"You Are Being Lied To": A Rhetorician's Toolkit for Effective Persuasion
A practical introduction to classical rhetoric — its four core appeals and a catalog of specific figures of speech — framed as a defensive toolkit. Knowing how persuasion works is the best protection against being manipulated by it. ---
Key Concepts
| Concept | Definition |
|---|---|
| Rhetoric | The art of compelling speech; the third component of the Trivium (Grammar → Logic → Rhetoric). Morally neutral, like lockpicking or martial arts. |
| Trivium | The medieval liberal arts triad — Grammar (what words mean), Logic (whether meaning is internally consistent), Rhetoric (whether you're being dazzled rather than informed). |
| Healthy skepticism vs. cynicism | Skepticism starts from a blank slate; cynicism defaults to distrust. The goal is the former. |
| Figures of speech | Over 200 catalogued devices inherited from Greek and Roman rhetorical tradition (primary source: Cicero-era *Rhetorica ad Herennium*; modern treatment: Anton D. Leeman's *Orationis Ratio*) |
Notes
Why Rhetoric Matters Now
- Politics and media are increasingly inseparable; the internet multiplies both information and disinformation
- Echo chambers prevent clear, unbiased decision-making
- PR, marketing, and propaganda have become pervasive and sophisticated — no longer avoidable
- The gap between information broadcasters and receivers widens yearly, increasing general susceptibility
- Two options: retreat from the overload, or sharpen critical thinking — only one is viable
The Four Core Appeals (Rhetorical Humors)
- **Logos**: Logical, reasoned argument — the foundation of honest exchange
- **Pathos**: Emotional resonance — acting, tone, facial expression, dramatic pacing
- **Ethos**: Trust through integrity, authority, and resonance with what the audience already believes is right
- **Kairos**: The right moment — circumstantial but equally important; can be used constructively ("strike while the iron is hot") or destructively ("kick a man when he's down")
Figures of Speech — Catalog
- Repetition of a word/phrase at the *beginning* of successive clauses
- Creates rhythm, aids memory, stirs emotion
- Examples: MLK's "I have a dream" (×8); Dickens's "It was the best of times…"; Blake's "In every cry of every man…"
- Words/phrases arranged in ascending order of importance, each step building on the last
- Standard format: X is good, Y is better, Z is best
- **Watch for**: slips in value judgments — the inferior options make the final term seem better than it may be in isolation
- **Anticlimax**: reverse ladder — makes the first term look better by contrast
- Examples: St. Paul ("faith, hope, love — greatest is love"); Declaration of Independence ("life, liberty, pursuit of happiness")
- Juxtaposition of opposing ideas for contrast
- Examples: "One small step for a man, a giant leap for mankind"; Dickens's Tale of Two Cities opening
- **Watch for**: false dichotomies / false dilemmas — one of the most common rhetorical pitfalls
- Two clauses structured to mirror each other in grammatical form
- Creates balance and memorability — good for slogans
- Nothing inherently manipulative; applies a kind of proportional equilibrium
- Examples: "What you see is what you get"; JFK's "pay any price, bear any burden…"
- Mirror-and-invert structure across two clauses (shaped like the Greek letter chi / X)
- Examples: JFK's "Ask not what your country can do for you…"; "When the going gets tough, the tough get going"; Shakespeare's "Fair is foul and foul is fair"
- Devices compound; their combined effect exceeds the sum of parts
- Example: St. Francis's Peace Prayer layers **anaphora** ("Where there is…") with **antithesis** (hatred/love, discord/harmony, despair/hope) throughout
- Like parison, but parallel clauses also match in *syllable count*
- Creates rhythmic symmetry
- Example: "To err is human, to forgive divine"
- Repetition of the same initial consonant sound in close succession
- Considered a cheap device by ancient Greeks; beloved by Romans and passed to us
- Heavily exploited in modern branding: TikTok, Dunkin' Donuts, PayPal, Coca-Cola, KitKat, etc.
- Exploits multiple meanings or similar-sounding words
- Not always comic — can introduce double entendres or hidden layers of meaning
- Roots in Sumerian cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs
- Requires holding two meanings simultaneously — tests cognitive flexibility and cultural literacy
- **Figura Etymologica**: a pun based on shared etymological roots (e.g., "creature/creator" in Romans 1:25; nature/*nascor* in Hermetic texts)
- Famous example: Odysseus telling the Cyclops his name is *Outis* ("Nobody") — causing confusion among other Cyclopes
- Repeating a word in different grammatical forms or cases
- Examples: "a man's man"; "in the morning, when the morning bird sings"
- Weak in English (non-inflected language) but worth noticing — catchy sound ≠ true content
- One verb governs multiple objects or subjects, yoking different ideas together
- Example: Tennyson's "He works his work, I mine"
- **Syllepsis** (variant): the yoked word applies literally in one context and metaphorically in another — often ironic or humorous
- Example: "Would the maiden stain her honor or her dress?"
- Repeating a word twice, or ending one clause with a word and beginning the next with the same word — creates a chain
- Evokes gravity or grief; particularly convincing even when simple
- Examples: Dylan Thomas's "Rage, rage against the dying of the light"; Yoda's "Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering"; Romans 5:3–5
- Repeating one idea with different words — adds emotional force or intellectual clarity (stylized tautology)
- Example: Shakespeare's "You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things"
- A phrase repeated in reverse order, mirror-like
- Examples: "Everything is in your head; your head is in everything"; the Emerald Tablet's "As above, so below; as below, so above"
- Splitting a word and inserting another word in the middle for emphasis
- Examples: "un-fucking-believable"; "a whole 'nother"
- Emphasizing something by conspicuously pretending not to mention it
- Classic political and gossip tactic: "I'm not going to say anything about X, but…"
- Cicero used it in *Pro Caelio* — listing accusations while claiming to withhold them
- **Often backfires** — most audiences recognize it as weaselly and manipulative
- Not just comic-book sounds (boom, pow) — includes any invented word
- **Critical lens**: when novel words appear in public discourse, ask — why not use an existing word? Is ambiguity masking ignorance or intent to obscure?
- **Metonymy**: naming a thing by something associated with it ("my ride" for car)
- **Synecdoche**: a part stands for the whole ("wheels" for car)
- **Antonomasia**: naming a person by a descriptive phrase ("the blind bard" for Homer; "the Philosopher" for Aristotle) — encapsulates identity or reputation
- Deliberate exaggeration (Greek: "throwing above and beyond")
- **Watch for**: hyperbole in news and political discourse distorts reality and can drive decisions based on false scale — both over- and understatement are dangerous
Actionable Takeaways
- **Before acting on a persuasive message** (ad, speech, article), pause and identify which of the four appeals (logos, pathos, ethos, kairos) are being deployed and in what proportion
- **Check for false dichotomies** whenever you encounter antithesis or climax — ask whether the contrast is real or manufactured
- **Notice praeteritio in the wild** — whenever someone says "I'm not going to mention X," that *is* the mention; treat it accordingly
- **Interrogate invented or jargon-heavy language** — ask why a familiar word wasn't used; ambiguity often signals either ignorance or intentional obscuring
- **Learn the Trivium sequence**: first establish what words actually mean (grammar), then check internal consistency (logic), then assess whether you're being rhetorically dazzled rather than genuinely informed (rhetoric)
- **Study rhetoric to produce it as well as defend against it** — the best counter to propaganda is understanding the craft; you cannot break rules effectively without first knowing them
Quotes Worth Keeping
In the same way that pearls trampled into mud by swine are still pearls, turds polished to a shine are still turds.
Fancy words should not obscure the truth, no matter how eloquently presented.
"The truth does not require the ornament of language." — Marsilio Ficino (as cited)
A true critical thinker shouldn't be swayed by repeated falsehoods. They should discern lies from truths regardless of how often they're repeated or how beautifully they're adorned.
There's no better way to detect a con man than to know the con.
The way out is through.
I'm not saying that you can't break the rules, but if you don't know the rules before you break them, you've already lost your way.