Antimetabole: Rhetorical Technique in 1984

First thing's first: don't ask me to pronounce the name of this technique... is it an-time-tabool? An-tim-eh-ta-bol-ey? Anti-meta-burlie? Anyway, it's a mouthful, and thankfully students wanting to discuss it in an essay only need to know how to spell it rather than pronounce it.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I like to use a 'mini-lesson' approach when it comes to teaching new techniques in the classroom. This has been adapted from the work of American writing guru Nancie Atwell and WSU Education Researcher Wayne Sawyer, and allows for students to engage directly with the technique or literary device before placing it in context and developing a greater familiarity with it.

Antimetabole is a rhetorical device, and I'll note here that I've already spent significant time covering the persuasive genre of rhetoric with my Advanced English students before getting to this particular technique, which means that students already have contextual knowledge of what rhetoric is and how it works (and to what end). I cover this in passing with Year 10 students, and then in more detail when teaching Shakespearean language to Preliminary Advanced English for Othello.

At its most basic definition, antimetabole is when a phrase or clause is stated and then repeated in reverse order. A famous example is one used in a speech by American President John F. Kennedy:

"Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country"

Antimetabole can be used for a number of reasons:

• To call attention to certain key words.
• To hint that reality is not what it seems (illustrated by the reversal of words).
• To motivate/persuade an audience.
• When the first clause is spoken in a speech it may not be that noticeable, however, when the words are repeated in the next clause it immediately emphasises the elements that have been repeated. 
• It is a popular rhetorical device in political speeches, and is therefore used in literature to allude to political thought and intention. 
• It can sometimes seem confusing; forcing the listener or reader to re-examine the ideas therein.

An example from 1984, spoken by O'Brien during his interrogation of Winston:

"One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes a revolution in order to establish the dictatorship"

Get the students look at the quote above and then answer the following questioning after being walked through the above definition and breakdown:

Question: What is Orwell's intention in using this rhetorical device here, and through this particular character?

Orwell actually uses a few examples of this rhetorical device in 1984, another that comes to mind is, "Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious". Rigorous teachers might also like to point out the paradoxical, Catch 22-like nature of this additional example. 

Resource: 1984 and Antimetabole