Rhetorical devices
Rhetorical devices are language tools designed to capture readers’ attention and to make arguments sound more appealing. In what follows, we will outline the most important rhetorical devices used by Caryl Phillips in “The Pioneers: Fifty Years of Caribbean Migration to Britai…
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Direct references
In “The Pioneers: Fifty Years of Caribbean Migration to Britain”, Caryl Phillips prefers using direct references, although there are also a few indirect references (allusions) included.
The essay starts with a direct reference to the first Jamaicans who arrived in Britain in 1948: “So fifty years after the SS Empire Windrush unloaded 492 Jamaicans at Tilbury docks, what kind of society do we have in Britain today?” (p. 31, ll. 1-2). The same reference is used several other times in the essay: “…when the first Caribbean migrants stepped off the ships in the 1940s and 1950s.” (p. 31, ll. 21-22); “Fifty years ago the SS Empire Windrush dropped anchor at Tilbury docks and discharged 492 Jamaicans.” (p. 33, ll. 21-22)
These references help the writer remind the audience that Caribbean migrants contributed to Britain becomi…
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Allusions
An allusion is an indirect, subtle reference to people, events, or literature which the writer finds relevant for the propose of his essay. An important allusion in the text is the phrase “ ‘Keep Britain White’ ” (p. 31, ll. 26-27), which was a very popular slogan in the 1960s and 1970s in the UK, used by conservative politicians to win people’s votes. The slogan is mentioned to show how people’s fear of foreigners was exploited in the past to obtain political gains.
For the same reason, Phillips refers directly to a politician from the 1990s, Norman Tebbit (p. 32, l. 33), who argued that multiculturalism will divide society. In contrast to this, the writer opposes an opinion expressed in “the Daily Telegraph” (p. 32, l. 37) which argues in favour of multiculturalism. Note t…
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Repetition and tricolon
Repetition typically helps writers emphasise their key points and make their ideas stick with the audience. For example, “…a Britain that was no longer sure of herself, a Britain fearful of her shrinking role in the world.” (p. 31, ll. 23-24) helps bring the focus of the essay on Britain and is meant to be a powerful reminder of how the British people were affected by historical events (WWII).
The writer begins and ends his essay with the same idea, a repetition that gives a circular structure to the text, and helps Phillips emphasise the important contribution the first Caribbean migrants made in paving the wa…
