#ASHANTI BABY RHETORICAL DEVICES HOW TO#

#ASHANTI BABY RHETORICAL DEVICES HOW TO#

(I just met Frank today as I wrote this post.) How To Use the Rule of Three to Help Frank Get His CookieДЇrank wants a cookie. Here is the plot outline for Frank Wants a CookieВ to show you what I mean. I wonвЂ™t tell you who it is, as that would give away the story. It isnвЂ™t until hisВ his fourth attempt he finds his mother. He asks each of the three in turnВ if they are his mother they all say no. He meets three different animals,В a giraffe, a penguin, and a walrus. So what does he do? He sets out to find her. Example of the Rule of Three: A Mother for ChocoДЄ Mother for Choco by Keiko Kasza is a perfect example of the rule of three.Д¬hoco, like all protagonists, has a problem. Two makes the set up, and the third closes the triangle. Somewhere in the ancient, mystic trinity you get three as a magic number. Your readersВ want yourВ protagonist to have to overcome the problem with repeating attempts.В Why? Because readers want to identify with someone overcoming a major event, in other words something that is hard,В even if it is only to get a cookie out of the pantry when they are not supposed to have any. If the character with a problem, the protagonist, solves the problem after one attempt, the story would be rather boring, wouldnвЂ™t it? Readers want to see conflict, struggle! Whenever there is a general rule, someone will deviate from it. Why the Rule of Three Helps CreateВ an Engaging StoryД«efore you say, вЂњHey, Hodges, I read a childrenвЂ™s book once, andВ they tried four times, or five times, to solve aВ problem.вЂќ I know, I know. On the fourth attemptВ Frank will finally solve his cookie dilemma. In classic childrenвЂ™s book format, he will tryВ three timesВ to solve hisВ problem. In our story about Frank and his cookie, FrankВ has a problem. The rule of threeвЂ¦ suggests that things that come in threes are inherently funnier, more satisfying, or more effective than other numbers of things. HereвЂ™s what Wikipedia says about the rule of three: As a storytelling device, you find it most often in fairy tales, myths, and fables, but itвЂ™s common in all forms of literature, poetry, and songwriting.

The rule of three is a common storytelling device and rhetorical technique.

His mother said, вЂњFrank, you cannot have a cookie before lunch.вЂќДЇor todayвЂ™s practice, letвЂ™s help Frank get his cookie using the rule of three. Once upon a time there was a little boy, Frank, who wanted to eat a cookie. If youвЂ™re a writer, especially a childrenвЂ™s book author, you should be using the rule of three in your writing. Three kittens lost their mittens, Goldilocks and the three bears, three musketeers.В You might even say вЂњ three is a magic number.вЂќ

Ashanti baby rhetorical devices