Rhetorical tools can refer to specific means of persuasion, such as logos, pathos, and ethos, or the five canons of rhetoric. Rhetorical devices, such as alliteration and metaphor, are common tools used to persuade through memorable and impactful sounds or language.
The term rhetorical tools could be interpreted to mean many things in the realm of rhetoric, depending on the context. Meanings might include specific tools, such as rhetorical devices, or specific means of persuasion such as logos, pathos, and ethos. Furthermore, the term rhetorical tools can also refer to the five canons of rhetoric, including invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery. Most often, however, the term is used to describe many rhetorical devices, such as alliteration, metaphor, allusion or satire.
Some teachers and rhetorical theorists describe rhetorical tools as the three main means of persuasion used in rhetoric. These means of persuasion were first described by Aristotle, who divided the concepts into logos, pathos and ethos. Logos refers to the use of logic to persuade, while pathos refers to the use of emotion. Ethos establishes the ethical or moral correctness of an argument, speaker or writer, as a means of persuading an audience. Each of these rhetorical tools has a specific purpose, although all three tools can be used in a single rhetorical work.
Other theorists and educators refer to the five canons of rhetoric as rhetorical tools, based on their use in constructing rhetorical presentations. As a speaker or writer constructs a work of rhetoric, the five canons can be used as a checklist of the components needed to create a persuasive piece. In this sense, the five canons are used as rhetorical tools to help the writer or speaker develop a road map for his or her persuasive work.
Invention, the first canon, involves finding an idea to talk or write about. Arrangement, the second canon, refers to the logical order of presentation of the individual. Style is the art with which the individual chooses his words. Memory includes both the ability to memorize a prepared topic and the ability to improvise based on knowledge of a topic. Delivery, the final classic canon of rhetoric, involves the specific choice of words or how an argument is stated.
Rhetorical devices, the most common understanding of the term rhetorical devices, fall into two different canons of rhetoric. In particular, rhetorical devices involve both style and delivery. Alliteration, for example, involves style as it relates to word choice and delivery as it relates to how words sound to an audience. By definition, alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in a sequence of words.
To illustrate alliteration, in a famous radio address in the 1940s, Sir Winston Churchill was quoted as saying, “We will not fail or falter; we will not weaken or get tired…”. This is an example of alliteration used in a rhetorical speech. As one of many rhetorical tools, alliteration seeks to persuade through the use of memorable, impactful and repetitive sounds. Similarly, assonance is another rhetorical device that uses repetitive vowel sounds, rather than consonants. Numerous other rhetorical devices are common, including the use of metaphors, satire, nostalgia, sarcasm, hyperbole, and dozens more.
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