Rant Rhetorical Analysis

•Rhetorical question: Used in this particular rant to raise an inquiry up in the audience’s mind. The question is not expected to be answered, yet is a persuasion that enables the audience to comprehend what the rant is about. For instance, when Rick says, “did the Liberals get elected or were the Tories thrown out?” is a rhetorical question.

•Metaphor: When Rick mentions that the Liberals are about to go head first into a snowbank, he is comparing the snowbank with a risky or perilous circumstance. Running into a snowbank emerges pain, thus, he is attempting to compare it to what the Liberals were about to confront.

•Allusion: Rick Mercer refers to Aga Khan and The Fantasy Island, which is an allusion. He alludes to Aga Khan, a famous

spiritual leader and The Fantasy Island, a show about luxurious people and the main character’s dream is to have a well-heeled guests.

SPOKEN WORD POEM: Strength:
•Hyperbole: When the author says, “I felt under attack, belittled, small like I could slip through a crack,” he was exaggerating. He does not really mean he felt so small that he can’t slip through a crack, he means that he felt empty and less than other people when he got called names by his peers. He expresses his feeling through hyperbole.

•Metaphor: There was a comparison between people’s words and deadly weapons. He compares these two aspects in order to educate the audience how deadly and terrible words can be as weapons.

Euphemism: The part when the author says, “I will not lay down,” is a phrase said politely to express the harsh consequence of words. When he says ‘lay down’, he doesn’t simply mean ‘lay down’, however he implies significantly more, such as to be hurt, to get sick, and to be afraid. Subsequently, the author uses euphemism to make the poem compelling for the audience to understand.