Rhetorical Devices Used in Historic Speeches

Examples of Greco-Roman Persuasion from Modern Political Oratory

May 26, 2009 Luke Arnott

Modern orators often used rhetorical devices perfected in antiquity. Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Churchill used litotes, metaphor, iteratio, and other similar concepts.

The art of rhetoric – or persuasive speaking – goes back to classical times. Orators such as Demosthenes, in Greece, and Cicero, in Rome, employed a vast array of verbal tricks to win over their audiences.

The Greek and Latin names of rhetorical devices may not be recognizable to English-speaking audiences, but the devices themselves pepper the speeches of the most famous presidents and prime ministers of modern history. Here are some rhetorical devices used in examples from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Abraham Lincoln's Rhetorical Devices Included Litotes

Litotes (Greek for "plainness") refers to the deliberate use of understatement for rhetorical effect. Abraham Lincoln was a master of this technique, and his most famous political oratory used it.

For instance, in his inaugural address of 1865, Lincoln remarked that "The progress of our arms ... is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all." Lincoln's phrasing exudes a calm and humility that belies his imminent victory in the bloodiest war in American history.

In the Gettysburg Address, similarly, Lincoln observed that "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here". The irony of this particular litotes grew over time: Lincoln's brief remarks were disparaged by some in favor of the two-hour Gettysburg Oration by Edward Everett, who had spoken before Lincoln.

Yet Lincoln's political oratory has been remembered, and Everett's has been forgotten – though to Everett's credit, he immediately recognized Lincoln's speech and rhetorical devices as superior to his own.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Metaphorical Rhetorical Devices

The use of metaphor ("transference" in Greek) is one of the most common techniques in literature, and the way it vividly equates two seemingly unrelated things has made it a favored rhetorical trick since ancient times. Franklin Roosevelt used this technique in his 1933 inaugural address when he stated that, to cite one example, "the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side."

One would not immediately compare factories with a forest; but by doing so, Roosevelt suggests to his audience that the bleak autumn of the Great Depression would eventually turn back into spring.

Related rhetorical devices to metaphor include simile (from the Latin for "like") and personification (Latin for "making a character" out of an abstract). Roosevelt used personification when, also in his first inaugural, he famously proclaimed that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself," and used military metaphors to describe the struggle against the economic disaster which greeted his presidency.

Winston Churchill's Repetitive Political Oratory

Winston Churchill was one of the most celebrated English orators of the twentieth century, and his speeches (both as Prime Minister and in other roles) contain textbook examples of classical rhetorical devices.

For instance, Churchill used iteratio (Latin for "repetition") in a 1941 speech at Harrow: "this is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense."

Churchill's "never" and the phrases following in this speech are also a good example of the Greek concept of asyndeton ("lack of connection"). Leaving out conjunctions such as "and" this way gives a speech a blunter, more forceful tone. Its opposite is polysyndeton ("many connections").

The Continuation of Greco-Roman Rhetorical Devices

Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Churchill were all masters of the art of political oratory. All three understood that concepts such as litotes, metaphor, and iteratio are just as effective on modern audiences as they were on the ancients.

However, there are many other time-tested rhetorical devices (such as praeteritio, hyperbole, and anaphora), which also live on in remarks made by more contemporary American Presidents.

The copyright of the article Rhetorical Devices Used in Historic Speeches in Language Study is owned by Luke Arnott. Permission to republish Rhetorical Devices Used in Historic Speeches in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Abraham Lincoln's Rhetorical Devices	FDR Used Rhetorical Devices at His Inauguration	Winston Churchill was Famed for Rhetorical Devices
Rhetorical Devices Named in Antiquity	Lincoln Used Rhetorical Devices Like Litotes