rhetorical devices in the New Orleans speech

Today in class we went over more rhetorical devices that evolve the argument in the New Orleans statue speech. In the beginning of class Mr. Rivers pulled up all the literary devices we are using and asked us out of 7 different ones which one is more important in the speech, find a quote and explain why. My Group said Anaphora was a very important rhetorical device used in the speech, our example was, "After decades of public debate, of anger, of anxiety, of anticipation, of humiliation and of frustration; after public hearings and approvals from three separate community boards and commissions; after two robust public hearings and a 6-1 vote by our duly-elected City Council; after review by 13 different federal and state judges" (Landrieu) . Anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase. This quote and type of device helps support the argument and persuade people because it emphasizes the fact that "after" decades of all these negatively con notated things and through all this hard work the statues are finally coming down. Other groups continued to say which rhetorical device they thought was one most important and the ones that were said are, metaphor, personification, antithesis, and cacophony. An example for metaphor would be "You see, New Orleans is truly a city of many nations, a melting pot, a bubbling cauldron of many cultures" (Landrieu). This metaphor furthers the argument because it helps people see how much culture is in New Orleans and how it is accepting of everyone. Towards the end of the class Mr. Rivers gave us an assignment to make up an argument ourselves using any speaker, audience, and purpose.  
Rhetorical Devices can tremendously help an argument and help persuade people over to your side by using word play. They can be used to make an emotional connection, to keep the reader entertained or to make the reader focus on a specific/important point.