Rhetorical device

"rhetoric" = "the art of use of language for persuasion"

• from Greek rhētorikētekhnē  for "art of an orator,"
  • rhētōr = "speaker, orator" or "orator in public."
  • rhesis = "speech"
  • rhema = "word, phrase" or
    • from PIE *wre-tor- for " "that which is spoken" (from root *were- "to speak")

apophasis

• also called "Paralipsis"
• author mentions an argument or fact in order to deny it or to deny using it
• also used to mention something indirectly
• = a form of irony
  • may be seen as a "passive-aggressive" argument
    • in that it states something while apologizing for having stated it
• examples:
  • "But we won't talk about my opponent's disastrous married life"
  • "It would be a breach of decorum to mention base morals such as she embodies"
• actual use of paralipses:
  • during Prohibition (when sale of alcohol was banned), a grape juice company included this paralipsis on its grape concentrate packaging:
    • "After dissolving the brick in a gallon of water, do not place the liquid in a jug away in the cupboard for twenty days, because then it would turn into wine."
  • during the 1984 presidential debates, Ronald Reagan, who was much older than his opponent, stated,
    • "I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience."

• see Apophasis - Wikipedia

paralipsis

• see Apophasis