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Year 8 · English · Speeches and rhetoric · Lesson 1

Rhetorical devices

Rhetorical devices (AFOREST) and how Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address uses them, plus a model persuasive speech.

Whiteboard video lesson: Rhetorical devices

20-minute video lesson

Teaching, worked examples and 20 practice questions solved step by step.

Watch free for a month

What your child will learn

  • Define rhetoric
  • Recall AFOREST devices
  • Analyse Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
  • Tell facts from opinions
  • Write your own persuasive sentences

The method

  1. Spot the device (AFOREST).
  2. Quote it.
  3. Explain its effect on the audience.
  4. Link it to the speaker's purpose.

Key words: rhetoric, rule of three, rhetorical question, emotive language, statistics, direct address, repetition.

Worked examples

The first three practice questions from the lesson, with every step.

Question 1

Who gave the Gettysburg Address?

  1. Step 1: Abraham Lincoln, US President
  2. Step 2: 1863, during the American Civil War

Answer: Abraham Lincoln, 1863

Question 2

What does ‘Four score and seven years’ mean?

  1. Step 1: A score = 20
  2. Step 2: 4 × 20 + 7 = 87 years

Answer: 87 years

Question 3

Why did Lincoln say ‘Four score and seven’ instead of ‘87’?

  1. Step 1: Sounds grand and serious
  2. Step 2: Echoes the Bible: formal tone

Answer: It sounds grand, formal and Biblical