Thursday, November 17, 2016

To the Lighthouse: A Rhetorical Device, Zeugma

In rhetoric, zeugma, from Greek "yoking," is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase joins together two distinct parts of a sentence. It can cause confusion while also adding some flavor / humor, or creating unexpected effects. For example,  the word "execute" in this statement, "you are free to execute your laws, and your citizens, as you see fit,"  applies to both laws and citizens, and as a result, it creates a shocking effect.

Selected Tanka:

midnight moon
in the motel window ...
I hold my breath
and the door
for the new intern

winter sun
in shards of glass
once again
my soon-to-be-ex breaks
my car and my heart

No comments:

Post a Comment