Saturday, October 6, 2012
October 1-7 Question 2
One of the rhetorical devices that I have used in the past few weeks is euphemism. Euphemism is the replacement of a negative term with a neutral or positive one to cover up or sugarcoat the truth. One example that I have used in the last 2 weeks is when one of my coworkers accidentally burned something in the oven. Instead of saying, you burned that, I just simply stated that the pastry was heavily toasted. That is an example of euphemism. Another rhetorical device that I have used is a hyperbole. A hyperbole is a type of rhetoric that uses exaggeration or overstatement to distort the facts. One instance of using a hyperbole is when I was hungry and I said that I'm dying of starvation. I'm obviously not dying of starvation and I'm exaggerating the situation to make it more serious than it actually is. Rhetorical devices can be used to sway your audience and convince them of your point or idea. Euphemism is a very strong rhetorical device.
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Hey Jfan,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that euphemisms are very strong rhetorical devices. I believe that euphemisms as well as hyperboles are used often in today's world especially by those in our age group. I know many people use Euphemisms, but at the same time I believe that we shouldn't. Euphemisms are strong rhetorical devices, and because of that, they can often become lies. Yes it is "sugar coating" the truth, but what makes that so much different from a lie? Both euphemisms and hyperboles are both good devices to understand because they are so heavily used in society today.