny Debate: Politics, Jan 6, Israel, Ukraine and Wokeism,\" January 23 2024, <a href=\"https:\/\/lexfridman.com\/ben-shapiro-destiny-debate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/lexfridman.com\/ben-shapiro-destiny-debate\/<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-480-10\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 10\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-480-11\">Kamala Harris, \u201c<span class=\"gtOSm FbbUW tUtYa vOCwz EQwFq yCufu eEak Qmvg nyTIa SRXVc vzLa jgBfc WXDas CiUCW kqbG zrdEG txGfn ygKVe BbezD UOtxr CVfpq xijV soGRS XgdC sEIlf daWqJ\">Speech after Historic Election Win\u201d<\/span>\u00a0(transcript, Washington DC, November 7, 2020), <em>ABC News,<\/em> https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Politics\/read-kamala-harris-full-speech-historic-election-win\/story?id=74084644, archived at <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/C9PN-TT7T\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/perma.cc\/C9PN-TT7T<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-480-11\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 11\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-480-12\">Frederick Douglass, \u201cWhat to the Slave Is the 4th of July?\" (transcript, Rochester, NY, July 5, 1852), <em>EDSITEment: The Best of the Humanities on the Web<\/em>, https:\/\/edsitement.neh.gov\/student-activities\/frederick-douglasss-what-slave-fourth-july, archived at <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/MJE2-HBN6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/perma.cc\/MJE2-HBN6<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-480-12\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 12\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-480-13\">Hannah Gadsby, \"Hannah Gadsby's Gender Agenda,\" Netflix stand-up special, 2024, https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/watch\/81607199?trackId=268410292&amp;tctx=0%2C0%2C856d1017-c5d3-4bd6-add5-7bae4235b041-362449649%2C856d1017-c5d3-4bd6-add5-7bae4235b041-362449649%7C2%2Cunknown%2C%2C%2CtitlesResults%2C81607199%2CVideo%3A81607199%2CminiDpPlayButton, archived at <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/C2NF-DFQH\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/perma.cc\/C2NF-DFQH<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-480-13\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 13\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-480-14\">RuPaul, \u201cMonologue\u201d (transcript, New York, NY, February 21, 2020), <em>SNL Transcripts Tonight<\/em>, http:\/\/snltranscripts.jt.org\/2020\/rupaul-monologue.phtml, archived at <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/GD85-A4WV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/perma.cc\/GD85-A4WV<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-480-14\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 14\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-480-15\">Steve Gleason, \u201cAcceptance Speech for the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs\u201d (transcript, Hollywood, CA, July 11, 2024), <em>Axios<\/em>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/new-orleans\/2024\/07\/12\/steve-gleason-transcript-espys-acceptance-speech\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/new-orleans\/2024\/07\/12\/steve-gleason-transcript-espys-acceptance-speech<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-480-15\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 15\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-480-16\">\u201cGendered Pronouns and the Singular \u2018They,\u2019\u201d Purdue Online Writing Lab, <a href=\"https:\/\/owl.purdue.edu\/owl\/general_writing\/grammar\/pronouns\/gendered_pronouns_and_singular_they.html#:~:text=When%20individuals%20whose%20gender%20is,range%20of%20people%20and%20identities\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/owl.purdue.edu\/owl\/general_writing\/grammar\/pronouns\/gendered_pronouns_and_singular_they.html#:~:text=When%20individuals%20whose%20gender%20is,range%20of%20people%20and%20identities<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-480-16\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 16\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-480-17\">Michelle Obama, \u201cRemarks by the First Lady at the Democratic National Convention 2016\u201d (transcript, Philadelphia, PA, July 25, 2016), <em>President Barack Obama White House Archives<\/em>, https:\/\/obamawhitehouse.archives.gov\/the-press-office\/2016\/07\/25\/remarks-first-lady-democratic-national-convention, archived at <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/4A6X-96MZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/perma.cc\/4A6X-96MZ<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-480-17\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 17\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-480-18\">Michael Calvin McGee, \u201cThe \u2018Ideograph\u2019: A Link Between Rhetoric and Ideology,\u201d <em>Quarterly Journal of Speech<\/em> 66 (1980): 1\u201316. <a href=\"#return-footnote-480-18\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 18\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-480-19\">Donald Trump, \"Convention Speech\" (transcript, Milwaukee, WI, July 18 2024), <em>New York Times<\/em>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/07\/19\/us\/politics\/trump-rnc-speech-transcript.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/07\/19\/us\/politics\/trump-rnc-speech-transcript.html<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-480-19\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 19\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":3,"menu_order":16,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"part":3,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/480"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"version-history":[{"count":71,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3307,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/480\/revisions\/3307"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/3"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/480\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=480"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=480"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}