For The Stills Rhetorical Devices

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As for the Stills ' song, many fans viewed it as an antiwar anthem, but he refuted that theory. "It was really four different things intertwined, including the war and the absurdity of what was happening on the Strip," he said, "But I knew I had to skedaddle and headed back to Topanga Canyon, where I wrote my song in about 15 minutes. For me, there was no riot. It was basically a cop dance" (Qtd in Rasmussen). Clearly centering his thoughts were on what was happening to the teenagers in Los Angeles. The tone Stills uses remains objective, perceptive, and soothing. He also uses the rhetorical device, chiasmus, the crisscrossing of words (“chiasmus”). “Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong” illustrates the complexity and simplicity of the lyrics.