In Killingsworth’s description of the four tropes, he explains the tropes in a way that deems them useful for much for than making our work sound more eloquent. Using the four tropes, metaphor, synecdoche, metonymy, and irony appeals to our daily communication because, according to Killingsworth, the use of these tropes is more logical than it is artistic. Although some view tropes as a way to make a text more elegant, Killingsworth explains the practical use of these tropes. He explains, “What we end up with is not only an expansion of the appeals theory and its analytical power, but also a redefinition of the tropes as patterns of appealing” (Killingsworth 121). Tropes no longer remain an optional way to enhance language, but they become necessary tools for persuasion and understanding.
While unpacking Killingsworth’s text, I kept returning to the question “What’s the big deal after all?” Tropes are still tropes, so what is so important now about utilizing them in our everyday speech and writing? “Metaphor is everywhere, and so is the kind of value-laden, emotional language usually associated with rhetoric, no matter how hard scientific and academic writers may try to avoid it” (Killingsworth 122). These tropes are present everywhere and therefore it is a big deal that we accept them into our discourse. We must also begin “...considering tropes not merely as embellishments of language but as ways of thinking” Killingsworth 122). The tropes are not present in rhetorical practice to make language sound pretty. They are critical tools in communicating and making connections among different ideas and objects.
In Sharon Daniel’s Public Secrets, I noticed that there was a clear presence of irony. Killingsworth describes irony as “...a trope that involves inversions and reversals. It turns meanings and expectations upside down. It often involves saying one thing and meaning another” (131). The title itself, Public Secrets, is ironic because secrets are not meant to be shared and therefore should not be public. The placement of these words give an inversion of meaning, creating an ironic title that is effective in Daniel’s hypertext.
Daniel’s hypertext is interpreted differently because of the use of heteroglossia in her text. It is not simply her narration of her findings, but a collection of narrations from various prisoners and individuals. In describing heteroglossia, Bakhtin says, “...once incorporated into the novel is another’s speech in another’s language, serving to express authorial intentions but in a refracted way”( Bakhtin 324). Daniel’s incorporation of different voices in her hypertext as well as the use of tropes gives the text a completely different outcome. So the big deal is that tropes serve not as an option but a necessity in making a point and creating successfully a critical argument.
Works Cited
Bakhtin, Mikhail M. “Discourse in the Novel.” The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays. Trans. Caryl Emerson and Michael Holquist. Austin: U of Texas P, 1981. 259-331.
Killingsworth, M. Jimmie. “Appeal Through Tropes.” Appeals in Modern Rhetoric: An Ordinary- Language Approach. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 2005. 121-135.
I also found "Public Secrets" to be ironic in multiple ways, and it caused me to ask the question, "How is irony used to persuade?" What does irony do rhetorically to convince a reader to see through to the core of the issue? Like Killingsworth said, irony involves "inversions and reversals" and "saying one thing and meaning another." He wisely cites the infamous "A Modest Proposal" as a prime example of persuasive irony. Jonathan Swift makes his case by using the "moral force" of contextual irony to make the reader think the opposite of what he is saying. Instead of persuading the reader that it's acceptable for the rich English to eat the poor children of Ireland, it incites violent moral opposition. I would imagine that after the intended reader had this initial reaction, Swift wanted him/her to then realize they are still in the wrong, for they are 'devouring' the Irish with their "policies of neglect and exploitation" (132).
ReplyDeleteSo irony is persuasive in that it incites a a logical and emotional reaction in the reader opposite to what they read. This makes the reader aware of their true stance on an issue, and compels them to change.
I am finding Marilyn's description of irony extremely helpful- even though I previously (and still do) understand the concept and its application. I view irony as one of the most persuasive tools of rhetoric that a rhetorician can apply to an audience. It, according to Killingsworth (and Marilyn, for that matter) incites the logic and emotion of the potential audience - in a manner opposite of what they actually have read, compelling the reader to establish their opinion and stance on the issue. But what I am having trouble with, is how (or whether or not it even does) irony combines with metaphor, synecdoche and metonymy to form a global idea that we label as trope. Do all tropes persuade, or have the potential to dissuade?
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