Amplification Definition and Examples in Rhetoric

Amplification is a rhetorical term for all the ways that an argument, explanation, or description can be expanded and enriched. Also called rhetorical amplification. A natural virtue in an oral culture, amplification provides redundancy of information, ceremonial amplitude, and scope for a memorable syntax and diction (Richard Lanham, A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms, 1991). In The Arte of Rhetorique  (1553), Thomas Wilson (who regarded amplification as a method of the invention) emphasized the value of this strategy: Among all the figures of rhetoric, there is no one that helpeth forward an oration and beautifieth the same with such delightful ornaments as doth amplification. In both speech and writing, amplification tends to accentuate the importance of a topic and  induce an emotional response (pathos) in the  audience. Examples and Observations In amplification, writers repeat something theyve just said while adding more details and information to the original description. . .The main purpose of amplification is to focus the readers attention on an idea he or she might otherwise miss.(Brendan McGuigan, Rhetorical Devices: A Handbook and Activities for Student Writers. Prestwick House, 2007) One of the Biggest Trees in Pittsburgh A massive tree centuries old holds out against the odds here across from my mothers house, one of the biggest trees in Pittsburgh, anchored in a green tangle of weeds and bushes, trunk thick as a Buick, black as night after rain soaks its striated hide. Huge spread of its branches canopies the foot of the hill where the streets come together. Certain times of day in summer it shades my mothers front porch. If it ever tore loose from its moorings, it would crush her house like a sledgehammer. . . . (John Edgar Wideman, All Stories Are True. The Stories of John Edgar Wideman. Random House, 1996) Bill Bryson on Britains Landscapes In terms of natural wonders, you know, Britain is a pretty unspectacular place. It has no alpine peaks or broad rift valleys, no mighty gorges or thundering cataracts. It is built to really quite a modest scale. And yet with a few unassuming natural endowments, a great deal of time and an unfailing instinct for improvement, the makers of Britain created the most superlatively park-like landscapes, the most orderly cities, the handsomest provincial towns, the jauntiest seaside resorts, the stateliest homes, the most dreamily spired, cathedral-rich, castle-strewn, abbey-bedecked, folly-scattered, green-wooded, winding-laned, sheep-dotted, plumply hedgerowed, well-tended, sublimely decorated 50,318 square miles the world has ever known--almost none of it undertaken with aesthetics in mind, but all of it adding up to something that is, quite often, perfect. What an achievement that is. (Bill Bryson, The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes From a Small Island. Doubleday, 2015)   Dickens on Newness Mr. and Mrs. Veneering were bran-new people in a bran-new house in a bran-new quarter of London. Everything about the Veneerings was spick and span new. All their furniture was new, all their friends were new, all their servants were new, their place was new, . . . their harness was new, their horses were new, their pictures were new, they themselves were new, they were as newly-married as was lawfully compatible with their having a bran-new baby, and if they had set up a great-grandfather, he would have come home in matting from Pantechnicon, without a scratch upon him, French-polished to the crown of his head. (Charles Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, 1864-65) More Light! Goethes final words: More light. Ever since we crawled out of that primordial slime, thats been our unifying cry: More light. Sunlight. Torchlight. Candlelight. Neon. Incandescent. Lights that banish the darkness from our caves, to illuminate our roads, the insides of our refrigerators. Big floods for the night games at Soldiers field. Little tiny flashlight for those books we read under the covers when were supposed to be asleep. Light is more than watts and footcandles. Light is metaphor. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Lead, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom, Lead Thou me on! The night is dark, and I am far from home--Lead Thou me on! Arise, shine, for thy light has come. Light is knowledge. Light is life. Light is light. (Chris Stevens, Northern Exposure, 1992) Henry Peacham on Amplification In The Garden of Eloquence  (1593), Henry  Peacham describes [the] effects [of amplification] in the following manner: It is full of light, plenty and variety causing the orator to teach and tell things plainly, to amplify largely, and to prove and conclude mightily. The very wording of this passage demonstrates the procedure of amplifying one term, amplification itself, and that with the purpose of catching the readers attention.(Thomas O. Sloane,  Encyclopedia of Rhetoric. Oxford University Press, 2001) Selective Amplification Judgment is to be exercised in deciding what thoughts require amplification and what do not. A greater degree of expansion is necessary in oral than in written discourse; and in popular works than in purely scientific. A brief exposition may be sufficient for those who have some acquaintance with the subject, while in addressing those of less intelligence a greater fullness of details is necessary. It is always a most serious fault to dwell on what is unimportant, trivial, or what can be supplied by the reader; it indicates a want of the power of just discrimination on the part of the writer. (Andrew D. Hepburn, Manual of English Rhetoric, 1875) The Lighter Side of Amplification: Blackadders Crisis This is a crisis. A large crisis. In fact, if youve got a moment, its a twelve-story crisis with a magnificent entrance hall, carpeting throughout, 24-hour portage, and an enormous sign on the roof, saying This Is a Large Crisis. A large crisis requires a large plan. Get me two pencils and a pair of underpants. (Rowan Atkinson as Captain Blackadder in Goodbyeee. Blackadder Goes Forth, 1989) Pronunciation: am-pli-fi-KAY-shun Etymology: From the Latin enlargement

The Vietnam War. In The Vietnam War, Mark Atwood Lawrence

The Vietnam War In The Vietnam War, Mark Atwood Lawrence goes in depth with research from many different sides of the Vietnam war and accounts for the different events that took place during this time and the many elements that led to the war. He talks about the significance of the war and how it wasn’t just another war. Lawrence also discusses the effect it had on not just our history but world history. Lawrence gives a visual of the war from all sides, from the earliest days of French colonization to the last helicopter fleeing the American embassy, but mainly focuses on the American involvement from 1965 to 1975. He clearly and precisely goes over and researches to accurately examine the motives of both the Vietnamese communists and†¦show more content†¦economic aid to the Diem regime, it was doomed due to its internal corruption. The same argument is used to evaluate U.S. military tactics: Successes on the battlefield petered out due to a fundamental flaw in strategic assumptions. Revisionists such as Mark Moyar will surely disagree, but Lawrence does represent the majority opinion among U.S. historians at the moment. His narrative begins well before American forces set foot in Vietnam, delving into French colonialism s contribution to the 1945 Vietnamese revolution, and revealing how the Cold War concerns of the 1950s led the United States to back the French. The heart of the book covers the American war, ranging from the overthrow of Ngo Dinh Diem and the impact of the Tet Offensive to Nixon s expansion of the war into Cambodia and Laos, and the final peace agreement of 1973. Finally, Lawrence examines the aftermath of the war, from the momentous liberalization-Doi Moi-in Vietnam to the enduring legacy of this infamous war in American books, films, and political debate. A. The author’s particular bias or point of view. Is the writer impartial, objective or prejudiced, sympathetic to any social class or group or economic and political practices? Why have they written this book--do they have â€Å"an ax to grind?† For example, a participant in the Russian Revolution of 1917, World War II, or the German Revolution of 1989 who then authored a work on theShow MoreRelatedThe Contribution Of Mark Atwood Lawrence Essay1255 Words   |  6 PagesThe nonfiction works created by Mark Atwood Lawrence called Assuming the Burden: Europe and American Commitment to the War in Vietnam is an American piece of literature published in 2005. Mark Atwood Lawrence is an Associate Professor of History, Director of Graduate Studies at the Clements Center for National Security at The University of Texas and Distinguished Fellow at the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law. Lawrence has published two books, Assuming the Burden: EuropeRead M oreBook Review On The Vietnam War1438 Words   |  6 PagesCommunity College 5/4/16 Book Review on the Vietnam War by Mark Atwood Lawrence Lawrence, Mark A. The Vietnam War. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 2001. Print. Over the preceding period, a lot of scholars have tried to explore the international proportions that underlie the Vietnam War. By way of exploring the dimensions that are related to this war, they have succeeded in nudging what is believed to be the gravity that is associated with Vietnam War erudition away from the custom fixation toRead MoreThe Decade Long War1161 Words   |  5 Pages Mark Atwood Lawrence’s study, The Vietnam War: A Concise International History, is about the changing of the French-Indochina conflict to America’s involvement in the war from 1954 to 1975. This book also went through each President of the United States that had to deal with the Vietnam War starting with Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, to Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. 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The parade and events were planned to provide the celebration and recognition they did not receive 30-plus years earlier.† (Vietnam: Homecoming) The veterans were able to see the Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall and find the names of men they hadRead MoreThe Vietnam War and its Subsequent Ties to the Cold War Essay2491 Words   |  10 PagesThe Cold War was a prolonged period of political and military tension between countries on the side of democracy and those on the side of communism, the major players being the United States belonging to the former and the Soviet Union belonging to the latter (Westad). While the Cold War was known as such because there were no direct wars between the two major powers, there was large scale fighting in Vietnam. 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There were many United States citizens who believed that the United States was involved in the Vietnam struggle for the right reasons, in order to prevent communism from taking over South Vietnam. There were also other citizens who believed that the United States was involved over there for the wrong reasons, due to the feeling that it was none of our busines s, and that it was considered another formRead MorePostmodernism in Literature5514 Words   |  23 PagesPostmodern literature The term Postmodern literature is used to describe certain tendencies in post-World War II literature. It is both a continuation of the experimentation championed by writers of the modernist period (relying heavily, for example, on fragmentation, paradox, questionable narrators, etc.) and a reaction against Enlightenment ideas implicit in Modernist literature. Postmodern literature, like postmodernism as a whole, is difficult to define and there is little agreement on the

The Limitations of the Freedom of Speech Free Essays

Does the First Amendment mean anyone can say anything at any time? No. The Supreme Court has rejected an interpretation of speech without limits. Because the First Amendment has such strong language, we begin with the presumption that speech is protected. We will write a custom essay sample on The Limitations of the Freedom of Speech or any similar topic only for you Order Now Over the years, the courts have decided that a few other public interests — for example, national security, justice or personal safety — override freedom of speech. There are no simple rules for determining when speech should be limited, but there are some general tests that help. Clear and Present Danger Will this act of speech create a dangerous situation? The First Amendment does not protect statements that are uttered to provoke violence or incite illegal action. Justice Holmes, speaking for the unanimous Supreme Court, stated, â€Å"The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent. Fighting Words Was something said face-to-face that would incite immediate violence? In  Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, the Supreme Court stated that the â€Å"English language has a number of words and expressions which by general consent [are] ‘fighting words’ when said without a disarming smile. †¦ Such words, as ordinary men know, are likely to cause a fight. The court determined that the New Hampshire statute in question â€Å"did no more than prohibit the face-to-face words plainly likely to cause a breach of the peace by the addressee, words whose speaking constitute a breach of the peace by the speaker — including ‘classical fighting words,’ words in current use less ‘classical’ but equally likely to cause violence, and other disorderly words, including profanity, obscenity and threats. † Jurisdictions may write statutes to punish verbal acts if the statutes are â€Å"carefully drawn so as not unduly to impair liberty of expression. Also see  What is the Fighting Words Doctrine? Libel and Slander Was the statement false, or put in a context that makes true statements misleading? You do not have a constitutional right to tell lies that damage or defame the reputation of a person or organization. Obscenity In June 1973 in  Miller v. California, the Supreme Court held in a 5-to-4 decision that obscene materials do not enjoy First Amendment protection. In  Miller v. California  (1973), the court refin ed the definition of â€Å"obscenity† established in  Roth v. United States  (1957). It also rejected the â€Å"utterly without redeeming social value† test of  Memoirs v. Massachusetts. In the three-part Miller test, three questions must receive affirmative responses for material to be considered â€Å"obscene†: 1. Would the average person, applying the contemporary community standards, viewing the work as a whole, find the work appeals to the prurient interest? 2. Does the work depict or describe sexual conduct in a patently offensive way? 3. Does the work taken as a whole lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value? One must distinguish â€Å"obscene† material, speech not protected by the First Amendment, from â€Å"indecent† material, speech protected for adults but not for children. The Supreme Court also ruled that â€Å"higher standards† may be established to protect minors from exposure to indecent material over the airwaves. In  FCC v. Pacifica Foundation  Ã‚  the court â€Å"recognized an interest in protecting minors from exposure to vulgar and offensive spoken language. Conflict with Other Legitimate Social or Governmental Interests Does the speech conflict with other compelling interests? For example, in times of war, there may be reasons to restrict First Amendment rights because of conflicts with national security. To ensure a fair trial without disclosure of prejudicial information before or during a trial, a judge may place a â€Å"gag† order on participa nts in the trial, including attorneys. Placing prior restraint upon the media usually is unconstitutional. In  Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart  (1976),  the Supreme Court established three criteria that must be met before a judge can issue a gag order and restrain the media during a trial. Time, Place, and Manner These regulations of expression are content-neutral. A question to ask: Did the expression occur at a time or place, or did the speaker use a method of communicating, that interferes with a legitimate government interest? For example, distribution of information should not impede the flow of traffic or create excessive noise levels at certain times and in certain places. How to cite The Limitations of the Freedom of Speech, Essay examples