I have a transcript of a speech read at Diana's funeral. In it the speaker says 'thankyou' and begins to actually 'talk' to Diana rather than the audience. Is there a specific term for this? I thought of soliloquy but I guess not as that would mean the speaker is talking to himself. Please help!
2007-11-23 04:56:47 · 5 answers · asked by pixie.wings 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
The technical term for this rhetorical device, though hardly ever used in this sense, is apostrophe.
This originally meant (in Greek) "turning towards". The speaker, as it were, turns to the subject of the speech and address him/her/it directly.
The use of the word for quotation marks, now the commonest use, obviously stems from the original meaning: the punctuation marks direct speech.
2007-11-23 05:33:01 · answer #1 · answered by Michael B 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I don't see it like a speech method. It looks to me that, is a eulogy where the person was making a CONVERSATION with Diana.
When you think of it as a conversation, then he was using the Conversation technique of Reflecting. The term "reflecting" can be interpreted in two ways: sitting back and thinking or bouncing back to the other person what they have communicated to you.
Reflecting back to the other person something of themselves is a powerful process, that lets you build rapport with the other person, but in this case the speaker was trying to build rapport between the people and Diana's legacy, by letting them share his posthumous conversation.
2007-11-23 13:43:47 · answer #2 · answered by gospieler 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Valediction?
2007-11-23 13:17:13 · answer #3 · answered by picador 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Michael B is right: it's a rhetorical device called "apostrophe".
2007-11-24 04:45:43 · answer #4 · answered by Colin G 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A dialog is a conversation beween two people. That one of the two is dead probably doesn't change the terminology.
2007-11-23 13:14:49 · answer #5 · answered by dnldslk 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋