Rhetorical Terms | List 7

OBJECTIVITY

the impersonal presentation of events and characters. The writer’s attempt to remove himself from any personal, subjective or biased involvement in the story. “Hard news” journalism is valued for its objectivity, although fictional works may be told without the writer rendering personal judgement.

ONOMATOPOEIA

a figure of speech in which the natural sounds are imitated by the word’s sound. EX: buzz, crash, hiss…

OPPOSITION

the contrast or juxtaposition of two elements for literary effect (closely related to dichotomy).

OVERSIMPLIFICATION

when the writer obscures or denies the complexity of an issue in their argument.

OXYMORON

a pair of words with contradictory meaning often for comic effect. EX: wise fool, happily married, military intelligence.

PARADOX

a phrase or statement that appears contradictory but actually has a rational meaning. The more the paradox is considered, the more sense it makes. EX: “The more I know, the less I understand.” Or Thoreau’s statement, “I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.”

PACING

the movement of the literary piece from one point or section to another.

PARALLELISM

a similar word order and grammatical structure within a sentence or

paragraph. EX: “He liked to eat watermelon and to avoid grapefruit.”

PARAPHRASE

a version of the text put into simpler, everyday words or summarized for brevity. Be sure to understand this term to avoid PLAGIARISM.

PARODY

a literary form in which the style of an author or work is mocked for comic effect. is not SATIRE and is played merely for laughs. Satire has a serious underlying purpose.

PASTORAL

an artistic work that portrays an idealized version of rural life.

PATHETIC FALLACY

similar to personification; giving human emotions or characteristics to inanimate objects, specifically those that exist in nature. EX: angry clouds, cruel wind

PEDANTIC

describes writing that borders on lecturing. It is scholarly and academic and is often overly difficult and distant. (See didactic and jargon).

PERIODIC SENTENCE

(counterpart to LOOSE SENTENCE) a sentence that departs from the usual English syntax by expressing the main thought only at the end.

PERSONIFICATION

a figure of speech where animals, ideas or inanimate objects are given human characteristics.

POLYSYNDETON

(Counterpart to ASYNDETON) the use of several conjunctions in close succession, especially where some could otherwise be omitted. EX: For breakfast I want eggs and bacon and potatoes and toast.

PROSE

the “ordinary form” of written language. It is written in sentence form, organized into paragraphs and runs “margin-to-margin” on the page. Poetry, drama and song are NOT prose. Prose generally falls into two categories, fiction or non-fiction.