The Cane As A Rhetorical Device
No slouch with rhetorical devices herself, and a dab hand with a simile, Haron nonetheless cracks me up with her description of rhetorical advantage (and ogres):
I let out my breath after the last one and looked at Abel over my shoulder. He had that pensive look again, like an ogre who had just eaten a little girl who wasn’t quite agreeing with his digestion.
“That was five lots of six-of-the-best,” he said. “You know about that schoolgirl who got caned every morning before her lessons? On our blog? If I gave you another dozen, you would have had her whole punishment in one go. I think that would be quite cool.”
I thought that it would be quite a sacrifice for the sake of I wasn’t sure exactly what, but I was the one with an upturned bare bottom, and Abel was the one with the dragon cane, and thus he seemed to be at a rhetorical advantage.
Indeed, the man with the cane always has a rhetorical advantage.
Why do you think they stopped teaching rhetoric in schools at the same time the school cane fell into disfavor? Coincidence? I think not!




