Rhetorical devices

Rhetorical questions

In his 2015 TED talk about two Americas, Anand Giridharadas makes use of rhetorical questions to engage his audience. One example is when the speaker describes how Bangladeshi immigrant Bhuiyan started working again after being shot by a white supremacist: “Then he became an Olive Garden waiter, because where better to get over your fear of white people than the Olive Garden?” (ll. 37-38). The Olive Garden is a typically American restaurant chain serving Italian food, which attracts a lot of white Americans. The audience laughs in response to this rhetorical question, which is what the speaker wants here. It is a joke about Americans and their food choices.

However, Giridharadas’ talk also includes questions that are less rhetorical - either because the speaker answers them himself or because he wants the audience to answer, or at least reflect on the answer. An example of Giridharadas answering himself is this: In the meanwhile, how many Americans gained a place in the middle class? Actually, the net influx was negative.” (ll. 106-107). Although he eventually gives us the answer, the question still has the same effect that all questions have: They make us start thinking. This is one way of engaging the audience.

Some of the rhetorical questions come in connection with the use of direct address. You can read more about this below.

Direct address

Towards the end of the talk, the speaker suddenly addresses his audience directly:

And don’t console yourself that you are the 99 percent. [...] If most people you know finished college, if no one you know uses meth, [...] then accept the possibility that actually, you may not know what’s going on and you may be part of the problem. (ll. 114-118)

The pronoun “you” marks the direct address. In these lines, the speake...