A prosopopoeia (GreekNo quick definition available. Greek: προσωποποιία) is a rhetorical device in which a speaker or writer communicates to the audience by speaking as another person or object. The term literally derives from the GreekNo quick definition available. Greek roots meaning "a face, a person, to make".
Prosopopoeiae are used mostly to give another perspective on the action being described. For example, in Cicero's Pro CaelioPro Caelio is one of the most famous surviving speeches by the Roman orator, Cicero. It is Cicero's defence, delivered on April 4, 56 BC, of Marcus Caelius Rufus on a number of obscure charges, including sedition, theft, the murder of the Alexandrian diplomat Dio, and the purchasing and use of poison against Clodia. Of these the primary charge is that of political violence, the murder of Dio. Caelius had been the lover of the notorious Clodia, sister of Publius Clodius Pulcher, ...Pro Caelio, Cicero speaks as Appius Claudius Caecus, a stern old man. This serves to give the "ancient" perspective on the actions of the plaintiff. Prosopopoeiae can also be used to take some of the load off of the communicator by placing an unfavorable point of view on the shoulders of an imaginary stereotype. The audience's reactions are predisposed to go towards this figment rather than the communicator himself.
Examples:
- "If Miller HugginsHuggins became a player-manager for St. Louis in 1913. Although as St. Louis's manager until 1917 he didn't find any substantial success (they never finished higher than third place), he was able to build on his experience as the manager of a budding New York Yankee team beginning in 1918. As the Yankees skipper until his death in 1929, and with one of the finest offenses ever ...Miller Huggins was alive today, he'd be turning over in his grave". —Yogi BerraLawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra (born May 12, 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri) is a former Major League Baseball player and manager. He played almost his entire career for the New York Yankees and was elected to the baseball Hall of Fame in 1972. He was one of only four players to be named the Most Valuable Player of the American League three times, ...Yogi Berra, speaking of a former YankeesThe New York Yankees are a professional Major League Baseball team based in the borough of The Bronx, in New York City. The team's name is often shortened to "the Yanks," and their most prominently used nickname is "the Bronx Bombers," or simply "the Bombers." A less used nickname is "the Pinstripers." The organization is sometimes referred to by detractors as "the Bronx Zoo" (echoing the title of Sparky Lyle's book) or ...Yankees manager.
- Often a prosecutor will suggest to jurors:For "jury" meaning "makeshift", see jury rig. A jury is a sworn body of persons convened to render a rational, impartial verdict and a finding of fact on a legal question officially submitted to them, or to set a penalty or judgment in a jury trial of a court of law. The petit jury or trial jury hears the evidence in a case and decides the disputed facts and usually consists of 12 jurors, ...jurors that a homicideHomicide (Latin homicidium, homo human being + caedere to cut, kill) refers to the act of killing another human being.Nolo Press It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English. Although homicide does not define an illegal act necessarily, sometimes it is used synonymously with "murder."homicide victim is "speaking to us through the evidence". Before becoming a SenatorThe United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the bicameral United States Congress, the other being the House of Representatives. It is known informally as the "upper house." In the Senate, each state is represented by two members. The membership is therefore based on the completely equal representation of each state, ...Senator, John EdwardsJohnny Reid "John" Edwards (born June 10 1953), is an American politician who was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004 and a one-term U.S. Senator from North Carolina. On December 27 2006, he announced his entry into the 2008 Presidential election. Edwards was a trial lawyer before entering politics. He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in North Carolina's ...John Edwards was reputed to have made such an argument in one of his most famous tortTort is a legal term in common law jurisdictions that means a civil wrong, and can be a criminal wrong, that is recognized by law as grounds for a lawsuit. Its equivalent in civil law jurisdictions is delict. It is part of the law of obligations but unlike voluntarily assumed obligations on the parties created through a contract, the ...tort cases, representing the family of a girl who had been killed by a defective pool drain.
Other Uses:
- Prosopopeia is the name of series of reality-games, primarily in Stockholm, Sweden. See references. *
